Rebel Wilson hit with defamation lawsuit after she accuses The Deb's producers of 'bad behaviour'

Rebel Wilson has found herself embroiled in a legal battle with the producers of her directorial debut, just days after publicly accusing them of misconduct on social media. The defamation suit, filed on Friday, July 12, in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, follows Wilson’s allegations against producers Amanda Ghost, Gregor Cameron, and executive producer Vince Holden.

On Wednesday, July 10, the 44-year-old actress took to Instagram, posting a detailed video accusing the producers of "bad behaviour" on set. Wilson claimed she faced "absolute viciousness and retaliatory behaviour" after reporting these actions and alleged that the producers were responsible for blocking the film from premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

In their defamation suit, Ghost, Cameron, and Holden vehemently denied Wilson's claims. They refuted accusations of embezzling funds and inappropriate behaviour towards the lead actress. Instead, the lawsuit pointed fingers at Wilson, accusing her of refusing to collaborate, being absent from the film for extended periods, and behaving unprofessionally with the film’s employees.

"She flatly refused to collaborate with Plaintiffs, absconded from the Film for months at a time, behaved unprofessionally with employees of the Film, and repeatedly made unauthorized and improper disclosures about the Film," reads a section of the legal document obtained by People.

The lawsuit further detailed that the conflict intensified after Wilson expressed interest in a co-writing credit and rights to the film's original music. According to the producers, Wilson sought credit for work she did not do, overshadowing other deserving artists.

The producers also addressed the withdrawal of The Deb from TIFF, explaining that ongoing disputes made it challenging to proceed with marketing the film. They claimed to have continuously attempted to resolve the issues in good faith, while Wilson allegedly used her social media influence to spread false statements and pressure them into meeting her demands.

"Even though the plan was always to show the Film at TIFF, Rebel attempted to force the issue and bully them into capitulating to her other unreasonable demands by leveraging her popularity on social media to spread these malicious and baseless lies about [the producers] to her 11 million Instagram followers," the lawsuit alleges. "This was a vindictive attempt to destroy [the producers’] reputations with what she knew were demonstrably false statements."

In response to the lawsuit, Wilson took to Instagram again, posting an on-set photo with a caption asserting the truth of her statements. "It’s not defamation if it’s the TRUTH," she wrote. Wilson also shared photos featuring the Australian cast and crew, reiterating her stance and claiming to have numerous witnesses supporting her allegations.