The actress at the centre of an extraordinary legal battle on the set of new film ‘The Deb’ has been identified by DailyMail.com and has spoken out against film director Rebel Wilson, declaring that ‘the allegations are not true’.
DailyMail.com has learned that Australian star Charlotte MacInnes, 25, is the woman who was dragged into Wilson’s bitter feud with film producers Amanda Ghost, Gregory Cameron and Vince Holden over her directorial debut earlier this summer.
Wilson, 44, accused producers of sabotaging the film’s plan, embezzling funds and sexually harassing the lead actor, now revealed to be MacInnes, in a June cease-and-desist letter and in a video she shared on her Instagram account in July.
The three producers have since filed a lawsuit against the Australian comedian, calling her claims “fictional” and “not based on reality.”
They also accuse Wilson of bullying and falsely accuse Ghost of “inappropriate behavior” toward MacInnes. Ghost noted in the libel case that the actress adamantly denied being the victim of any such behavior when asked about Wilson’s claims.
DailyMail.com has learned that Australian star Charlotte MacInnes, 25, (right) is the woman who was dragged into the bitter feud between Rebel Wilson and the producers of her directorial debut, The Deb
Rebel Wilson, pictured with MacInnes (second from right) and other cast members in May 2023, has been sued for defamation after accusing producers of sabotaging her project
Now, a legal complaint obtained by DailyMail.com reveals that the feud arose after a series of disputes over the credits and Wilson’s behavior on the set of The Deb, which premiered earlier this month at the Toronto Film Festival.
The producers say that when Wilson “did not get her way in these disputes,” she “revived a fictional story about Ms. Ghost sexually harassing a lead actor in ‘The Deb,’ which has absolutely no basis in reality, as the actor who is the subject of this defamatory story has repeatedly confirmed.”
In a statement to DailyMail.com, MacInnes confirmed that she is the actress referred to in the lawsuit, and angrily accused Wilson of “undermining real victims” with her “false” claims.
She said: ‘There is no truth to the allegations made against me. I made a statement to the film team when this was first said in September 2023 and am saying this now to draw a line under it.
‘By making false accusations I undermine the position of real victims and I do not want to be the subject of a fabricated story.’
The musical comedy The Deb follows the story of farm girl Taylah Simpkins and her city-dwelling cousin Maeve, who are looking for dates for an upcoming prom.
The libel case was brought by producers Vincent Holden (left), Gregor Cameron and Amanda Ghost (pictured together right), who called Wilson a “vicious bully”
Rebel in a scene from the musical comedy The Deb, which was filmed in Australia last year
It is MacInnes’ first appearance on the big screen. She plays the lead role of Maeve and received rave reviews for her performance in the film.
She previously starred in the Australian murder mystery series North Shore and in May made her American stage debut as Daisy in a musical adaptation of The Great Gatsby.
The film’s premiere, however, was overshadowed by the feud. After news of the lawsuit broke in July, Wilson responded to the producers in an Instagram video , telling his followers, “It’s not libel if it’s the TRUTH (the ‘producers’ I mentioned in my previous post just filed a libel lawsuit against me…)”
She had previously called them “vile and disgusting,” accused them of “bad behavior” and repeated her claims of embezzlement.
The current case revolves around a dispute over writing credits for The Deb and accuses her of bullying on set.
The complaint, seen by DailyMail.com, accuses Wilson of bullying and unreasonable demands, and of fabricating the story about MacInnes.
It says: ‘[Wilson] has a history of making up false and malicious lies to cover up her own lack of professionalism and serve her own self-interest.
The film’s premiere was overshadowed by the feud, with Wilson reaffirming her claims in an Instagram video in July
Wilson posed with some of the cast and crew at the film’s red carpet premiere at the Toronto Film Festival on September 14
MacInnes previously starred in the Australian murder mystery series North Shore and made her American stage debut in May as Daisy in a musical adaptation of The Great Gatsby.
‘In this lawsuit, Rebel is being held accountable for her efforts to intimidate plaintiffs into acquiescing to her unreasonable demands by spreading vicious lies, with no regard for the irreparable harm her reckless words would cause to plaintiffs’ hard-won personal and professional reputations.’
For years, Rebel played the friendly, funny woman on screen, but off-screen she profiled herself as a champion of other female artists and a whistleblower against misconduct within the film industry.
“However, this public persona is a farce. Rebel is a bully who ignores the interests of others to advance her own.”
According to the indictment, Wilson hired a young writer, Hannah Reilly, to write a screenplay for The Deb before allegedly trying to steal credit for herself.
The lawsuit continues: “She gave a young artist a grant to write a screenplay for ‘The Deb’ (the ‘Film’), and then attempted to claim credit for writing it herself.
‘And when Rebel did not get her way in the business negotiations with Plaintiffs over ‘The Deb’ (including the writing credits), Rebel attempted to intimidate Plaintiffs into giving her what she wanted by using her image and platform, with its many millions of followers, to spread malicious lies about Plaintiffs.’
The plaintiffs allege they “took a chance on Rebel,” who is a “novice” at directing and producing, but allege she “adamantly refused to cooperate with the plaintiffs” and behaved “recklessly.”
In her memoir Rebel Rising, the 44-year-old Australian actress made shocking claims about her experiences filming The Brothers Grimsby with ‘asshole’ comedian Sacha Baron Cohen – which he vehemently denied
The Deb’s lawsuit follows a controversy earlier this year over a chapter in Wilson’s memoir, Rebel Rising, in which she alleged that Sasha Baron Cohen harassed her on the set of The Brothers Grimsby.
The 44-year-old, who played Baron Cohen’s girlfriend Dawn in the film, accused him of making her uncomfortable by repeatedly asking her to do nudity and asking during one sketch: “Rebel, can you stick your finger in my ass?”
After Baron Cohen, 52, described the claims as “demonstrably false” and threatened to call in lawyers, the book was published in the UK with some redactions to avoid falling foul of the country’s notoriously tough libel and slander laws.
Wilson was previously accused of lying about her age and upbringing.
She eventually admitted she was six years older than she had claimed, but in May 2016 she filed a libel lawsuit against a number of Australian magazines, alleging they had portrayed her as a “serial liar”.
She won the case and was awarded A$4.5 million (US$3 million, UK£2.3 million) in damages in September 2017. However, she was later ordered to pay back A$4.1 million (US$2.7 million, UK£2 million) plus A$600,000 (US$408,600, UK£306,973) in interest after appealing the decision.