Rebel Wilson is opposing a motion, by one of three producers of her film “The Deb” who are suing her for defamation, to conduct discovery before Wilson’s dismissal motion is heard, saying that by law the case has an automatic stay.
Amanda Ghost has filed a separate defamation action in addition to the one she and fellow producers Gregor Cameron and Vince Holden originally brought against Wilson in Los Angeles Superior Court in July 2024 after Wilson allegedly told her 11 million Instagram followers that the producers of the film had engaged in theft, bullying and sexual misconduct. “The Deb” is a 2024 film that was Wilson’s directorial debut.
Wilson, 45, has moved to dismiss Ghost’s individual action on First Amendment grounds. Wilson’s motion prompted Ghost to file her own motion to take limited additional discovery in order to oppose Wilson’s motion, but such a move requires permission from Judge Thomas D. Long. Ghost contends the discovery will show that Wilson’s statements in a sworn declaration that she had nothing to do with the alleged defamatory social media statements are false.
Among other things, Ghost wants to take the depositions of Wilson and publicist Melissa Nathan in order to ask them about their declarations. But in her own court papers filed Wednesday, Wilson is asking the judge to deny Ghost’s discovery motion.
“After Wilson filed the anti-SLAPP motion, all discovery in connection with Ghost’s cross-complaint was automatically stayed,” Wilson’s attorneys contend in their court papers.
The hold is intended to protect people like Wilson from the burden of discovery and may only be lifted for good cause and not merely to test the truthfulness of an opponent’s declaration, Wilson’s lawyers further state in their pleadings.
“To be very clear, Wilson did not perjure herself (in her declaration),” Wilson’s attorneys argue in their pleadings. “She has stated under oath unequivocally and categorically that she did not create the allegedly defamatory websites, she did not authorize or direct their creation and she does not know who created them.”
Wilson has filed a countersuit in the original underlying case that accuses the producers of a “troubling pattern” of “theft, bullying and sexual misconduct” while also contending that they inflated the film’s budget and split the extra money between them.
In November 2024, the judge denied Wilson’s dismissal motion in the producers’ underlying case and his ruling is under appeal.
In both the underlying case and in opposing Ghost’s individual action, Wilson is citing the state’s anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) statute. The law is aimed at stopping people from using courts, and potential threats of a lawsuit, to intimidate those who are exercising their First Amendment rights.