Rebel Wilson Escalates Legal Battle With ‘The Deb’ Producers in New Countersuit
Rebel Wilson has filed a new countersuit against the producers of her directorial debut The Deb, which include some of her previous allegations of embezzlement, sabotage, and harassment.
The filing is a response to a defamation suit brought by The Deb’s producers Amanda Ghost, Gregor Cameron, and Vince Holden earlier this summer. They filed their suit after Willson took to social media to accuse them of embezzling funds from the film’s budget and acting inappropriately towards the movie’s lead actress. Wilson also claimed that after she raised these issues privately, the producers of the film tried to sabotage The Deb’s premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in retaliation.
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Wilson’s new countersuit restates many of these claims, with additional details. It accuses Ghost, Cameron, and Holden of things like breach of contract, false imprisonment, fraudulent inducement, and inflection of emotional distress.
In a statement, Wilson’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, accused Ghost, Gregor, and Holden of trying to “manipulate the narrative by recklessly filing an outlandish lawsuit.” He continued, “Their real problem? Only a fraction of their outrageous conduct has been revealed thus far. In their desperation to shift the story, they neglected to consider that this strategy would only lead to [Wilson’s] filing of a cross-complaint which exhibits a plethora of their shocking misconduct which there are many witnesses to. Many brave people have come forward who have had similar dealings with Amanda Ghost. While unfortunate, this was not a surprise. Stay tuned, this is just the tip of the iceberg. There is much more to come.”
Arguably the biggest allegation from the suit is that Wilson claims she “received numerous complaints” that Ghost and Cameron (who are married) were “engaging in a highly inappropriate relationship” with the film’s lead actress, Charlotte MacInnes. Wilson claims that Ghost “forced MacInnes to live in her Bondi Beach penthouse apartment with her, that Ghost took a shower and bath with MacInnes — which MacInnes reported made her feel uncomfortable — and that Ghost was overheard making overtly sexual remarks to MacInnes on set.”
Wilson even went on to allege that MacInnes “remains captive by Ghost and Cameron as she is shuttled from city to city with them including Boston, New York, London, and more. It is believed they have forced MacInnes to sign an NDA in exchange for enticements such as the lead role in the A.R.T production of Gatsby in Boston and a record deal through Ghost’s own label.”
MacInnes, however, has denied this. In a statement shared with Rolling Stone, she said: “There is no truth to the allegations made involving me. I made a statement to the film team when this was first said in September 2023, and I am saying this again now to draw a line under it. Making false accusations undermines real victims, and I won’t be the subject of a fabricated narrative.”
Elsewhere in the suit, Wilson alleges that The Deb producers embezzled $900,000 Australian (about $612,000 USD) from the film’s budget. She also alleges that she was “strong-armed into signing various documents against her will” that transferred “important intellectual property rights… that Wilson possessed.”
Wilson claims that she tried to report these allegations to The Deb’s executive producer Danny Cohen, but Cohen “ignored their misbehavior” and “tacitly endorsed it by failing to take any action.” She then said that the producers “verbally abused” her and “threatened to take Wilson’s stage rights in [The Deb] as punishment for unveiling the truth.”
Cohen denied this in a statement, saying: “I took the reports I received extremely seriously and have a thorough, well-documented record of the many steps I took to investigate the claims Rebel brought to my attention. Despite repeated requests, Rebel did not provide any actual evidence that these claims were true. Moreover, I was informed very clearly during my investigation by the party concerned that there was no merit at all to Ms Wilson’s claims. As such — and given all the documentary evidence — the allegations against me have no merit.”
According to the suit, Cameron “unlawfully imprisoned” her and two other producers “by confining them in a small room and refusing to let them leave. While they were trapped, Cameron unleashed a barrage of verbal assaults and intimidation tactics, further escalating the hostile situation. He also repeatedly threatened to terminate the Project and immediately fire its approximately 300 cast and crew members unless Wilson capitulated to his unreasonable demands to sign a document he presented to her. Under substantial duress, he coerced her into signing a document stating she withdrew her complaint about Ghost’s sexual misconduct toward MacInnes.”
Wilson claims she was also “strong-armed” into signing other documents “against her will,” some of which included “provisions that purported to transfer important intellectual property rights related to the Film… that Wilson possessed.”
Reps for Ghost, Cameron, and Holden did not immediately return Rolling Stone’s request for comment.
In their original suit, the producers alleged that Wilson was pushing for a writing credit on The Deb’s script for “work she did not do.” And after the writing credit didn’t change, they claimed that Wilson “revived a fictitious story about Ms. Ghost sexually harassing a lead actor in ‘The Deb’ that has absolutely no basis in reality, as the actor that is the subject of this defamatory tale has repeatedly confirmed.” They also said there was “no basis” in her embezzlement allegations.
This story was updated at 11:53 a.m. ET with a statement from Danny Cohen.
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