Rebel labelled ‘fantastical liar’ whose own witnesses ‘destroyed’ her credit as her blockbuster defamation trial closes

Rebel Wilson has been labelled a “fantastical liar” who fabricated “terrible” allegations about a series of people involved in the making of her directorial debut, The Deb, a court has been told.

The Hollywood actor’s blockbuster defamation trial launched by her co-star in The Deb, Charlotte MacInnes, is finally coming to a close after two weeks of hearings.

The case centres on a bath Ms MacInnes had with one of the film’s producers, Amanda Ghost, while they were both in swimmers after the producer suffered a medical episode at Bondi Beach in September 2023.

Ms Wilson claims the younger actor told her she felt uncomfortable following the bath but then walked back the complaint to further her career.

She took to Instagram to air the claims the following year in a series of posts described by Ms MacInnes’ barrister, Sue Chrysanthou SC, as “slagging off” the young actor.

Ms MacInnes denies ever making a complaint or feeling uncomfortable.

The A-Lister’s own witnesses have “destroyed” her credit, Ms Chrysanthou claimed during closing submissions in the Federal Court in Sydney on Friday morning.

“She is a fantastical liar who has made up terrible, terrible allegations against multiple people, and her own witnesses have discredited her,” Ms Chrysanthou said.

Any complaint of sexual misconduct “defies logic” given the unsexy nature of the bath incident, Ms Chrysanthou also argued, with the court previously told Ms Ghost had broken out into hives and was shaking uncontrollably.

“On the question of inappropriate and sexual behaviour, when one accepts the circumstances of why they were in the bathroom in their swimmers, freezing, one could hardly imagine a less sexy environment for some kind of harassment to occur,” Ms Chrysanthou said.

“Shaking and hives…it’s not exactly an environment where one would accept some kind of sexual approach. It defies logic.”

Ms Wilson previously denied fabricating the alleged complaint, instead claiming she had been “bullied and harassed” for being a “ truth teller”.

Ms Chrysanthou claimed to Justice Elizabeth Raper that the A-Lister “cannot be believed on anything she has said” during the trial, pointing to several inconsistencies in her evidence.

This included her claims that she took immediate steps to address the alleged complaint with one of the film’s local producers, Greer Simpkin, with Ms Chrysanthou claiming the producer was a “devastating witness” for the A-Lister.

Ms Simpkin gave evidence the first time she heard about the alleged complaint was the following week when Ms Ghost met with her and they agreed the young actor should be removed from the Bondi penthouse they were sharing.

This constrasts with Ms Wilson’s claim that she told the local producer about it the day after the alleged complaint, and that she had been “instrumental” in removing the young actor from the penthouse.

“All of that happens because of Ms Ghost and Ms Simpkin, it has nothing to do with Rebel Wilson, Ms Chrysanthou said.

“This is a concoction by Ms Wilson ... that she apparently took responsible steps as a director and reported it to the local producer, and then took advice from her to raise it with Ms Ghost. This is not an error, this is a concoction,” Ms Chrysanthou said.

Ms MacInnes, who has not received any new acting work in the wake of the legal saga, has been unable to eat and sleep, fearing what Ms Wilson “is going to do to her next”, her lawyer said.

“It’s actually beggars belief my friends have suggested that my client is living her dreams,” Ms Chrysanthou claimed. “No young woman dreams to be pulled into the spotlight by a celebrity…and lied about.”

Ms Wilson’s lawyer, Dauid Sibtain SC, will deliver his closing submissions on Friday afternoon, telling the court before the lunch break: “Our case is that Ms MacInnes has suffered no harm, let alone serious harm, and is unlikely to suffer any harm.”

The trial continues.