Rebel Wilson has obtained a Los Angeles judge’s help in deposing an executive producer in Wilson’s film “The Deb,” who the Australian actress’ attorneys say is an important witness in her defense against a defamation suit brought by three other producers.
Amanda Ghost, Gregor Cameron and Vince Holden originally sued Wilson in July 2024 in Los Angeles Superior Court after Wilson posted to her 11 million Instagram followers that those three producers of the film, which she directed, had engaged in stealing, browbeating and sexual wrongdoing.
Wilson has countersued the plaintiffs, accusing the producers of a “troubling pattern” of “theft, bullying and sexual misconduct” and that they inflated the film’s budget and split the extra money between them.
On Thursday, Judge Thomas D. Long approved a motion by the 45-year-old Australian Wilson’s attorneys that asked the judge to certify for forwarding to the English High Court a “letter of request” regarding United Kingdom resident Danny Cohen, who was responsible for the oversight of “The Deb,” the 2024 film that was Wilson’s directorial debut.
According to Wilson, she told Cohen, among other things, that “The Deb” actress Charlotte Maclnnes was being sexually harassed by Ghost, that MacInnes suffered a breakdown as a result of the harassment and that Ghost, Cameron and Holden had embezzled and split $900,000 in Australian dollars from the film’s budget.
“While Mr. Cohen seemingly chose to ignore Wilson’s reports of misconduct, he will be able to testify as to what Ms. Wilson reported…,” according to Wilson’s attorneys’ court papers.
Last Nov. 21, the judge denied Wilson’s attempt to dismiss the producers’ original defamation suit with an anti-SLAPP motion and his ruling is now on appeal. The state’s anti-SLAPP — Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation — statute is aimed at stopping people from using courts, and potential threats of a lawsuit, to intimidate those who are exercising their First Amendment rights.
The judge found that the statements at issue by the 44-year-old Wilson did not involve matters of public interest, but instead were made in the context of the celebrity’s private business dispute with the plaintiffs surrounding the production and premiere of the film.
“The fact that defendant’s statements accuse plaintiff of criminal conduct make them defamatory on their face,” the judge wrote.
The producers’ legal team includes Camille M. Vasquez, who represented Johnny Depp in his dueling litigation with former spouse Amber Heard. Vasquez wrote Ghost’s new countersuit.
Wilson’s film credits include the 2011 comedy films “Bridesmaids” and “A Few Best Men.”
Trial of the case is scheduled Oct. 5, 2026.