Sydney court clears Rebel Wilson in defamation case over Charlotte MacInnes posts

A Sydney court cleared Rebel Wilson in a defamation case brought by Charlotte MacInnes, the young Australian actress who appears in Wilson’s directorial debut, The Deb. The Federal Court of Australia case in Sydney focused on Instagram posts Wilson published in 2024 and 2025 about MacInnes and on whether those posts crossed the legal line from criticism into defamation.

MacInnes sued over claims Wilson had suggested she was sexually harassed by a producer and then withdrew or concealed the complaint to help her career. Wilson denied the allegations during the trial, and her legal team argued that the posts were aimed at a broader, damaging pattern in the entertainment industry rather than a false attack on MacInnes herself. Coverage of the case said the final stage turned on accusations that Wilson was making a “complete revision of history.”

The trial ran for two weeks and drew intense attention because both women are tied to The Deb, a project that has already had a troubled public rollout. Wilson testified in court and described herself as a “champion of women”, while MacInnes’s side challenged Wilson’s account of events around the production and the social media posts that followed.

The dispute also sits within Wilson’s longer history with defamation litigation. She previously won a major defamation case against Bauer Media, a background that has made her one of Australia’s most recognizable figures in public disputes over reputation, speech and the reach of social media.

The Federal Court’s online file for Charlotte MacInnes v Rebel Wilson confirms the proceedings were heard in the Federal Court of Australia. The ruling gives a sharper edge to the question now facing celebrities online: when a post is framed as commentary on a wider problem, Australian defamation law still asks whether it unfairly singles out a named person and damages their reputation. In Wilson’s case, the court said no.