Rebel Wilson has been accused in court of hiring a private investigator and having false information published online in order to paint another actor as a “money grabbing opportunist” who withdrew a sexual harassment allegation for financial gain.

But lawyers for Wilson insist that the harassment complaint was only withdrawn when Charlotte MacInnes – the star of her film, The Deb – decided to support the woman who had allegedly harassed her.

MacInnes is suing Wilson in relation to four social media posts she alleged defamed her by suggesting she lied about the complaint. Wilson has denied many of the allegations before the court.

On the first day of MacInnes’ defamation trial against Wilson, the federal court in Sydney heard that a significant dispute in the case was a conversation between the actors in a studio in September 2023. According to Wilson, concerns about sexual harassment were raised during that conversation, while MacInnes argues she didn’t say anything of the sort.

The court heard the conversation between the pair took place a day after MacInnes and a producer of the film, Amanda Ghost, had swum together at Bondi beach.

Sue Chrysanthou SC, for MacInnes, told the court that Ghost suffered cold urticaria after the swim, a skin condition that left her in red welts and shaking uncontrollably to the point she could not speak.

MacInnes helped her back to a penthouse apartment the pair were staying in nearby, and ran her a bath. Ghost got into the shower at this time.

The pair, who were both still in bathing suits, got in the bath together, Chrysanthou told the court. Another woman brought the pair hot drinks, and the trio all spoke together while MacInnes and Ghost stayed in the bath.

Wilson also spoke with them via speaker phone during this time, the court heard.

Chrysanthou said the bath was so large that the two women were not touching each other. The pair then joked about it via text messages the next day, with MacInnes sharing a picture of the two of them on the beach before the swim and commenting “Beginning of the end”.

MacInnes was not at all concerned about the bath or her interactions with Ghost, Chrysanthou said.

The following day, when filming for The Deb continued, cast and crew members were told about the swim and bath, Chrysanthou said.

Wilson and MacInnes then had a conversation on a couch at the studio.

While the pair agree the conversation took place, its contents are in dispute: Chrysanthou told the court that MacInnes made it clear to Wilson that the bath had not made her feel uncomfortable.

But Dauid Sibtain SC, for Wilson, said his client was told by MacInnes that she was concerned about Ghost’s behaviour.

“The central issue for determination in this case … is this: whether Ms MacInnes reported to Ms Wilson that she’d been asked by Ms Ghost to shower and bathe with her and whether she said it made it feel uncomfortable and whether she later changed her story,” Sibtain said.

Chrysanthou told the court there was no evidence MacInnes ever alleged sexual harassment, and that this was clear from text message exchanges and emails from the time, including exchanges with Ghost.

It was also clear because of exchanges between Wilson and Ghost soon after that there was no concern from Wilson, the director of the film, about the incident.

But Chrysanthou alleged this changed after disputes arose about budgets and contracts for The Deb later in 2023.

“Ms Wilson, as part of that dispute, raises the issue of sexual harassment as leverage, we say,” Chrysanthou told the court.

“We say this is a habit of hers whenever she doesn’t get her way.

“She raises this allegation … that had been put to bed for her own commercial benefit.”

Wilson took out defamation insurance so she could “go ballistic” about Ghost and other producers online, Chrysanthou alleged in court, before hiring a US lawyer and engaging with private investigators and a PR agency as part of a dispute with the producers.

The court heard that Jed Wallace, a worker for the PR agency, said in a voicemail that it was important Ghost was portrayed as someone who hired “hookers” for Len Blavatnik, the billionaire owner of Warner Music.

“We can’t just do it like, ‘oh, she’s a bitch, she sucks,’ it’s like, it’s gotta be really, really heavy and connected to something that heavy, so, well talk about that tomorrow, too,” Wallace said in the August 2024 voice message that Chrysanthou referred to in court.

Chrysanthou told the court that information later found on anonymous websites about Ghost was also shared in a chat between agency staff.

Metadata from one of the websites, which contained headlines such as “Amanda Ghost is a destroyer of worlds”, showed it had been edited by Camp Sugar, Wilson’s company, Chrysanthou said.

But Wilson’s lawyers told the court she “never asked anyone to publish” information about Ghost online.

Chrysanthou also told the court that Wilson then made a series of Instagram posts claiming she had to report Ghost’s conduct, that MacInnes was to blame for The Deb not being released, and presenting her as a “saviour of women” when she was really a “bully”.

In May 2025, she posted: “Charlotte MacInnes in a culturally inappropriate Indian outfit on Len Blavatnik’s luxury yacht in Cannes – ironically singing a song from a movie that will never get released because of her lies and support for the people blocking the film’s release”.

“I’m not sure where [Wilson] gets her fashion advice, but Ms MacInnes will say it’s not Indian,” Chrysanthou said.

Chrysanthou claimed the amount of damages sought would be disclosed later in the trial, but that it was alleged MacInnes was eligible for aggravated damages above the $500,000 cap.

In his opening statement, Sibtain told the court the case was not about whether Ghost had sexually harassed MacInnes, but whether the actor complained to Wilson about it.

Wilson does not believe all the imputations alleged by MacInnes are contained in the social media posts, and will defend those that are by proving they are true, he said.

He said MacInnes, who was cast in her first leading role in The Deb, had since been given “life changing opportunities” because of her relationship with Ghost, including a lead in the stage production of Gatsby and a contract with a major recording company.

“All of this wealth of prizes and opportunities that have materialised have come, we would suggest, because Ms MacInnes decided to tie herself to Ms Ghost, and tie herself to Ms Ghost’s version,” he told the court.

The first witness called on Monday was Hannah Reilly, an actor, writer and director who wrote The Deb for the stage before it was adapted for screen. She wrote the musical after receiving the $15,000 Rebel Wilson Comedy Commission from the Australian Theatre for Young People.

But she was later involved in a dispute with Wilson over writing credits for the screenplay for The Deb, which was resolved at arbitration in her favour, the court heard.

Chrysanthou told the court the dispute was one of the matters Wilson was considering when she raised the issue of sexual harassment.

Wilson wrote an email to Reilly’s agent in late December 2023, which Chrysanthou described in court as “offensive”, “aggressive”, “irrational” and “abusive”. It included the sentence “If I was unclear about my personal feelings towards your client, I hope this email gives you some clarity”, the court heard.

Wilson signed off the email with “Merry Christmas!”

The other witness called on Monday, Katelin Koprivec, was another actor who visited MacInnes in the Bondi apartment after she had bathed with Ghost.

Koprivec was shown a photo of the bathroom that Wilson alleges contained a normal-sized bath, rather than the larger one described by MacInnes and Koprivec.

Koprivec told the court the image showed a “big bath”, but could not confirm it was the same bath she had seen when she visited the apartment.

The case before Justice Elizabeth Raper continues.