Rebel Wilson
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Rebel Wilson has been sued for defamation by three producers behind her directorial debut, The WolfAfter accusing them of sexual harassment and embezzlement.
In an Instagram video on Wednesday, Wilson said she informed producers last year when she “discovered big things” about “inappropriate behavior toward the film’s lead actress” and “embezzlement of funds from the film’s budget.” She accused them of preventing the film from being screened at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival in September.
Producers Amanda Jost, Gregor Cameron and Vince Holden say in a lawsuit filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court that Wilson lied in an attempt to get released. The Wolf at the Toronto International Film Festival, in addition to securing a writing credit for the film.
The complaint details an antagonistic relationship between the producers and Wilson, who allegedly refused to cooperate with them, left the production for months at a time, and repeatedly gave unauthorized and inappropriate information about the film. They allege the dispute came to a head when she applied to have the writing credit for the film forfeited from Wilson Theatre Scholarship recipient Hannah Riley, despite a contrary decision by the Australian Writers Guild, which in March found that the screenplay was credited to Riley, with Wilson receiving “additional writing credit.”
When she didn’t get her way, Wilson in 2023 falsely accused Jost of sexually harassing a lead actress on the film, according to the complaint. The lawsuit says the actress “vehemently denies any allegations of inappropriate behavior” by the producer, at which point Wilson admitted she was unaware of any specific allegations of sexual misconduct. In her Instagram post on Wednesday, the producers claim she revived the allegations and said Jost “has a history of doing this type of thing, especially toward music artists.”
Other defamatory statements include accusing Jost and Cameron of embezzling money from the film.
despite of The Wolf After it was selected to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, producers were wary because the film was embroiled in several credit and licensing disputes that Wilson allegedly instigated. The lawsuit alleges that she tried to intimidate the trio into giving in to her demands by threatening to accuse them of inappropriate behavior on set in front of her 11 million Instagram followers.
The $22 million film is based on a screenplay by Reilly, which was adapted from a play of the same name, also written by Wilson’s student.
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