Pallade Veneta - Bullying claims 'nonsense', actress Rebel Wilson tells Sydney court

Bullying claims 'nonsense', actress Rebel Wilson tells Sydney court


Bullying claims 'nonsense', actress Rebel Wilson tells Sydney court
Bullying claims 'nonsense', actress Rebel Wilson tells Sydney court / Photo: Cindy Ord - GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File

Australian film star Rebel Wilson dismissed as "nonsense" claims she had bullied women on the set of her directorial debut film "The Deb", as she gave evidence in a Sydney court on Tuesday.

Change text size:

Wilson -- star of Hollywood hits including "Bridesmaids" and "Pitch Perfect" -- is accused of defamation by actress Charlotte MacInnes.

The claims centre around Instagram posts and comments by Wilson suggesting MacInnes changed an account of having been victim of sexual harassment in order to advance her career.

The federal court case focuses on an incident where MacInnes and Amanda Ghost, a producer of "The Deb", shared a bath in an apartment after swimming at Bondi Beach.

"It felt like she was making a sexual harassment complaint to me," Wilson told the court on Tuesday according to Australian national broadcaster ABC, referring to communication she had with MacInnes.

An affidavit from Ghost tendered in court on Tuesday described how she and MacInnes had swum at the beach in the early evening of September 2023, returning to her apartment feeling cold.

The pair got into a hot bath while wearing swimming costumes to warm up, it said.

"It was an oversized bath, with plenty of room for two people to sit without touching (and we didn't touch)," Ghost said in the statement tendered to court.

Two days later, Wilson phoned Ghost to say MacInnes had felt uncomfortable about the bath.

MacInnes has denied telling Wilson that and has told the court Wilson had shamed her to 11 million followers on Instagram.

Wilson on Tuesday denied she mistreated women while making "The Deb", saying this was "nonsense".

She told the court she had made truthful statements about MacInnes and Ghost.

B.Fortunato--PV

Featured

Jersey Boys Anniversary Tour Opens in Birmingham With Gritty Account of Crime and Fame

The 20th-anniversary tour of Jersey Boys has opened at Birmingham’s Alexandra Theatre, offering a gritty and unvarnished look at the Four Seasons’ journey. The production details the band's turbulent rise from New Jersey petty criminals to international rock stars, highlighting the complex personal costs behind their musical success.

UBC professor describes police call after Galloway remark as act of care

VANCOUVER — A University of British Columbia professor has testified about a colleague’s decision to call police to visit Steven Galloway after he was accused of sexual assault, describing it as an “act of care” toward the author, who had spoken of killing himself. Galloway, who is suing his accuser and others in a defamation trial centred on the unproven allegations, has described his subsequent committal to a hospital in the United States as “terrifying.

The Cat in the Hat expands its stakes to cosmic scale in animated reboot

The folks behind the new animated “The Cat in the Hat” are pretty confident they’ve got the cat in the bag. It hasn’t even opened yet and there are onscreen references to possible movie spinoffs for the jet-powered magical couch and The Things.

Lettermen co-founder Tony Butala dies at 87

NEW YORK (AP) — Tony Butala, co-founder of the Grammy-nominated trio The Lettermen, whose lush vocal harmonies made them one of the most popular vocal groups of the 1960s, died Sunday. He was 87.

Change text size: