Almost three months after being sued for defamation by the producers of “The Deb,” Rebel Wilson has filed a countersuit in which she accuses executive producer Vince Holden and producers Amanda Ghost and Gregor Cameron of “theft, bullying and sexual misconduct.”
“The Deb,” a musical comedy that premiered during the Toronto International Film Festival, is Wilson’s directorial debut; she also wrote and stars in the film.
In the lawsuit, filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Wilson says Ghost, Cameron and Holden’s “involvement in the film was marked by a troubling pattern of egregious and illicit behaviors, including theft, bullying and sexual misconduct.”
The filing states that when Wilson attempted to report these “despicable” actions, the three producers “resorted” to what is referred to as “the Amanda Ghost strategy: Intimidation and bullying to silence her and evade accountability.”
The lawsuit frequently singles out Ghost in particular, claiming in part that she failed to disclose a “history of seedy practices and unethical behavior, both in business and her personal life, including, without limitation, self-dealing,
pilfering intellectual property, shelving projects of popular artists due to personal vendettas, treating staff and artists poorly and otherwise ruining promising careers and projects.”
Wilson also accuses Ghost of sexually harassing actress Charlotte MacInnes prior to the start of production.
The lawsuit describes Cameron, Ghost’s husband, as her “enforcer,” and says that Holden “appears to have been corrupted” by them and subsequently drawn into a “fraudulent scheme to steal money from the film’s budget.”
Wilson says her relationship with the three “deteriorated” when she learned of this misconduct. When she attempted to report it, “a malicious and unyielding retaliatory campaign” was “directed at her,” the suit alleges.
Among the other wrongdoings alleged in the lawsuit, Cameron is accused of “unlawfully imprisoning” Wilson and two Australian production assistants where, it says, he shouted verbal abuse in order to get her to back off. The suit also says Wilson was “strong-armed” into signing various documents unwillingly.
The suit says Wilson faced frequent verbal abuse during production, which has “persisted unabated to this day,” and has expanded to include friends.
The lawsuit seeks compensatory, exemplary and other damages, coverage of all legal fees, maximum pre- and post-judgment interest, and any punitive damages and other relief the court should deem appropriate.
Wilson was sued by the producers in July after accusing them of sabotage and embezzlement in a post on Instagram. She did so believing “The Deb” had been prevented from a closing night slot at the Toronto International Film Festival.
In their lawsuit, the producers called Wilson “a bully who will disregard the interests of others to promote her own,” adding that she “attempted to force the issue and bully them into capitulating to her other unreasonable demands by leveraging her popularity on social media to spread these malicious and baseless lies.” Read more here.
