Rebel Wilson has made an explosive claim in court that her concerns about a film producer intensified after UK-based singer-songwriter and actor FKA Twigs told her about her own “troubling” experience of bullying and harassment by the same executive.
Wilson, 46, is defending a Federal Court defamation suit brought against her by Charlotte MacInnes, 27, a lead actor in Australian musical film The Deb. The film marked Wilson’s directorial debut.
Wilson is facing separate lawsuits in Australia and the US from the international co-producers of The Deb, including Amanda Ghost.
Ghost, who is also a songwriter, co-wrote hits for international artists including James Blunt (You’re Beautiful). She is a key witness in the defamation case brought by MacInnes.
Wilson alleges in an affidavit – written evidence – released by the Federal Court on Friday that FKA Twigs told her “some very troubling things” about Ghost in an October 2023 phone call, including that she and Ghost “fell out” professionally because she believed Ghost was “bullying and harassing her and trying to control her”.
Wilson alleged FKA Twigs told her that Ghost “initiated unwanted sexual contact” towards her during a work trip in Miami.
She also alleged FKA Twigs told her “Ghost had set out to destroy her career by blocking the release of her latest album” and “engaged in retaliatory bullying against her” when she complained to Sir Len Blavatnik, the majority owner of Warner Music.
The court has heard Blavatnik was involved in financing The Deb.
Ghost has emphatically denied the claims. FKA Twigs was not called to give evidence, meaning she could not be asked if the alleged conversation with Wilson took place.
Ghost said in her own affidavit that she had “not tried to block or interfere with FKA Twigs’ record deal” and did “not have the power to do that”.
She said that any implication that her relationship with FKA Twigs “went beyond the professional … is false”.
“I am not, and have never been, sexually interested in women,” Ghost said.
Wilson’s barrister, Dauid Sibtain, SC, told the Federal Court this week that the alleged conversation between his client and FKA Twigs was relevant to Wilson’s state of mind during key events canvassed in the defamation case.
A central issue in the defamation fight is whether MacInnes made a complaint to Wilson that Ghost made her uncomfortable during an incident in Bondi in September 2023 during which the pair shared a bath while wearing their swimmers. MacInnes denies making any such complaint.
Wilson suggested in Instagram stories posted between September 2024 and July last year that MacInnes made “a complaint to me as director” that Ghost “asked her to have a bath and shower with her and it made her feel uncomfortable”.
She alleged MacInnes later “changed her story” to secure career opportunities via Ghost including a record deal. The young actor and singer rejects that claim.
Neither MacInnes nor Ghost was named in the initial story, but it contained identifying information including an image of MacInnes.
There is no dispute Ghost and MacInnes shared a bath on September 5, 2023, while wearing their swimming costumes.
The women say it was in response to a medical episode in which Ghost had a reaction to cold water after swimming at Bondi Beach. At the time, they were staying at a rented Bondi apartment during rehearsals for The Deb.
It is also not disputed that Wilson called MacInnes on September 7, 2023, before texting Ghost: “Charlotte says all good. She just meant ‘it was a bizarre situation’ not that she felt personally uncomfortable x.”
But Wilson raised the alleged complaint about the bath incident again in October 2023. MacInnes’ barrister, Sue Chrysanthou, SC, alleges she did so as “leverage” amid a commercial dispute with the film’s producers rather than to protect a young actor, an allegation Wilson denies.
The defamation case continues on May 8.
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