Rebel Wilson has won her defamation case brought on by actress Charlotte MacInnes, after a Federal Court judge found the posts at the centre of the dispute did not meet the threshold for serious harm.
Justice Elizabeth Raper dismissed the case on Wednesday and ordered MacInnes to pay costs.
The case centred on social media posts Wilson made about MacInnes, the lead actor in Wilson’s directorial debut, The Deb.
MacInnes argued the posts suggested she had lied about a sexual harassment complaint in order to advance her career, and said the comments led to abuse online and hurt her job prospects. Wilson denied she had fabricated anything, telling the court, “I am known as a truth-teller”, and that she was simply “telling the truth”.
One of the key disputes involved a bath-sharing incident in a Sydney penthouse rented by the production company in September 2023.
MacInnes and producer Amanda Ghost both said they were in swimwear and entered the bath to warm up after Ghost had a physical reaction to cold water at Bondi Beach, while Wilson maintained MacInnes had told her the situation made her uncomfortable.
“To say that the circumstances surrounding how they came to be in the bath are unusual would be an understatement,” Justice Raper in her statement.
Ultimately the judge found the only statement proven in court was that MacInnes later changed her account, and that this was not defamatory.
MacInnes’ barrister, Sue Chrysanthou SC, said Wilson was “a liar” in her closing address in May.
“She is a fantastical liar who has made up terrible, terrible allegations about multiple people and her own witnesses have discredited her,” she said.
In a post on Instagram after the ruling, Wilson thanked the judge and the Australian legal system for the “substantial win” and said she was looking forward to moving on.
“This process has taught me a lot. It has tested me, but it has also reinforced something I’ve always believed,” she wrote.
“I want to live my life standing up for what I believe is right, while continuing to create work that brings people joy.”
The case is one part of a wider legal mess surrounding The Deb, which has also involved separate allegations and counterclaims between Wilson and the film’s producers.
Wilson has been through high-profile defamation battles before. In 2017, she won a landmark case against Bauer Media over magazine articles that portrayed her as a liar, although the payout was later cut on appeal.
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