Rebel Wilson. Dave Benett/Getty Images for Emirates
Rebel Wilson is being sued for defamation ahead of her directorial debut with The Deb.
According to court documents obtained by Us Weekly on Friday, July 12, producers Amanda Ghost, Gregor Cameron and Vince Holden chose to file a lawsuit in hopes of “holding Rebel accountable for her attempts to bully plaintiffs into conceding to her unreasonable demands by spreading vicious lies without regard for the irreparable damage her reckless words would cause” on them.
While Wilson, 44, has played the funny girl in a variety of movies like Pitch Perfect and Bridesmaids, The Deb producers involved in the suit alleged that the actress is a “bully who will disregard the interests of others to promote her own.”
Ghost, Cameron and Holden allege in court documents that Wilson “behaved unprofessionally with employees” and “repeatedly made unauthorized and improper disclosures” about the film.
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Another point of contention is a dispute over credits. Wilson sought co-authorship of the screenplay as well as rights to the film’s original music. According to the suit, Hannah Riley, the original screenwriter who producers called Wilson’s “protégé,” was awarded full credit by the Australian Writers Guild. Wilson was granted an “additional writing by” credit on the script, which the producers alleged she was not satisfied with.
The lawsuit comes after Wilson posted a video via Instagram where she expressed her disappointment that The Deb couldn’t premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. She then questioned why her business partners would not want the movie to premiere there.
“This dates back to October of last year, where I discovered bad behavior by these business partners,” she said on Wednesday, July 10. “And let me just, you know, I just tell it how it is, so I’m just going to tell you who they are. They are so called producers of the film — I use that phrase very lightly. Their names are Amanda Ghost and Gregory Cameron and an executive producer who works with them called Vince Holden.”
Wilson said she reported their “bad behavior,” which allegedly included “inappropriate behavior towards the lead actress of the film” and “embezzling funds from the film’s budget.”
Wilson added, “Since I reported that behavior, I have been met with absolute viciousness and retaliatory behavior.”
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In the lawsuit, Ghost, Cameron and Holden denied embezzling from the film’s budget and said there was “absolutely no basis in reality” to claims a producer harassed a lead actor.
According to court documents, Wilson’s conduct “has caused severe financial, professional and reputational harm to the plaintiffs and jeopardized the success of the film.”
Us has reached out to Wilson’s rep for comment on the suit.