‘Whistleblower’: Aussie A-lister Rebel Wilson’s huge lawsuit claims during bombshell 60 Minutes interview
Australian star Rebel Wilson has claimed in an explosive interview with 60 Minutes that she was a “whistleblower” over allegations of sexual harassment, embezzlement and bullying surrounding the controversial development of her film The Deb.
The Pitch Perfect and Bridesmaids star is at the center of a bizarre legal battle over the development of her directorial debut, a comedy musical about two teenage girls attending a debutante ball in a small Australian outback town.
The claims made by both parties have not been verified.
Ms. Wilson claimed her film was blocked from screening at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2024 before the 11th hour was reversed.
He took to Instagram to share shocking allegations that he had “discovered abusive behavior” against one of the film’s lead actors and that funds earmarked for The Deb had been misappropriated, and named three producers – Amanda Ghost, Gregor Cameron and executive producer Vince Holden – in a video sent to his 11 million followers.
The trio vehemently denied the accusations and filed a defamation lawsuit against the Aussie A-lister in the California Supreme Court in Los Angeles County.
In court documents seen by NewsWire, Ms Ghost, Mr Cameron and Mr Holden allege Ms Wilson “has a history of fabricating false and malicious lies to hide her own lack of professionalism and advance her own personal interests”.
They allege that Ms. Wilson attempted to solicit authorship for the film from her protégé, demanding that the plaintiffs provide her with a record label along with an outside band.
“Rebel’s goal in these various disputes was to take credit for work he did not do and to overshadow young, up-and-coming artists who truly deserved the credit,” the trio allege in the documents.
The trio also allege that Ms. Wilson “re-enacted a fictional story” about Ms. Ghost sexually harassing a co-star on The Deb “when (Ms. Wilson) failed to get what she wanted in these discussions before making allegations of embezzlement.”
“Each of these insinuations is clearly false and easily refuted,” the documents state.
All three manufacturers are seeking payment for actual damages as well as costs and expenses.
Actor Charlotte MacInnes, who starred in The Deb, brought a separate libel claim against Ms Wilson in the Federal Court’s NSW registry.
It relates to alleged social media posts made by Ms. Wilson, which are said to imply that Ms. MacInnes was lying when she denied making a complaint about Ms. Ghost’s alleged sexual harassment or had engaged in other unacceptable behavior that made her uncomfortable, according to documents released by the court and seen by NewsWire.
The posts also claim Ms MacInnes “changed her story” about the alleged complaint in exchange for a lead role in another production of Ms Ghost and a record deal.
The documents claim the accusations are “false and seriously defamatory” and damage Ms MacInnes’ reputation at a critical juncture in her career.
Appearing on 60 Minutes on Sunday night, Ms Wilson claimed legal dramas were “terrible to deal with” when they came out of “left field”.
Days before the show began filming, she claimed in court documents that she was “locked in a room” with local producers and “forced to sign documents.”
“At the time I said, ‘What is this? This looks like the KGB,'” Ms. Wilson told reporter Tara Brown.
“They (allegedly) said, ‘Sign these or we’ll cancel the movie, everyone will be unemployed, we’ll send everyone home immediately.’”
Rebel’s false imprisonment claims form part of Rebel’s legal counter-complaint against the British producers in question, Amanda Ghost, her husband Gregor Cameron, and executive producer Vince Holden, who deny that she was held captive.
These claims are contained in legal documents but have not yet been tested and have not yet been presented in court.
Ms Wilson claimed on the programme: “I was sort of the target of (this) incessant bullying and harassment.”
In the text messages, Ms Brown claimed Ms Wilson sent Ms Ghost a message that read: “Charlotte says everything is fine. She just meant ‘it was awkward’, not that she felt personally uncomfortable. So it’s all fine.”
Ms Wilson said on the programme: “I can describe these messages as the way I tried to maintain professional communication with (Ms) Ghost.”
“That producer is the source of access to the money for the movie, and I try to maintain that… very professional communication.
“But I also feel very uneasy.”
Ms MacInnes and Ms Ghost strongly deny any inappropriate behavior that has ever occurred.
“This is a situation where I was the whistleblower. I stood up at a time when it was important to stand up and say something,” Ms. Wilson said.
Also on the programme, Ms Wilson denied claims that she was behind a number of websites targeting Ms Ghost, saying they were “absolutely false”.
These allegations are detailed in Ms MacInnes’ statement of claim released by the Federal Court and seen by NewsWire.
Websites purporting to be “amandaghost.com” and “amandaghostsucks.com” allegedly made false and malicious claims against Ms. MacInnes and Ms. Ghost, according to the documents.
A text message between staff at the advertiser’s PR agency about the request allegedly read: “Oh my god hahaha ok this will be fun”.
NewsWire does not suggest that Ms. Wilson was aware of these text messages.
On 60 Minutes, Ms. Wilson also denied suggestions that the entire dispute stemmed from her not receiving co-writing credit.
“Yes, I have seen that narrative and it is completely false,” he said.
“There is zero evidence of any bullying or anything.
“And these lawsuits, these allegations, these are just people trying to throw mud at me.”
