Charlotte MacInnes on Monday took her defamation fight with Rebel Wilson to the Federal Court in Sydney, where the first day of trial turned on a disputed conversation in a studio in September 2023. The case centres on four social media posts MacInnes says defamed her by suggesting she lied about a complaint.
That conversation matters because it sits at the heart of the case: Wilson says concerns about sexual harassment were raised in the studio, while MacInnes says she said nothing of the sort. The court heard that the pair later spoke on a couch at the studio after the earlier dispute, with Wilson’s lawyers maintaining that MacInnes’s complaint was withdrawn only when she chose to support the woman she had said had harassed her.
The hearing also opened a window onto the day before the disputed studio exchange, when MacInnes and producer Amanda Ghost swam together at Bondi beach. Sue Chrysanthou SC told the court that Ghost suffered cold urticaria after the swim, leaving her in red welts and shaking uncontrollably to the point she could not speak. MacInnes helped her back to a nearby penthouse apartment, ran her a bath and, while both were still in bathing suits, got in the bath with her. Another woman brought hot drinks while the trio spoke, and Wilson also spoke with both women by speaker phone. Chrysanthou said the bath was so large that MacInnes and Ghost were not touching.
MacInnes had posted a photograph of herself and Ghost on the beach before the swim with the words “Beginning of the end,” a detail Chrysanthou said showed she was not concerned about what had happened. Cast and crew members were told about the swim and bath the following day when filming for The Deb continued, before the later studio discussion became the focus of the alleged defamation. Wilson has denied many of the allegations before the court.
The trial now turns on whether MacInnes did, or did not, raise sexual-harassment concerns in that September 2023 studio conversation. If the evidence settles that question one way or the other, it will likely decide whether Wilson’s posts crossed the line into defamation or whether they were anchored in what was said behind the scenes.
