By Alasdair Pal and Christine Chen
SYDNEY, July 22 (Reuters) – A Sydney court on Wednesday cleared Australian actor Rebel Wilson of defaming Charlotte MacInnes, the lead actor in Wilson’s directorial debut “The Deb,” over allegations linked to social media posts Wilson made about MacInnes.
MacInnes’ legal team confirmed to Reuters an appeal of the decision by the Federal Court of Australia would be lodged shortly.
The dispute between the two actors centered on an incident in September 2023 when MacInnes and one of the film’s producers went swimming at the city’s Bondi Beach and subsequently bathed together.
Wilson later posted on Instagram that MacInnes had complained to her about feeling uncomfortable during the incident but subsequently changed her account.
MacInnes claimed the four posts, published between September 2024 and July 2025, were defamatory or breached her confidence.
But Judge Elizabeth Raper found the posts were not defamatory, and that MacInnes failed to demonstrate the publication caused serious reputational harm.
“I do not accept that the meaning conveyed was inherently serious or of a defamatory nature,” Raper wrote in a lengthy written judgment published after delivering her verdict.
“There is no evidence of the actual impact of the publication on Ms MacInnes’ reputation.”
Wilson, who appeared in Bridesmaids and starred in the Pitch Perfect film series, thanked supporters in an Instagram post after the verdict.
“I’m grateful this chapter has reached its conclusion and I’m looking forward to getting back to what I love most, my family and my work,” she said.
“Thank you to the judge and the Australian legal system who I have the utmost respect for.”
In 2017, Wilson won her own defamation suit against a global magazine publisher after an Australian court found a series of articles alleging she was a serial liar had damaged her career.
(Reporting by Alasdair Pal and Christine Chen in Sydney; Editing by Jamie Freed and Michael Perry)
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