Hollywood actor returns for a third day in the witness box
Rebel Wilson returned to the Federal Court witness box for a third day as she defended a libel suit brought against her by a leading lady in her directorial debut.
Charlotte MacInnes, 27, starred opposite Wilson, 46, in the Australian musical. Debt and is suing the Hollywood star over a series of Instagram stories posted between September 2024 and July of last year.
Wilson, who is also one of the film’s producers, is also facing lawsuits filed against him by the film’s international co-producers. DebtIncluding a defamation case in the US.
MacInnes alleges that Wilson slandered him by calling him a “salesman” and a liar who dropped a sexual harassment complaint against Wilson against Amanda Ghost, one of the film’s producers, in exchange for more work opportunities with Ghost. MacInnes denies making a complaint.
Wilson began giving evidence in the Federal Court in Sydney on Tuesday and his cross-examination by MacInnes’ barrister Sue Chrysanthou, SC is expected to conclude on Thursday morning.
Wilson on Wednesday dismissed as “nonsense” Chrysanthou’s suggestion that she filed the complaint to create divisions between Ghost and MacInnes. As a first-time director, he said it was “an absolute nightmare situation” for him.
“This is ridiculous. I worked for years to bring this project to life,” Wilson said. It would not be in my interest to fabricate allegations of sexual harassment between these two very important people.
Wilson denied on Tuesday that he “bullyed and harassed publicly and privately” MacInnes.
In his Instagram stories, Wilson claimed that MacInnes “complained to me as the director” and that Ghost “asked him to take baths and showers with him and it made him uncomfortable.”
He claimed MacInnes later “changed his story” to further his career.
Neither MacInnes nor Ghost were named in the initial story, but it did contain identifying information, including an image of MacInnes.
There is no dispute that Ghost and MacInnes shared a bathroom while wearing their swimsuits on September 5, 2023.
The women say this was in response to a medical incident in which Ghost reacted to cold water after swimming at Bondi Beach. At the time, they were staying in a rented Bondi flat during rehearsals. Debt.
It is also indisputable that Wilson called MacInnes on September 7, 2023, before texting Ghost: “Charlotte says everything is fine. It’s not that she felt personally uncomfortable, she just meant ‘it was an awkward situation’.”
However, Wilson brought up the alleged complaint about the bathroom incident again in October 2023. Chrysanthou claims he did this “as leverage” amid a commercial dispute with the film’s producers rather than to protect a young actor, but Wilson denies this claim.
“You used the long-settled claim to get your way, didn’t you?” Chrysanthou asked during cross-examination Wednesday.
“The problem was not solved. Things had calmed down, yes, but did I feel uneasy about what the truth was, what really happened? Yes, I did feel uneasy,” Wilson said. “It was really surprising [suspicious].”
The Federal Court hearing in Sydney is expected to conclude on Friday after nine days of hearing.
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