‘Doesn’t get to start afresh’: Rebel Wilson lashed by lawyer in Charlotte MacInnes defamation case
The movie star is being sued by a 25-year old West Australian actor for allegedly defaming her in a series of Instagram posts to her 11 million followers.
Actress Rebel Wilson has fired her lawyers and hired new ones to have a defamation case against her by 25-year-old West Australian actor Charlotte MacInnes transferred to the NSW Supreme Court, a move her opponents said was designed to drag out the claim.
Ms MacInnes is suing Ms Wilson in the Federal Court, claiming serious and personal professional damage, distress, and hurt from Instagram posts Ms Wilson made about behind-scenes-fighting on the yet-to-be released movie The Deb.
Acting for Ms MacInnes in a preliminary hearing at Sydney’s Federal Court on Friday, Sue Chrysanthou SC alleged Ms Wilson sought to delay the trial while carrying out a campaign to ridicule Ms MacInnes on social and traditional media.
Sign up to The Nightly's newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“Your Honour, Ms Wilson has gone on (television show) 60 Minutes, has defamed my client to a national television audience within weeks of the first case management hearing (last October)” she told judge Elizabeth Raper.
“This is after having told your honour she was too busy to give evidence in a timely fashion.
“These proceedings were called a ridiculous waste of time by Miss Wilson on national television. She made new allegations against (Ms MacInnes), she answered questions about the allegations and the proceedings.”
The lawsuit pits Ms MacInnes, an actress with one television credit and an unreleased movie, against one of the best-known Australian actresses in the world, who has appeared in 39 movies dating back to Fat Pizza in 2003.
Ms Wilson’s Instagram posts to 11 million followers allegedly suggested Ms MacInnes had been sexually harassed in her first lead actress role in The Deb movie, including at once when she shared some bath time with a producer of the movie at a Bondi Beach apartment, but that is denied by the actress.
Application opposed
Acting for Ms Wilson on Friday, Dauid Sibtain SC said the lawsuit should be moved to the Supreme Court, where a separate case against Ms Wilson has been filed by British movie production company AI Film.
The UK business has accused Ms Wilson of deliberately sabotaging The Deb’s release, alleging threats and defamatory claims had caused the production company financial and reputational damage.
Ms Chrysanthou said she would apply to have Ms Wilson’s application to transfer the case terminated. Later she argued Ms MacInnes deserved an urgent move to trial at the earliest available date given Ms Wilson’s decision to allegedly keep publicly mocking her.
“She (Ms Wilson) doesn’t get to start afresh now,” Ms Chrysanthou told Justice Raper. The barrister for Ms MacInnes also went on to argue that the need to move to trial soon is more pressing as there is currently no legal agreement in place to “stop her behaviour” towards the actress.
The judge said she would consider both legal teams’ separate applications to have the case reallocated, or moved forward on its current terms in the Federal Court on March 6.
Ms Chrysanthou told Justice Raper that her legal team and Ms MacInnes were “ready to go” to trial as soon as Monday. “So that my client will be able to have her case determined in a proper fashion before the court, rather than through social media or the media,” she said.
The Deb movie that has descended into multiple legal fights in the Federal and Supreme Courts of New South Wales is the first time Ms Wilson has worked as a director. It’s a musical comedy set around an Australian country town debutante ball and was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2024.
Due to the legal disputes it has not been seen in public since, although Event Cinemas currently has it slated for release in April this year.
Legal history
In 2017, Ms Wilson was awarded a record $4.7 million in damages — the largest compensation payout ever ordered by a defamation court — after a judge ruled a series of articles by Bauer Media had caused her to miss out on lucrative acting roles.
However, the ruling was overturned on appeal by Australia’s High Court and Ms Wilson ordered to pay back the damages on the basis that there was insufficient evidence she had lost out on roles due to certain articles.
