Rebel Wilson breaks silence on 'The Deb' controversies and allegations
Rebel Wilson has now commented on the many controversies and legal battles surrounding her directorial debut feature, The Deb, describing them as her "worst nightmare."Best known for her roles in Pitch Perfect and Bridesmaids, Wilson has been the target of two lawsuits defamation and breach of contract by The Meg producers Amanda Ghost, Gregor Cameron, and Vince Holden, in addition to the movie's star Charlotte MacInnes.In response, Wilson filed a countersuit in which she doubled down on the allegations of sexual assault, and how producers attached to the project allegedly stole money from the movie itself. Wilson also claimed that producers of The Meg were having "inappropriate behavior towards the lead actress of the film." "I felt, in my position as director, I had to report that, and the moment I did, started all the retaliation against me," Wilson told 60 Minutes Australia. "All I can say is she came to me, she made what I obviously inferred as a sexual harassment complaint, and I had a duty to then act on it."Elsewhere in the interview, Wilson brought up being "presented with texts in which [she] seemed to have clarified the 'bizarre situation' with Ghost and relayed that the incident did not actually make MacInnes uncomfortable." The director attempted to "maintain professional communication" with Ghost, though she already "very uneasy" about the situation.In her financial lawsuit, Wilson accused the producers of attempting to embezzle close to a million dollars from the movie's budget, as well as of uploading a video to Instagram in July 2024 in which she said the producers are blocking the movie from premiering at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Wilson confidently alleged that this happened because "they knew it would be good for me as a first-time female director to have that profile and they blocked it as part of their retaliation against me speaking up against them." Her blasting them on social media had the intended result of getting the film to premiere at TIFF, but it was also the reason for the defamation lawsuit."It's wild it's gotten to this point," The Deb director went on. "I think it's a ridiculous waste of the Australian legal system. [MacInnes] reported something to me, I acted on it in my position as the director of the movie," Wilson said of the lawsuits. "I had a legal, ethical, moral responsibility to do that."Watch Rebel Wilson's interview with 60 Minutes Australia below.