Rebel Wilson Wins Defamation Case Against ‘The Deb’ Co-Star Charlotte MacInnes

TL;DR

• Justice Elizabeth Raper of the Federal Court of Australia dismissed Charlotte MacInnes’ defamation and breach-of-confidence claims on Wednesday
• MacInnes was ordered to pay Wilson’s legal costs
• The dispute centered on Instagram posts published between September 2024 and July 2025
• The Deb arrives in the UK on August 24 via Vertigo Releasing

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The Ruling

So, the good news for Rebel Wilson: she won. On Wednesday, an Australian court ruled that Wilson did not defame Charlotte MacInnes, her co-star and the lead actress in Wilson’s directorial debut, The Deb. Justice Elizabeth Raper dismissed MacInnes’ defamation and breach-of-confidence claims and ordered her to pay Wilson’s legal costs.

The case, heard in Sydney’s Federal Court, has been one of the messiest legal tangles to hit Australian film production in years. The Federal Court ruled that the Australian actor did not unlawfully defame The Deb star Charlotte MacInnes in a bitter legal dispute that became one of the biggest Australian legal cases this year.

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The Instagram Posts

What started this fire? MacInnes sued over four sets of Instagram posts published between September 2024 and July 2025. Wilson had claimed in those posts that MacInnes had changed her account of an incident involving producer Amanda Ghost — specifically, a bath-sharing moment in a Sydney apartment in September 2023.

MacInnes’ side argued Wilson had defamed her by implying she’d fabricated harassment claims for career advantage. In the posts, Wilson suggested MacInnes had withdrawn a complaint of sexual harassment against the film’s producers to further her career as an actor and singer. MacInnes disputed that any complaint had ever been made.

The judge wasn’t buying it. The judge found that only one of the meanings alleged by MacInnes was conveyed by any of the four posts. That meaning, contained in Wilson’s Sept. 23, 2024, post, was that MacInnes had changed her account of feeling uncomfortable about what happened in the bathroom. Raper ruled that the meaning was not defamatory.

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A Messy Verdict

Here’s where it gets interesting: the judge said “I have serious misgivings as to the truthfulness of the testimony of each of Ms MacInnes, Ms Ghost and Ms Wilson.” Translation — nobody’s account was squeaky clean. But the ruling went Wilson’s way because the core allegation (that MacInnes changed her story) didn’t legally constitute defamation.

MacInnes also claimed the posts had caused her online abuse and damaged her career. The court found otherwise. Raper ruled that MacInnes had not shown that the post caused, or was likely to cause, serious harm to her reputation.

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What’s Next for The Deb

The film itself has had more drama than its own plot line. Sunrise Films on Monday set an August 25 U.S. digital-release date for the musical comedy, which will debut a day earlier in the UK via Vertigo Releasing. Yes — the UK gets it first, on August 24. Mark your calendar if you want to see what started a two-year legal apocalypse.

But this defamation ruling isn’t the end of it. There’s still a trial scheduled in Los Angeles Superior Court for October 2026, where Wilson and the film’s producers — Ghost, Gregor Cameron, and Vince Holden — continue their own separate legal slugfest over who wronged whom. Because one court battle was apparently not enough.

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Reported from publicly available interviews and verified press sources. Last reviewed July 22, 2026.

Sources:

• Variety: Rebel Wilson Wins Defamation Case Against Charlotte MacInnes
• Deadline: The Deb Trailer & UK Release Date
• CNN: Rebel Wilson Wins Defamation Case