Rebel Wilson's Legal Battle Intensifies: Producer Amanda Ghost Gains Edge In 'The Deb' Defamation Row

When Rebel Wilson took to Instagram in July 2024 to address her 11 million followers, she alleged that the producers of her directorial debut film "The Deb" had engaged in theft, bullying and sexual misconduct.

In her video, Wilson accused them of attempting to sabotage the film's premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and embezzling AU$900,000 (approximately $612,000 USD) from the production budget.

What followed was not merely a creative dispute—it became a full-scale legal war, complete with competing defamation claims, counterclaims and increasingly complex procedural battles that have now taken a significant turn.

On Thursday, 9 January 2026, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Thomas D. Long handed producer Amanda Ghost a crucial victory, one that could fundamentally alter the trajectory of her defamation lawsuit against the 45-year-old Australian actress.

The ruling may seem procedural on its surface, but for those closely following this Hollywood clash, it signals that Ghost's legal team is gaining meaningful traction in what has become one of the entertainment industry's most contentious battles.

Rebel Wilson's Anti-SLAPP Defence Faces New Scrutiny

When Wilson moved to dismiss Ghost's individual defamation action filed in September 2025, she leaned heavily on California's anti-SLAPP statute—a law designed to protect people exercising their First Amendment rights from frivolous lawsuits intended to silence them. It's a powerful shield, and one that Wilson's attorneys, led by high-profile counsel Bryan Freedman, have wielded aggressively throughout this litigation.

Freedman, the same attorney representing Justin Baldoni in his defamation battle with Blake Lively, has issued statements accusing Ghost, Cameron, and Holden of attempting to 'manipulate the narrative by recklessly filing an outrageous lawsuit.'

But Judge Thomas D. Long has now cracked that shield, at least partially. In his Thursday ruling, the judge granted Ghost's request for limited discovery—allowing her legal team to obtain evidence that could directly challenge Wilson's sworn declarations.

This is significant because Wilson's attorneys have repeatedly stated, under oath, that the actress 'did not create the allegedly defamatory websites, she did not authorize or direct their creation and she does not know who created them.'

Ghost's legal strategy is now crystal clear: she wants to prove those sworn statements are false. To do so, she requested depositions of both Wilson and Melissa Nathan, Wilson's crisis publicist who has also represented Justin Baldoni.

The judge denied those requests. However, he did grant something nearly as valuable—permission to depose Katie Case, a former employee of Nathan and her company, the Agency Group.

Amanda Ghost Gains Ground: The Katie Case Deposition

The significance of Katie Case cannot be overstated. In separate litigation unfolding in New York, Case has already been deposed about allegedly defamatory websites. According to Judge Long's ruling, 'a party indicated that Ms. Case testified that, at Nathan's direction and control, she engaged in a pattern and practice of writing content for other defamatory websites about other individuals.' That pattern is potentially damning for Wilson.

The defamatory websites in question contained allegations describing Ghost as 'the Indian Ghislaine Maxwell'—a reference to accused sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell—and claimed she was involved in 'sex trafficking and pimping women.' These sites emerged days after Ghost filed her lawsuit, and Ghost's legal team contends they were orchestrated by Wilson through her publicist.

The smoking gun may be a text message from Melissa Nathan to another publicist at TAG in August 2024. In the message, Nathan wrote: 'So basically Rebel wants one of those sites... be a mixture... can be really harsh Russian oligarch and making her a madam basically lol.'

This message, included in Ghost's September 2025 updated complaint, suggests Nathan was being directed by Wilson to create defamatory content about Ghost. However, Wilson has vehemently denied the allegations, telling 60 Minutes Australia: 'I had zero to do with the websites. I wouldn't—I don't even know how to create a website. I had nothing to do with what was on it.'

That's the kind of testimony that could prove explosive in Ghost's hands. If Nathan directed Case to write defamatory content about others, could she have done the same in relation to Wilson's accusations against the producers? The implication hangs heavy over Wilson's defence.

Wilson's legal team has fought hard to prevent this discovery, arguing that discovery holds exist to protect people like the actress from the burden of litigation and should only be lifted for 'good cause'—not merely to test the truthfulness of declarations. But Judge Long disagreed, determining that Ghost had met the threshold for limited discovery.

The judge found that Case's previous testimony about a 'pattern and practice' of creating defamatory websites at Nathan's direction was directly relevant to determining whether Wilson's sworn declarations were truthful—the very crux of Ghost's defence against Wilson's anti-SLAPP motion.

The Broader Battle: Counterclaims And Competing Narratives

This defamation row did not emerge in a vacuum. The conflict began on 12 July 2024, when producers Ghost, Gregor Cameron, and Vince Holden originally filed their defamation lawsuit against Wilson in Los Angeles Superior Court.

In October 2024, Wilson filed a countersuit accusing the producers of a 'troubling pattern' of 'theft, bullying and sexual misconduct.' She contended that they inflated "The Deb's" budget and divided the embezzled AU$900,000 among themselves—a serious allegation that strikes at the heart of film financing ethics.

Wilson's allegations went further. She accused Gregor Cameron, Ghost's husband who is described in her complaint as Ghost's 'enforcer,' of 'unlawfully imprisoning' her and two Australian production assistants in confined spaces whilst unleashing 'a barrage of verbal assaults and intimidation tactics.'

She also alleged that Ghost sexually harassed the film's lead actress, Charlotte MacInnes, forcing her to live in a Bondi Beach penthouse and engaging in inappropriate conduct. Ghost allegedly demanded to be credited as a writer despite performing no writing work on the screenplay.

However, MacInnes has categorically denied all sexual harassment allegations, siding firmly with the producers. She shares legal representation with Ghost, Cameron, and Holden under attorney Camille Vasquez, further complicating Wilson's narrative.

The producers counter that Wilson is a bully who fabricated harassment claims when denied writing credit she did not earn. They argue she weaponised her 11 million Instagram followers to spread false information about them, threatening their reputations and livelihoods.

When Wilson reported alleged misconduct to executive producer Danny Cohen, the producers contend it was retaliation for being denied script credit—not a genuine concern about misconduct.

In his statement, Cohen denied ignoring Wilson's concerns: 'I took the concerns seriously and conducted a comprehensive, well-documented account... My investigation confirmed there was no merit to Ms. Wilson's allegations.'

In November 2024, Judge Long denied Wilson's first anti-SLAPP motion in the producers' underlying case, a ruling currently under appeal. However, the appellate court has not yet resolved whether Wilson's First Amendment defence will ultimately succeed.

What emerges from these competing claims is a portrait of creative collaboration gone spectacularly wrong—where personal allegations have transformed into legal weaponry, and where both sides are determined to prove their version of truth in open court rather than settling quietly behind closed doors.

The involvement of high-profile attorneys, publicists, and aggressive legal strategies suggests this dispute will likely become a cautionary tale about how entertainment industry conflicts can spiral into prolonged, expensive litigation.

For Ghost and her co-producers, Thursday's ruling represents a meaningful step forward in their ability to challenge Wilson's narrative and prove that the actress orchestrated a coordinated smear campaign through her publicist.

Whether Judge Long will ultimately allow Ghost to depose Wilson and Nathan remains unclear, but Katie Case's testimony could prove the foundation for dismantling Wilson's anti-SLAPP defence.

Whether it will ultimately prove decisive remains to be seen. But one thing is certain: this Hollywood dispute is entering a new and potentially more damaging phase, with evidence mounting that both sides have engaged in aggressive, calculated litigation tactics designed to win at all costs.