Rebel Wilson is requested ‘did you simply make that up?’ as she steps into the witness field at Charlotte MacInnes defamation trial

Rebel Wilson appeared confused on the witness stand on Tuesday morning.

Charlotte MacInnes’ lawyer Sue Chrysanthou SC immediately hit her with a barrage of questions over her treatment of women during the making of The Deb.

The Pitch Perfect actor told the court she was a ‘champion of women’ who had never launched criticism against her female colleagues.

Ms Chrysanthou pointed out that Wilson had launched significant criticism at MacInnes and The Deb’s producer Amanda Ghost.

Wilson agreed she had criticised those women on social media, but she said those claims were ‘true’.

Asked whether she recalled making negative statements about MacInnes and Ghost to others, Wilson said she couldn’t remember.

She also couldn’t remember giving statements about the defamation proceedings to the press, nor could she remember texting someone about The Deb’s original writer, Hannah Reilly, saying ‘she can go f*** herself’.

Wilson then told the court she could not recall whether she had previously been sued for defamation for identifying the wrong journalist in a social media post, she said ‘I can’t recall’.

Ms Chrysanthou asked: ‘Ms Wilson, you look confused, are you confused?

Wilson replied: ‘Yes, I’m not sure what you’re referring to.’

Ms Chrysanthou said: ‘Really? Wasn’t there a scandal on social media where you identified the wrong journalist?’

Ms Wilson said: ‘There’s stuff written about me on a daily basis in the press so I can’t recall.’

‘Ms Wilson, do you have a good memory?’ Ms Chrysanthou asked.

‘I would say I have a normal memory,’ Wilson replied.

Ms Chrysanthou said: ‘Then why don’t you remember being sued for defamation?’

Wilson said: ‘There’s stuff written about me on a daily basis in the press so I can’t recall.’

Wilson settled a defamation case for $120,000 for launching a social media tirade against freelance Australian journalist Elizabeth Wilsn in 2016.

‘If your name is Elizabeth Wilson and you work for ACP Magazines, just know that you are a disgrace for harassing my sweet, sick grandma,’ Wilson wrote on Twitter.

She then posted a photo of another Elizabeth Wilson who worked at the same company.

Rebel Wilson stumbled her way through cross-examination on Tuesday morning.

But aside from batting her false eyelashes and flicking her ponytail, she didn’t so much as raise an eyebrow.

Wilson was asked several times whether she understood the question or if she was just confused, until she was eventually asked if her confusion was a charade.

She assured the court her bewilderment was genuine.

Her memory appeared to have failed her on multiple counts – she couldn’t remember claiming to be the first plus-size lead actor in a romantic comedy, or whether she was sued for defamation in 2016.

She also couldn’t remember telling cast and crew that The Deb’s lead actor Charlotte MacInnes was a ‘liar’, or what media outlets she spoke to about the same claim.

Asked whether she had a good memory, Wilson hesitated: ‘I have a normal memory.’

Within her first three hours under cross-examination, she asked for a number of questions to be repeated and often answered very slowly, losing every bit of the confidence displayed in her films.

Her most popular words were ‘um’, ‘ah’, and ‘I don’t recall’.

The experience was probably humiliating for Wilson – she was repeatedly accused of inventing evidence, orchestrating a smear campaign, and mistreating women.

But it was hard to tell because Wilson’s taut face barely moved.

Rebel Wilson was grilled over two ‘take-down’ websites that emerged in August 2024 about The Deb’s co-producer, Amanda Ghost.

The sites, amandaghost.com and amandaghostsucks.com, contained a raft of criminal allegations against Ms Ghost, describing her as the Indian version of Ghislaine Maxwell.

Maxwell trafficked teenage girls for notorious paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The sites also accused Ms Ghost of stealing writing credits from Shakira and others.

The court previously heard Wilson’s company, Camp Sugar, emailed a crisis PR firm about the websites.

Last week, the court heard the owner of the firm Melissa Nathan texted another employee: ‘So basically Rebel wants one of those sites’.

In court on Tuesday, Wilson denied ordering the sites.

However, she agreed the PR firm was hired on her behalf by a member of her legal team.

Defamation lawyer Sue Chrysanthou SC pointed to an interview Wilson did with Channel Nine journalist Tara Brown on 60 Minutes.

In that interview, Wilson told Ms Brown she had nothing to do with the sites.

Ms Brown asked: ‘So why is your name linked to it? Why does she say Rebel?’

Wilson replied: ‘I have no idea. I don’t know whether those texts are real. I don’t know where they came from. I learnt about it in the press and was like, “oh okay’…but obviously the evidence is with the court that I had absolutely nothing to do with it.’

In court on Tuesday, Ms Chrysanthou asked why she questioned the authenticity of the texts.

She pointed out that Wilson had seen the texts in a previous court case.

Wilson said she was not a party to those texts so she couldn’t confirm if they were authentic.

Wilson said: ‘I can see how people might think I’m associated.’

Ms Chrysanthou put to Wilson that Camp Sugar was listed as an author in PR firm emails, she was named in the texts, and a document from August 2024 was allegedly authored and modified by Camp Sugar. She said: ‘How do you explain that?’

The document contained allegations about Ms Ghost.

Wilson said the document was under Camp Sugar but she couldn’t confirm who actually wrote it.

Charlotte MacInnes’ barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC has accused Rebel Wilson of inventing evidence.

Wilson was grilled over the reason she didn’t appear in court beyond the first day of the defamation case last Monday.

She has been absent from Tuesday.

Wilson said she didn’t feel safe leaving the court on Monday due to the media attention.

‘When I tried to leave there was a media scrum downstairs, which prevented me from leaving safely,’ she said.

‘When I did leave, a man fell over and I thought I could watch it on YouTube, so that was a better use of my time.’

Ms Chrysanthou said Wilson’s lawyer Dauid Sibtain SC had told the court last week that his client would not be in court while other witnesses gave evidence.

Wilson said: ‘I don’t remember him saying that.’

Ms Chrysanthou asked whether she didn’t attend court because there were issues entering and exiting the building, or if Wilson thought she shouldn’t watch evidence.

Wilson said: ‘The media was a contributing factor – originally I didn’t want to hear the other witnesses, I take this seriously and it’s important in my life, but knowing it was available on YouTube, I watched it on YouTube.’

Ms Chrysanthou asked: ‘So the evidence about the media scrum is made up?’

Wilson said her non-appearance in court was a mixure of both factors.

Rebel Wilson smiled as she walked into the Federal Court in Sydney on Tuesday.

She will be cross-examined for two days by Charlotte MacInnes’ barrister, Sue Chrysanthou SC.

Wilson is represented by Dauid Sibtain SC.

The trial is being livestreamed on the court’s YouTube page.

More than 1100 people were watching the livestream from 10.30am, before Wilson was called to the witness box.

Rebel Wilson is being sued for defamation in the Federal Court by Charlotte MacInnes – the lead actor in musical comedy The Deb, which was directed by Wilson.

MacInnes launched legal proceedings in September after a series of Instagram posts where Wilson accused her of complaining about unwanted sexual advances by producer Amanda Ghost, and then lying about it to get a record contract.

MacInnes denies the sexual assault occurred, that she complained about it to Wilson, and that she retracted it in return for another lead role and the record deal.

The situation unfolded when MacInnes and Ghost had a sunset swim at Bondi Beach on September 5, 2023.

Ghost had a flare-up of a rare condition called cold urticaria, which causes hives or swelling after exposure to cold air or water. MacInnes took her back to their rented Bondi penthouse and ran a hot bath.

MacInnes got in the bath with Ghost. They were both wearing swimming costumes.

Wilson claims MacInnes felt uncomfortable about bathing with Ghsot, who was her boss at the time, and made a complaint to Wilson.

MacInnes says she never felt uncomfortable about the bath and denies making a complaint.

According to MacInnes’ statement of claim, Wilson’s posts accused her of lying about sexual assault and blocking the film’s release, and portraying her as selfishly prioritising her own career over cast and crew who worked on The Deb.

She claims Wilson’s social media posts damaged her professional reputation and created doubts about her trustworthiness before she played her first lead role in a film.

MacInnes is seeking aggravated damages for serious harm caused, as well as a court order preventing Wilson from repeating the claims online.