Rebel Wilson’s latest film withdrawn as actor lashes producers
By Helen Pitt
Australian actor Rebel Wilson has lashed out at the producers of her directorial debut film The Deb after it was withdrawn from the Toronto International Film Festival.
In a post to her 11 million followers on Instagram overnight, the 44-year-old actress accused producers Amanda Ghost, Gregor Cameron and Vince Holden of “bad behaviour”.
Rebel Wilson in the UK in April this year.Credit: Kate Green/Getty Images
She told her fans the film, an Australian musical comedy, had been chosen as the closing-night film at the Toronto International Film Festival, but that the producers were blocking the film’s premiere.
“To have the movie selected is one thing, but then to have the business partners turn around and say that, no the movie can’t premiere is beyond devastating,” she said in the post.
Wilson went on to allege a list of “bad behaviours” on the part of the producers, including inappropriate behaviour toward the lead actress and embezzling funds, which they have since denied, claiming Wilson has created a “false narrative about them.”
“RW’s allegations are false, defamatory, and disappointing,” a spokesperson for the producers told Deadline.
“Her self-promotional claims are clearly intended to cause reputational harm to the individuals who have supported her directorial debut film The Deb – a joyous movie that we’re very proud of and are looking forward to sharing with audiences.”
Wilson’s highly anticipated first film as director is about two teenage girls attending a debutante ball in a small Australian country town.
Shot in Sydney and rural NSW late last year, The Deb is based on a musical of the same name by Hannah Reilly and Megan Washington, which played for several months in 2022 at the Rebel Theatre in Sydney, the Australian Theatre For Young People space named after Wilson, a former alumna who contributed $1 million.
Wilson, who grew up in Sydney’s north-west and went on to star in Fat Pizza before heading to Hollywood to star in the Pitch Perfect franchise, has been embroiled in controversy since the publication of her memoir Rebel Rising, earlier this year.
While promoting her book she made allegations about actor Sacha Baron Cohen over the 2016 comedy The Brothers Grimsby, in which he played a soccer hooligan and she played his wife. Cohen denied the allegations.
The threat of legal action prompted Wilson’s UK publisher to redact passages, and the chapter was removed when the book was published in Australia.
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clarification
This article originally stated that Rebel Wilson paid for the Australian Theatre for Young People’s The Rebel Theatre. She contributed $1 million.