Rebel Wilson Wins Defamation Case Against Lead Actress in Her Film ‘The Deb’ Over Instagram Posts

• Australian actor and director Rebel Wilson, who directed “The Deb”, has won a defamation lawsuit brought against her by the film’s lead actress, Charlotte MacInnes.

• MacInnes claimed a series of Instagram posts published between September 2024 and July 2025 falsely suggested she withdrew a sexual harassment complaint against producer Amanda Ghost to protect her career.

• The dispute centred on a September 2023 incident in which MacInnes and Ghost shared a bath after Ghost reportedly suffered a reaction to cold water following a swim at Bondi Beach.

• Justice Elizabeth Raper ruled that only one of Wilson’s Instagram posts referred to MacInnes, and that it was not defamatory. MacInnes has indicated she will appeal the decision.

July 22 , () — Australian actor and director Rebel Wilson, who directed “The Deb”, has won a defamation case brought against her by the film’s lead actress, Charlotte MacInnes, after Australia’s Federal Court dismissed the lawsuit and ordered MacInnes to cover Wilson’s legal costs.

The ruling, delivered on Wednesday July 22 by Justice Elizabeth Raper, concerned four Instagram posts Wilson shared between September 2024 and July 2025.

MacInnes alleged the posts damaged her reputation by implying she had falsely withdrawn allegations of sexual harassment involving the film’s producer, Amanda Ghost, to advance her career.

Justice Raper found that only one of the four posts, published in September 2024, conveyed a claim about MacInnes. However, the judge concluded that the statement was not defamatory.

“I do not accept that the meaning conveyed was inherently serious or of a defamatory nature,” Justice Raper wrote in her judgment.

She also found that MacInnes failed to demonstrate the post had caused, or was likely to cause, serious harm to her reputation.

Bath Incident at the Centre of the Dispute

The case stemmed from an incident in September 2023 involving MacInnes and Ghost after the pair went swimming at Bondi Beach in Sydney.

According to evidence presented in court, the two returned to the apartment where they were staying after Ghost experienced a reaction to the cold water and needed to warm up.

Both women, still wearing their swimsuits, entered a bath together.

Wilson argued that MacInnes initially told her the incident had made her uncomfortable but later changed her account.

Justice Raper accepted that evidence, finding that MacInnes had first raised concerns with Wilson before subsequently altering her version of events.

MacInnes’s legal team, led by barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC, has confirmed that she intends to appeal the Federal Court’s decision.

Following the ruling, Wilson welcomed the outcome in a post on Instagram.

“This process has taught me a lot. It has tested me, but it has also reinforced something I’ve always believed,”

Wilson wrote. “Thank you to the judge and the Australian legal system for this substantial win today in The Deb matter. Look forward to moving on!”

“The Deb” has been the subject of multiple legal disputes since production began. The musical comedy premiered in Australian cinemas in April and is scheduled for release in the United States in August.