Rebel Wilson accused her film co-producers of forcing a young actor to submit to ‘depraved sexual demands’ in a savage legal letter, before describing herself as ‘exceptionally accomplished’.
The letter was shown to the Federal Court this week during defamation proceedings against the Pitch Perfect star by Charlotte MacInnes, who was the lead actor in the musical comedy film The Deb – directed by Wilson.
MacInnes began legal proceedings in September after a series of Instagram posts by Wilson that accused her of complaining about unwanted sexual advances by producer Amanda Ghost, and then lying about it to get a record contract.
MacInnes denies the sexual assault occurred, that she complained about it to Wilson, and that she retracted it in return for another lead role and the record deal.
The Deb’s producers comprised Wilson’s company Camp Sugar, and AI Film and its sister company Unigram – owned by Ghost and her husband Gregor Cameron.
Earlier this week, the court was shown texts between Wilson and Ghost that showed a positive relationship between the pair before the alleged harassment incident with MacInnes on September 5, 2023.
However, things appeared to dramatically fall apart when Wilson accused Ghost and Cameron of swiping $900,000 from The Deb’s budget, along with ‘commandeering coercive and physical control of [MacInnes] for their vile purposes’.
Wilson was described in the letter as an ‘exceptionally accomplished writer/actress/producer’ who has ‘starred in the highest-grossing musical comedy films of all time’ and as ‘Australia’s biggest female comedy export’.
Rebel Wilson is pictured outside the Federal Court in Sydney on Monday
Rebel Wilson is being sued in the Federal Court by actor Charlotte MacInnes (pictured)
A letter from Rebel Wilson’s lawyers accuse Amanda Ghost and her husband Gregor Cameron (pictured) of AI Film and Unigram of embezzlement and sexual assault
The letter was addressed to Avy Echenasy and Vince Holden from AI Film, along with Ghost and Cameron at AI Film and Unigram, and alleged that Wilson suffered damages at their hands.
Holden was also named in the letter as the head of Dunburn Debutantes Commissioning Company, which was a joint venture created between AI Film and Camp Sugar to hold the film rights and split all revenue.
The letter read: ‘As you know, Wilson is an exceptionally accomplished writer/actress/producer and has starred in the highest-grossing musical comedy films of all time.’
‘She also happens to be Australia’s biggest female comedy export. Because of her impressive resume, Wilson was offered financing for the [The Deb] provided she participated as a writer, director, and co-star.’
It said Wilson was promised shared writing credits with The Deb’s original writer Hannah Reilly and a record deal with major music label Warner Music.
Wilson signed with Warner Music in 2023. She was the co-producer, director and actor for The Deb, but she was denied a film writing credit and wrote a scathing email about it to Reilly’s agent.
The legal letter also said the dynamics between co-producers ‘changed substantially after Wilson caught both Ghost and Cameron committing flagrant misconduct including embezzling approximately $900,000 from the Film’s budget’.
Referring to the alleged sexual harassment of MacInnes by Ghost, it read: ‘Even more egregious, sexually harassing the lead actress.’
Rebel Wilson is pictured (left) with The Deb’s original writer Hannah Reilly in 2022
Pictured: A mock up of a portion of a legal letter from Rebel Wilson’s lawyers to The Deb’s co-producers
The court previously heard Wilson allegedly hired a PR firm to make a smear website about Ghost
The court previously heard the alleged sexual harassment took place when MacInnes jumped in a bath with Ghost following an ice-cold sunset swim at Bondi Beach.
Ghost had a medical episode and needed to warm up. MacInnes ran the bath at a Bondi penthouse where she was staying with Ghost and another woman. Both were wearing swimming costumes at the time.
Days later, MacInnes was asked to leave the penthouse and use alternative accommodation.
Wilson claims MacInnes felt uncomfortable in a bath with Ghost, who was her boss at the time. MacInnes claims she didn’t feel uncomfortable and never made a complaint.
The legal letter continued: ‘As producers, Ghost and Cameron leveraged their power and influence to both steal from the Film’s budget and manipulate a ”casting couch” situation by forcing a young lead actress to stay with them in their apartment and comply with their depraved sexual demands.’
Cameron denied embezzlement allegations during cross-examination on Tuesday. He was not asked about sexual allegations, which are the subject of separate defamation proceedings against Wilson by her co-producers in the NSW Supreme Court.
In the letter, Wilson said Ghost and Cameron’s behaviour was so ‘deplorable’ that she reported it to the film’s executive producer and the financier behind AI Film.
She also said the alleged harassment against MacInnes led to her being removed from Ghost and Cameron’s premises.
Charlotte MacInnes is pictured, right, outside the Federal Court in Sydney with her lawyer Sue Chrysanthou SC
‘Despite these interventions, Ghost and Cameron have persisted in commandeering coercive and physical control of the lead actress for their vile purposes,’ she alleged.
She then alleged Ghost and Cameron orchestrated a ‘malicious and vindictive retaliatory campaign’ against Wilson, which involved one alleged instance where they ‘physically imprisoned her in a room for 90 minutes’.
Wilson accused the pair of trapping her in a room to coerce her signature on a document to shield Ghost against allegations of ‘severe misconduct’ connected to MacInnes.
‘On another occasion, Cameron held the production of the Film hostage and aggressively wielded threats to terminate Wilson and the entire staff comprising approximately 200 employees,’ the letter read.
Wilson then fired up about her writing credit, claiming she was forced to sign an agreement that scrapped her shared writing credit.
She alleged Ghost and Cameron convinced The Deb’s original writer Hannah Reilly to challenge Wilson’s writing credit, which involved arbitration from the Australian Writer’s Guild.
Another letter previously shown to the court was from Wilson to Yellow Creative Management CEO Jean Mostyn, the literary agent representing Ms Reilly.
In that email, sent on December 22, 2023 – three months after the beach incident – Wilson made it clear that she wanted a writing credit and wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Pictured: Rebel Wilson and Charlotte MacInnes (together, centre) at a party hosted by Wilson during the Cannes Film Festival
She slammed Ms Reilly as ‘ungrateful’ for the ‘generosity’ Wilson had shown in helping her with the script, telling Ms Mostyn the film would never have been funded if Reilly was the sole writer.
In court on Monday, MacInnes’ lawyer Sue Chrysanthou SC said the email showed that ‘Ms Wilson wants to be credited as the writer of this script, she is desperate for this credit.
‘She becomes enraged when Hannah Reilly does not agree to it, and to that point, she sends a shocking email to Hannah’s agent on December 22.’
Ms Chrysanthou described the email as ‘abusive’ and ‘threatening’, and a demonstration of ‘how professionally she behaves’.
She said it was a ‘deranged letter making wild allegations’, and the writing credit was actually a copyright issue.
During cross-examination, Reilly told the court Wilson did work on the script, but she asked for a larger credit than she was owed.
The court case continues.
