Claims by Rebel Wilson that a young Australian actress was sexually harassed by a producer but then hid it to better her career are 'malicious concoctions', a Sydney court has heard on the first day of a defamation case against the Hollywood star.
In 2024 and 2025, Wilson posted on Instagram that Charlotte MacInnes - who stars in Wilson's film The Deb - had felt 'uncomfortable' after sharing a bath with one of its female producers.
The Pitch Perfect star claimed MacInnes had retracted a complaint - which MacInnes denies making - in exchange for a major theatre role and a record deal.
MacInnes says the allegations have tarnished her reputation for integrity and honesty, and is seeking damages.
Lawyers for MacInnes have said she made no complaint to Wilson about the bath incident but that Wilson later used it as 'leverage' in a dispute with producers about the film's budget and contracts.
On the first day of the case, the court saw a series of private texts between Wilson, the producer Amanda Ghost and MacInnes as well as detailed emails about the bath and alleged sexual harassment.
The incident happened on September 5, 2023, when MacInnes and Ghost went for a late afternoon swim at Bondi Beach. Ghost had an allergic reaction to the water, known as cold urticaria, breaking out in red welts and shaking uncontrollably, the court heard.
The pair went back to Ghost's beachside apartment with MacInnes running a hot bath for Ghost, who had got into a shower to warm up. Both later got into the bath – described by MacInnes' legal team as 'oversized' – with both wearing their swimsuits. They 'were not even touching at all', Sue Chrysanthou SC told the court.
Ghost's assistant made hot drinks for the pair and sat with them in the bathroom for a short while. The next day, Wilson spoke to MacInnes who told her she felt uncomfortable about the bath incident, according to Wilson, who then raised it with Ghost.
But when Wilson discussed it with MacInnes again a couple of days later, the young actress said this was not what she had said, Chrysanthou said. A text message sent by Wilson to the producer Ghost read: 'Charlotte says all good. She just meant 'it was a bizarre situation' not that she personally felt uncomfortable.'
The allegations that she was sexually harassed by Ghost but then retracted her complaint to further her career were 'completely false, fantasy, malicious concoctions', Chrysanthou said.
However Wilson's lawyer Dauid Sibtain said that MacInnes lied by denying she had complained to Wilson 'to ensure that her career as an actress and musician progressed by appeasing Ms Ghost'. He stated that since the film, MacInnes has starred in a theatre production in the US and released a single, with another to 'drop any day now'.
In one post from September 2024, Wilson wrote: 'The fact that this girl has been employed now by this 'producer' in the lead role of a production called GATSBY (ART Boston) and given a record label – should be all the proof you need as to why she has now changed her story.'
The trial in Sydney that began on Monday is expected to continue for nine days.
