Wilson Denies Nude Photo Hack in Sydney Defamation Trial

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- Charlotte MacInnes is suing Rebel Wilson for defamation in Sydney, alleging Wilson directed a cyber attack on her Snapchat account that leaked a nude photo to her contacts — an act she described in her affidavit as 'completely terrifying' — and that the hack came days after she filed her own defamation suit last September.
- Rebel Wilson, on her final day in the witness box, denied the allegation under cross-examination from barrister Sue Chrysanthou, calling it 'an absolutely outrageous statement to make in court that I moonlight as a hacker.'
- Chrysanthou also pressed Wilson over a The Deb Instagram post accusing MacInnes of wearing a 'culturally inappropriate Indian outfit' while singing on billionaire Len Blavatnik's yacht at the Cannes Film Festival, calling the public critique of a lead actress 'utterly unprofessional'; Wilson said she 'classif[ies] it as telling the truth.'
- Wilson claimed MacInnes 'changed her story, she flip-flopped' on her sexual harassment complaint against The Deb producer Amanda Ghost because she received 'huge benefits,' including a role in a Gatsby stage show and a record deal, while Wilson herself received 'no benefit' from going public.
- MacInnes and Ghost do not deny they bathed together in September 2023, weeks before The Deb's shoot, but say they were wearing swimsuits and the encounter followed Ghost suffering a medical episode on Bondi Beach.
- Justice Elizabeth Raper is overseeing the trial, which is nearing the finish line as closing arguments approach.
Why it matters: The trial puts Wilson's own social media conduct under judicial scrutiny at the same time she tries to prove MacInnes defamed her — a credibility collision that could determine whether a major defamation claim survives and what professional consequences follow for the director of The Deb, which Wilson says will never be released because of MacInnes's actions.




