Hollywood A-lister despairs at star’s alleged complaint

The Pitch Perfect star is being sued by Charlotte MacInnes, the 27-year-old lead actor of the musical comedy The Deb.

MacInnes claims she was defamed by Wilson in social media posts suggesting she is a liar who withdrew a sexual harassment complaint to further her acting and music career.

MacInnes confided that she felt uncomfortable after the film’s co-producer, Amanda Ghost, asked to shower and bathe together in September 2023, Wilson said.

During her second day in the witness box today, the new director told the Federal Court that the young actor later “flip-flopped” about her complaint while sounding nervous during a phone call.

MacInnes’ barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC noted that her client had consistently denied making a complaint and suggested Wilson had fabricated the comments to sow division.

The Bridesmaids star dismissed the accusation, describing a producer and a young lead actor living and taking a bath together as a terrible scenario.

“It’s an absolute nightmare situation for me as a first-time director making a film that is essentially a girl-power film,” she said.

“It would not be in my best interest at all to file a sexual harassment complaint.”

Wilson suggested that someone talk to MacInnes to get her to change her story before the phone call during which the young actor insisted she had not felt uncomfortable during the earlier incident.

The new director reported the conversation back to Ghost, telling her, “Charlotte says everything right,” according to texts tendered to the court.

But Wilson said she felt a lingering sense of unease about the situation after noticing a change in the way the couple interacted, including overt sexual conversations.

“It was really suss,” she said.

Chrysanthou accused the Hollywood star of raising the alleged complaint after it was resolved to get her way during a dispute with her co-producer, something Wilson denied.

The famed actor has also repeatedly denied bullying and harassing MacInnes, saying she considers herself a champion of women.

She was questioned about text messages she sent to the young star in May 2023 after inviting her to a theater production with other cast members of The Deb.

MacInnes apologized for not contacting her and blamed it on a lack of Wi-Fi, the text messages showed.

“I appreciate the apology,” Wilson responded.

“In the future, it would be terribly rude to say you wanted a ticket to a show and then not answer or answer… not a good start to our working relationship.”

MacInnes sent “huge apologies” and praised the older actor as “nothing short of amazing”.

Wilson rejected Chrysanthou’s suggestions that the text was completely inappropriate, bullying or “excessive chastisement” for a young actor.

“I don’t consider one text message as bullying,” she said.

She similarly rejected any suggestion of wrongdoing in relation to her failure to hand over communications requested by MacInnes’ legal team.

Wilson said her phone was stolen in London in 2025 and some of her WhatsApp and text chains were not backed up.

“Are you sure your phone was stolen and you didn’t just dump it in a park?” Chrysanthou asked.

Wilson’s lawyer Dauid Sibtain SC objected to the question, but not before his client described the accusation as “absolutely outrageous”.

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