Rebel Wilson cleared in defamation case brought by actress in her own film

What the report says

BBC World News reports that Rebel Wilson has won a defamation case brought by Charlotte MacInnes, a young Australian actress who appeared in Wilson’s film The Deb. The case was decided in Sydney on Wednesday, where Justice Elizabeth Raper dismissed MacInnes’s claim and ordered her to pay Wilson’s legal costs.

MacInnes had sued over Instagram posts from 2024 and 2025 in which Wilson alleged that MacInnes had withdrawn a sexual harassment complaint involving film producer Amanda Ghost in order to advance her career. MacInnes denied that characterisation. According to the BBC, the judge found that the alleged meaning — that MacInnes had changed her account of the incident — was not defamatory, and also concluded MacInnes had not shown the posts caused, or were likely to cause, serious harm.

The dispute centred on a September 2023 incident at Bondi Beach and a nearby apartment rented by Ghost. The court heard that after Ghost had an allergic reaction while swimming, she and MacInnes returned to the apartment, where both later entered a bath while wearing swimsuits. During the trial, Wilson said MacInnes initially told her the situation made her uncomfortable, though a later text from Wilson to Ghost said MacInnes had described it as “bizarre” rather than personally uncomfortable.

After the ruling, Wilson posted on Instagram that the process had tested her and that she was grateful the matter had concluded. The BBC said it had contacted MacInnes for comment. The decision closes a high-profile dispute linked to The Deb and to broader claims aired during the film’s production and promotion.