Film producers behind Rebel Wilson’s comedy musical ‘The Deb’ are suing the actress for defamation after she accused them of embezzlement and sabotaging the film on social media.
The lawsuit was filed by The Deb producers Amanda Ghost, Gregory Cameron and Vince Holden, who were the subjects of a scathing attack posted to Wilson’s Instagram, accusing them of “vile and disgusting” behaviour.
The Pitch Perfect star accused the producers of “bad behaviour” including embezzling from the film’s budget, inappropriate behaviour towards the film’s female lead, making her life “hell” and burying the film right before it was expected to be released.
Wilson claims the producers are blocking the film from its Toronto Film Festival premiere as retaliation after she reported the behaviour.
The producers, who Wilson named directly in the video, filed a lawsuit in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleging Wilson’s comments were a “fictitious story” and a “defamatory tale”.
“Rebel Wilson has a history of fabricating false and malicious lies to hide her own lack of professionalism and advance her own self-interest,” the documents read.
“This lawsuit is about holding Rebel accountable for her attempts to bully Plaintiffs into conceding to her unreasonable demands by spreading vicious lies without regard for the irreparable damage her reckless words would cause on the hard-earned personal and professional reputations of (the film’s producers).
The dispute between Wilson and the film’s producers reportedly reached boiling point when Wilson allegedly sought to claim writing credit for the film, which was written by an upcoming writer Hannah Reilly, who was the recipient of Wilson’s theatre scholarship.
“Rebel’s goal in these several disputes was to get credit for work she did not do, and to overshadow young, upcoming artists who truly deserved the credit”
“When Rebel did not get her way in these disputes, she revived a fictitious story about Ms Ghost sexually harassing a lead actor in “The Deb” that has absolutely no basis in reality, as the actor that is the subject of this defamatory tale has repeatedly confirmed.”
Following the filing of the defamation suit, Wilson again posted to her 11 million followers, sharing a video of the crew dancing following the completion of filming.
“This is what happened immediately after we finished our last shot of the film with the entire cast and crew,” Wilson wrote.
“But now these f**kwit ‘producers’ are trying to file a defamation case claiming all sorts of rubbish.
“The cast and crew are with me and want this movie to premiere at Toronto. They’ve been called out for their bad behaviour and now they want to file a defamation claim, pretty sure I have 200 witnesses to prove what I’m saying is right.
“So good luck f**kwit with producers trying to prove anything other than I’m a professional who did an amazing job as a first time female director.
“…and it’s not defamation if it’s the truth.”