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Rebel Wilson has won a defamation case brought against her by actor Charlotte MacInnes, after an Australian judge dismissed claims that the Hollywood star’s Instagram posts about her The Deb co-star had harmed her reputation.
Justice Elizabeth Raper ruled on Wednesday that MacInnes had failed to establish the publications caused, or were likely to cause, serious harm, and ordered her to pay Wilson’s legal costs.
MacInnes, who played the lead role in Wilson’s directorial debut, The Deb, sued the Pitch Perfect and Bridesmaids actor over a series of Instagram posts published in 2024 and 2025.
She alleged the posts falsely suggested that she had withdrawn a complaint of sexual harassment against one of the film’s producers in order to advance her career, and argued that they exposed her to “abuse, hatred and ridicule online” while harming her employment prospects, according to court submissions.
Delivering her judgment, Justice Raper dismissed the case, concluding that MacInnes had “failed to establish that the publications have caused or were likely to cause serious harm”.
Charlotte MacInnes, who played the lead role in Wilson’s directorial debut, The Deb , sued the Pitch Perfect actor over a series of Instagram posts published in 2024 and 2025 (Reuters)
During the trial, the judge said it was established that the only potentially defamatory meaning in Wilson’s posts was an allegation that MacInnes had changed her account of an incident involving one of the film’s producers, but ultimately ruled that this imputation was not defamatory.
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