‘Absolutely untrue’: Rebel Wilson comes out firing in 60 Minutes interview

3 months ago 16

Rebel Wilson has denied she is a liar and a bully and said the multiple defamation suits launched against her by the producers and star of her film The Deb were the result of people “trying to sling mud at me”.

“There is zero evidence of any kind of … bullying or anything,” said Wilson. “And these lawsuits, these allegations, these things are just people who, you know, are trying to sling mud at me … This is a situation where I was a whistle-blower. I stood up when it was important to stand up and say something.”

Rebel Wilson on 60 Minutes. The actor and director has denied being a liar and a bully on her film The Deb.

Wilson made the comments on *Nine’s flagship current affairs program 60 Minutes on Sunday night, in which she addressed the legal issues surrounding The Deb, which include multiple lawsuits, allegations of sexual harassment, false imprisonment, financial irregularities and the creation of a smear campaign against one of the film’s producers.

Speaking to reporter Tara Brown, Wilson said it was “absolutely untrue” that she had asked her publicist to “register and publish a series of malicious websites” about one of the film’s producers, Amanda Ghost.

Wilson also denied directing her 11 million Instagram followers to those websites, which described Ghost as “the Indian Ghislaine Maxwell”.

“I don’t have any memory of doing that,” replied Wilson.

Wilson first met Brown on the set of the musical in Carcoar, in central-west NSW, in October 2023 for what was ostensibly a feel-good story about Wilson’s directorial debut. The film is the story of two teenagers – farm girl Taylah (Natalie Abbott) and her city cousin Maeve (Charlotte MacInnes) – attending a debutant ball in a small country town.

It is adapted from a stage show of the same name written by Hannah Reilly, with music by Megan Washington. Wilson also stars in the film and has a writing credit.

On 60 Minutes, Wilson described the legal situation surrounding The Deb as “like your worst nightmare”.

“I can’t remember the last $20 million movie that’s resulted in three lawsuits,” said Wilson.

Rebel Wilson with 60 Minutes reporter Tara Brown on the set of The Deb in Carcoar in October 2023.

Wilson is being sued in the Federal Court by MacInnes, who claims Wilson defamed her on Instagram, posting that MacInnes changed her story about being sexually harassed by producer Amanda Ghost.

Wilson is also being sued for defamation in the Los Angeles Superior Court by the film’s British producers, Ghost and Gregor Cameron, and its Australian executive producer Vince Holden, after Wilson claimed on Instagram that the trio was blocking the film’s premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. Appearing in a video post in July 2024, Wilson accused them of “inappropriate behaviour towards the lead actress” and “embezzling funds from the film’s budget”.

Separately, Holden’s company A.I. Films filed a case in the NSW Supreme Court in September, alleging Wilson blocked The Deb’s release with legal threats and had falsely outed MacInnes as a victim of sexual misconduct.

“When you’re getting this opportunity to direct a movie, and it’s something you’ve spent years of work on,” she said. “It came out of left field, these, these issues, and yeah, it was horrible to deal with, and I had to try to navigate it professionally.”

(from left) Natalie Abbott, Rebel Wilson, Charlotte MacInnes and Stevie Jean.

On 60 Minutes, Wilson reiterated her claims that Ghost had sexually harassed MacInnes. “All I can say is that she [MacInnes] came to me, she made what, what I obviously inferred as a sexual harassment complaint, and I had a duty to then act on it,” said Wilson.

The alleged sexual harassment stemmed from an incident at Bondi Beach in 2023, where Ghost, on a trip to the beach with her assistant, and MacInnes, suffered a “medical reaction” to the cold water. She was helped back to her nearby apartment by the assistant and MacInnes, who then joined Ghost – with both still in their swimmers – in a hot bath to help her warm up.

According to 60 Minutes, what happened next is in dispute.

Wilson: “Charlotte MacInnes came to me and she said, ‘Last night, Amanda Ghost asked me to have a bath and shower with her’, and it made me feel really uncomfortable.”

Brown: “And there’s no doubt that that’s what she did. She came to you and she used those words.”

Wilson: “Yeah.”

Brown: “You are 100 per cent sure about that?”

Wilson: “Yes, 100 per cent. Yeah. She told me she was uncomfortable, yeah.”

Steph Tisdell (left), Shane Jacobson, Tara Morice, Rebel Wilson and Natalie Abbott in The Deb.

Brown then challenged Wilson’s version of events, asking her why MacInnes would “risk perjury” and deny the exchange between her and Wilson ever occurred.

“All I can say is that she came to me, she made what, what I obviously inferred as a sexual harassment complaint, and I had a duty to then act on it,” replied Wilson.

Brown also challenged Wilson on text messages she sent to Ghost after the alleged incident with MacInnes, in which Wilson appeared to accept nothing had occurred between Ghost and MacInnes.

“How I would describe those texts is that I’m trying to maintain professional communication with Amanda Ghost,” said Wilson. “She’s the producer, she is the access to the money for the film, and I’m trying to keep it, this is weeks before we start shooting the movie, and I’m trying to keep it very professional communication, but at the same time, I’m feeling very uneasy.”

Brown also asked Wilson if she had been a bit “rough” on MacInnes by calling her a liar, particularly if Wilson believed MacInnes had been sexually harassed.

“I have a lot of sympathy for her, and I want to make it very clear that when I first spoke about this publicly, I didn’t identify her,” said Wilson. “She chose to make statements and identify herself as the actress involved and I’ve been very elegant in being silent. And this is the first time I’m speaking about it.”

With the film finally due to be released in Australian cinemas in January – but with no international release date secured – Wilson conceded that The Deb, with the ongoing court cases, “may not be the success that, and the celebration that it, it should have been of Australian cinema”.

*Nine is the publisher of this masthead.

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