On July 12, 2024, Rebel Wilson posted a video to her 11 million Instagram followers accusing the producers of her directorial debut, The Deb, of embezzling approximately AU$900,000 from the film's budget and alleging that producer Amanda Ghost sexually harassed the film's lead actress. She called the producers "fuckwits" and claimed they tried to block the film's premiere at TIFF.
The producers filed a defamation lawsuit days later. Wilson filed a countersuit in October 2024, repeating her allegations and adding claims of breach of contract, false imprisonment, and emotional distress. The film's lead actress, Charlotte MacInnes, publicly denied being sexually harassed and filed her own defamation notice against Wilson in Australia.
In January 2026, a judge denied Wilson's anti-SLAPP motion and granted Ghost limited discovery after anonymous websites describing Ghost as "the Indian Ghislaine Maxwell" emerged — which Ghost's lawyers allege were orchestrated by Wilson through publicist Melissa Nathan (the same PR operative from the Baldoni-Lively case). A leaked text from Nathan reads: "So basically Rebel wants one of those sites... can be really harsh... Russian oligarchs and making her a madam basically lol."
Wilson has denied all involvement with the websites and has accused billionaire Sir Len Blavatnik of funding multiple lawsuits against her across two continents.
- 01Producers allege Wilson defamed them with false accusations of embezzlement and sexual harassment to seize control of the film and its writing credit.
- 02Wilson's countersuit alleges producers inflated the budget, split AU$900,000 among themselves, and engaged in a pattern of "theft, bullying and sexual misconduct."
- 03Ghost alleges Wilson directed her PR team to create anonymous defamatory websites portraying her as a sex trafficker — Wilson denies any involvement.
- 04A separate production company lawsuit accuses Wilson of sabotaging the film's distribution to force a buyout of rights.
This sprawling case connects to the broader Hollywood crisis PR ecosystem exposed by the Baldoni-Lively litigation — the same publicist (Melissa Nathan) and law firm (Bryan Freedman) appear in both. It tests the limits of anti-SLAPP protections when celebrities make public accusations against business partners, and raises questions about the use of anonymous websites and digital PR weaponry in entertainment disputes. A jury trial is tentatively set for October 2026.