Rebel Wilson has hit back at the producers of her latest film The Deb over a defamation lawsuit they filed against her last month involving Sacha Baron Cohen, insisting she has “substantial evidence of his blatant lies.”
The fallout began on July 2 when Rebel, 44, posted a video on Instagram accusing producers Amanda Ghost, Gregor Cameron and Vince Holden of “blocking” her film from the Toronto International Film Festival, engaging in “inappropriate behavior toward a lead actor,” and “misappropriating funds from the film’s budget.”
In response, the trio filed a $35,000 defamation suit, accusing her of “bullying staff,” “vindictive behavior” and “shirking her responsibilities” as the film’s director.
She was also accused of “disappearing from the set for extended periods… and falsely claiming writing credits” to Hannah Reilly, the young writer she hired.
Rebel Wilson is being sued for defamation by the producers of her film The Deb over scathing comments she made on Instagram last month (pictured in the UK in April)
The suit was amended to include the debacle between Rebel, 44, and Sacha Baron Cohen, 52 (pictured), which erupted over allegations of “sexual harassment” made in her memoir Rebel Rising.
In an amendment to the lawsuit obtained by DailyMail.com, producers have now cited Rebel’s allegations against Sacha, 52, which she made in her autobiography Rebel Rising earlier this year.
They claimed the “false” accusations were “used to promote the sale of her book” as she “hypocritically played the victim to gain public sympathy in the hope that it would further her professional interests.”
DailyMail.com has learned exclusively from sources close to Rebel that she has “substantial evidence of her blatant lies”, proving she did not fail in her duties as a director.
Dozens of cast and crew members have written statements of support for the actress, whom they described as “professional” and “incredibly supportive” on set.
Shane Jacobson, who stars in the film, said: “I found Rebel to be incredibly supportive and collaborative on set, not only with me, but with those around me during filming and throughout… I’ve had the pleasure of working with many great directors throughout my extensive career, and I would be more than happy to put my hand up for Rebel Wilson to direct me again at any time in the future.”
Crew member Jane Dawkins added: “As part of the team that worked closely with you for months, Rebel you were very professional, approachable and a great director. You treated everyone with respect and were very generous with your time taking photos with everyone between scenes. We all said it – one of our favourite films to work on! It would be a shame if this little Aussie film didn’t make it to the screen.”
In addition to the statements – some of which had already been made public previously – Page six – The source said Rebel has “proof in the form of photos and videos” taken every day of filming, proving she went “above and beyond.”
“Filming for The Deb ran from October to December last year and Rebel was there every day,” said a source close to the shoot. “She was the director for every scene and exceeded all expectations. She also worked 16-hour days for most of the days that filming lasted.”
Rebel claimed that while filming The Brother’s Grimbsy in 2016, Sacha would ask her to strip for scenes despite her “no nudity” rule (she is pictured in a scene from the film)
The suit was filed by producers Vincent Holden (left), Gregor Cameron and Amanda Ghost (pictured together right), who called Rebel a “malicious bully.”
“In addition to the letters, there were photos and videos every day proving she was there. They also recorded an EPK every day to use the footage for promotional purposes.”
Earlier this month, The Deb’s producers, who are represented by attorney Camille Vasquez, amended their lawsuit to add: “In her autobiography, Rebel Rising, the actress included false allegations about Sacha Baron Cohen’s alleged inappropriate behavior on the set of the 2016 comedy The Brothers Grimbsy.”
“Rebel successfully used the furor surrounding these types of allegations to boost sales of her book. As in this situation, Rebel hypocritically played the victim to garner public sympathy. Rebel has used this tactic too many times,” the amended complaint reads.
Ahead of the release of his autobiography Rebel Rising in April, passages from the book were censored in the UK, Australia and New Zealand after Sacha threatened a lawsuit over claims he made in the book.
The Borat actor claimed that all of Rebel’s accusations were fabricated to boost sales.
Among them were claims that while filming ‘The Brothers Grimbsy’, Sacha asked her to strip for scenes despite his ‘no nudity rule’.
She also claimed that Sacha asked her to put his finger in his ass because he thought it would be a funny scene in the film and wrote that “I felt like (he) had sexually harassed me.”
According to another source, this was a scene from the movie and not something Rebel privately asked for.
Rebel in a scene from the musical comedy The Deb, which was filmed in Australia last year
A friend of Rebel’s disagrees, calling Sacha’s denials “outright lies.”
“Sacha has not filed any complaint. If he could have proven his innocence, he would have done so,” the source said.
‘Instead, the whole matter was buried and forgotten until The Deb’s producers mentioned it in their lawsuit to draw attention to their case.
“This will come back to haunt her, of course, because of the evidence she has to prove that they are lying about their allegations surrounding her involvement in the film. She was very dedicated to this film and the letters and evidence prove that.”
Another source said her presence on set is “irrelevant” to the matters of the defamation case.
“The filmmakers never made any claims about Rebel not being active on set,” they said.
“There were stages of the productions in which she participated and others in which she did not. That is irrelevant to the issue at hand in the defamation case.”
Representatives for Rebel, as well as attorneys for the producers of The Deb, have been contacted.
A spokesperson for Sacha told DailyMail.com: ‘HarperCollins failed to fact-check this chapter of the book before publication and took the sensible but terribly late step of removing Rebel Wilson’s defamatory claims once presented with evidence that they were false.
‘In the UK and Australia, publishing false information is prohibited. This is not a “quirk”, as Ms Wilson said, but a legal principle that has existed for hundreds of years.
‘This is a clear victory for Sacha Baron Cohen and confirms what we have said all along: that this is demonstrably false, a shameful and failed attempt to sell books.’
The defamation lawsuit filed by the producers of The Deb came after Rebel shared an Instagram video accusing the producers of extorting funds and blocking the debut of her latest film at the Toronto International Film Festival.
They responded with the complaint that was filed earlier this month in Los Angeles.
After being called a ‘malicious bully’, Rebel responded on Instagram to defend her allegations that producers were secretly pocketing money from the low-budget film.
The legal battle began when Rebel accused the producers of her film of “bad behavior” on the set, misappropriating film funds, while calling them “vile and disgusting.”
“Len Blavatnik, please stop funding and protecting Amanda Ghost, Gregor Cameron and Vince Holden,” she said in a video. “Clearly these recent press articles and the constant retaliation against me for speaking the truth about my small Australian film are FALSE.
“All I did was tell the truth about these complete morons. Now they are filing a false defamation lawsuit and producing fake articles to cause even more damage.”
Rebel also claimed in her initial video that The Deb producers deprived her of a writing credit on the film.
However, the independent source said that writing credits are given by the Writers Guild of Australia and not the producers.
Boy George, who is friends with Amanda, also weighed in on the ongoing feud, describing Rebel’s claims as “outrageous and painfully untrue stuff.”
Rebel’s directorial debut, The Deb, is set to hit theaters on September 15. The film will close the Toronto International Film Festival, which runs from September 5-15.
The film, an adaptation of the Hannah Reilly and Megan Washington musical that was originally scheduled to premiere in 2022 at Sydney’s Rebel Theatre, also stars Natalie Abbott.