A feud between two of the world’s most successful film and pop music stars, Rebel Wilson and Amanda Ghost, has young West Australian actor Charlotte MacInnes stuck in the middle at the NSW Federal Court.
British-born Ghost wrote or produced smash hit songs for Beyonce, Shakira, James Blunt, A$AP Rocky, Mark Ronson and Florence and the Machine, among others, before branching out into film production.
In the movie business, Ghost met one of Australia’s most successful actresses, Rebel Wilson. The pair agreed to collaborate on co-producing The Deb movie, as Wilson’s directorial debut in 2022.
MacInnes, 26, was cast in a lead role as Maeve. A posh Sydney girl who goes to live with her cousin for the holidays in an “arsehole” town in rural NSW.
As the musical comedy moved through production in the autumn of 2023, tension started to stew between the female stars.
At issue was the movie’s financing and writing credits. By this week, the bad blood spiralled into a Federal Court trial, calling a string of movie and musical producer witnesses, a doctor, and The Deb’s original writer, Hannah Reilly, in its first few days.
Dispute over sexual harassment complaint
Key to the defamation claim is a dispute over whether, or not, MacInnes made a verbal complaint to Wilson about feeling uncomfortable and sexually harassed after sharing a bath with Ghost at a Bondi Beach apartment on September 5, 2023.
MacInnes’ statement of claim denies she made the complaint. And she’s presumably set to testify under oath to this effect on Thursday when her cross examination continues.
On Wednesday afternoon, Ms MacInnes accepted she earned a deal with Atlantic Records to release two EPs in September 2025. But said she could not recall for sure if the deal was worth $US110,000 ($153,000).
The deal came about after Ghost introduced MacInnes to UK-based music agent Shoshanna Stone.
“You obviously hit it off with Ms Stone and she started conducting enquiries with record companies about the deal,” said Wilson’s lawyer Dauid Sibtain SC.
“Yes,” agreed Ms McInnnes.
Wilson alleges Ms McInnes changed her story about the complaint to further her career.
She also insists the verbal complaint about the was made to her the day after the shared bath on September 6, 2023.
Sitting in the middle
This week, the court heard allegations from Wilson’s barrister, Mr Sibtain that she raised the complaint verbally with Ghost’s husband in October 2023. Ghost’s husband denied the claims in fiery exchanges over raised voices with Mr Sibtain on Tuesday.
“No, no, no,” he repeatedly told Sibtain.
On Tuesday, the court also heard testimony from Bondi resident and Broadway musical producer, Carmen Pavlovic, that Ghost extensively discussed the complaint with her over a dinner at Bondi’s Iceberg’s Dining Room on September 14.
Presiding over the case is Justice Elizabeth Raper, SC. First, she will have to decide, on the evidence, whether the complaint was verbally made to Wilson.
Then she will likely have to decide if it was appropriately handled or investigated.
In that context and more, Justice Raper will likely then need to decide whether Wilson’s Instagram posts about the alleged complaint were defamatory in suggesting MacInnes lied about not making the complaint to help further her musical career with Ghost.
Surrounded by lawyers, her parents, and partner MacInnes cuts a carefree, youthful figure in court.
On the brink of fame, but not quite there yet, the singer-songwriter, is releasing her second solo pop single on Thursday.
Curiously, that’s the same day she’s set to make headlines in her testimony to the court. The Deb movie was also released in Australian cinemas just a week or so before the trial, to mean a cynic might suggest the timing is a big coincidence.
It’s also unclear who is funding MacInnes’ costly legal action.
Either way, it’s hard to avoid the impression of MacInnes as a young actor stuck in the middle of a bitter feud between Ghost, Wilson, and their legal teams.
Wilson has only attended court once, on a Monday. The day allegations around her aggressive behaviour were aired again. On Tuesday, the court even heard she was labelled “f...ing nuts” in her approach to the dispute by her public relations agency.
But whether Wilson is ultimately victorious in defending the claim, under Australia’s complex defamation law, is yet to be seen.
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