Rebel Wilson is speaking out about the multi-pronged legal proceedings that have marred her directorial debut, the comedy musical The Deb, by controversy.
In a new segment with 60 Minutes Australia, Wilson dubbed the experience her “worst nightmare” and classified the situation as “people trying to sling mud at me.”
“It came out of left field, these issues, and yeah, it was horrible to deal with and I had to try to navigate it professionally,” she said.
The Pitch Perfect alumna is currently facing two separate lawsuits for defamation and breach of contract — from the pic’s U.K. producers Amanda Ghost, Gregor Cameron and Vince Holden, as well as actress Charlotte MacInnes — and has since responded with a countersuit claim.
Laying out her side of the story, Wilson alleged that the day prior to the 60 Minutes Australia crew’s visit to the set back in 2023, she and local producers on the movie were “locked in a room” and “forced to sign documents.” She insinuated she and her team were threatened, and alleged she was told the movie would be canceled and her crew would be out of work if they didn’t comply with the NDAs: “At the time, I said, ‘What is this? Is this like the KGB?’”
Wilson went on further to say she was “the target of this incessant bullying and harassment” because she had spoken out about the “behavior” of the producers. Wilson also accused the trio of embezzlement; the producers deny the assertions, including the allegation about the locked room fiasco.
Of particular contention is Wilson’s claim that starlet MacInnes, a newcomer, was sexually harassed by Ghost. Wilson asserted MacInnes told her that Ghost made her take a bath and shower with her after the latter had a “medical reaction” to the cold water during filming at Bondi Beach — an incident that Wilson said MacIness described as “uncomfortable.” The Bryan Freedman-repped Wilson has also claimed Ghost essentially forced MacInnes into a relationship during the production, per legal documents.
“I felt, in my position as director, I had to report that, and the moment I did started all the retaliation against me,” Wilson said.
MacInnes has disputed this claim and in August 2025 began the early stages of defamation proceedings, arguing the director damaged her reputation in a series of Instagram posts between September 2024 and July 2025.
“All I can say is she came to me, she made what I obviously inferred as a sexual harassment complaint, and I had a duty to then act on it,” Wilson stated. When presented with texts in which the Bridesmaids alumna seemed to have clarified the “bizarre situation” with Ghost and relayed that the incident did not actually make MacInnes uncomfortable, Wilson said this was her trying to “maintain professional communication” with Ghost — who was the “access to money for the film” — ahead of the commencement of production.
“But at the same time, I’m feeling very uneasy,” Wilson described.
Additionally, Wilson has claimed the producers attempted to siphon nearly a million (AU) dollars from the film’s budget. The producers doubled down, saying Wilson didn’t understand the intricacies of budgets as a first-time director, which Wilson scoffed at, citing her law degree and history of producing other projects.
Addressing her explosive July 2024 Instagram video, in which she blasted the “absolute f*ckwits” producers for withholding the film’s premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, Wilson also pushed back against the claim they wouldn’t release the film because of their ongoing issues, calling it “absolute rubbish.” She added, “They knew it would be good for me as a first-time female director to have that profile, and they blocked it as part of their retaliation for me speaking up against them,” saying the trio made the move “out of spite … to bury it.”
While her public callout on Instagram worked and The Deb premiered at TIFF, it also launched the defamation cases.
The producers maintained the dispute is also a result of Wilson missing out on a writing credit; the Jojo Rabbit actress admitted she felt she deserved a shared credit, having received just an additional one, but has previously called the claim “false.”
Elsewhere on 60 Minutes, Wilson rebuked the more salacious elements of the protracted legal he-said-she-said, in which the producers have accused her of launching a bullying smear campaign via malicious websites, which characterized Ghost as a “sex trafficker” akin to the “Indian Ghislaine Maxwell.”
Wilson maintained she had “zero to do” with the sites, and claims that she orchestrated the attacks are “absolutely untrue.” She also called into question the veracity of texts that implicate her in the creation of them. When pressed further on whether she directed her social media followers to the websites and ensured Ghost’s associates had been made aware of them, Wilson said, “I don’t have any memory of doing that, no.”
Adding of the allegations, she said, “It’s wild it’s gotten to this point. I think it’s a ridiculous waste of the Australian legal system. [MacInnes] reported something to me, I acted on it in my position as the director of the movie. I had a legal, ethical, moral responsibility to do that.” Wilson also maintained the producers pressured MacInnes to change her story and insinuated that she lied to further her nascent career.
“This is a situation where I was a whistleblower. I stood up when it was important to stand up and say something,” Wilson concluded.
The team at 60 Minutes reached out to Ghost, Cameron, Holden and MacInnes for comment, though the foursome declined to give a statement, citing the impropriety of doing so amid the ongoing nature of the legal proceedings.
Earlier this month, Wilson scored a win of sorts in her ongoing defense against the defamation action. On Nov. 5, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Thomas Long agreed to send over to the U.K. a “letter of request” to have MacInnes officially clarify her relationship with Ghost. That clarification will take the form of a deposition, which is expected to take place in front of British solicitors in December or early 2026.
The Deb currently lacks a North American distributor, likely owing in part to the off-screen drama. However, the movie is slated for a January release in Australia and New Zealand.
Meanwhile, Wilson is back to work as writer-director-producer on a new musical comedy, Girl Group, which is set to star Jennifer Coolidge and Nicole Scherzinger alongside Wilson.
Dominic Patten contributed to this report.
