A California judge has rejected a motion to sanction Pitch Perfect star Rebel Wilson in her ongoing legal dispute with producers of her directorial debut, The Deb, according to Rolling Stone.
The film’s producers—Amanda Ghost, her husband Gregor Cameron, and Vince Holden—sought sanctions against Wilson, accusing her of “fraud on the court.” They alleged she falsely testified about leaking a demand letter from her lawyer to a news reporter and denied involvement in two anonymous websites portraying Ghost as a sex trafficker.
The producers presented evidence they said contradicted Wilson’s testimony. Messages showed Wilson asking her publicist to send her lawyer Bryan Freedman’s demand letter to reporter Matt on July 12, 2024. The producers also claimed they obtained “overwhelming evidence” linking Wilson to websites amandaghost.com and amandaghostsucks.com, including voice notes from Wilson’s crisis PR team discussing her wanting “one of those sites” and having Ghost portrayed as “an absolute madam.”
According to the motion, the PR firm quoted Wilson $110,000 for an “untraceable site” with “ghost hosting.” Wilson’s lawyers also alleged she supplied an initial draft of the websites in a Word document with metadata identifying her company, Camp Sugar, as the author.
The producers sought terminating sanctions—which would dismiss Wilson’s claims entirely—or $474,026 in financial penalties. They requested that if her claims survived, the court instruct a jury that Wilson had repeatedly lied under oath and deliberately destroyed evidence.
Judge Thomas Long denied the sanctions requests, stating that terminating sanctions required a high threshold of proof and would be “very difficult, right out of the box” to impose. However, in his written ruling, Long left open other remedies. He said the producers “are free to seek appropriate instructions to the jury, including but not limited to the willful suppression of evidence instructions” and could seek permission to amend their complaint to add a claim for destruction or manipulation of evidence.
Wilson’s lawyer, Allyson K. Thompson, opposed the motion, arguing that Wilson had not completed her deposition and deserved a jury trial where credibility could be assessed by jurors.
The case stems from July 2024, when Wilson posted on Instagram accusing Ghost of inappropriate behavior toward lead actress Charlotte MacInnes and claiming funds were embezzled from the film’s budget. Ghost sued Wilson for defamation, claiming the actress-director was retaliating over not receiving a writing credit. Wilson filed a cross-complaint alleging the production involved bullying and theft. MacInnes has disputed Wilson’s account of a shower incident, describing it as a nonsexual response to a medical episode. In a separate trial in Australia in July, Wilson was found not liable for defaming MacInnes.
Key facts
- A judge denied producers’ bid to sanction Rebel Wilson for allegedly lying under oath and creating websites against director Amanda Ghost
- Producers presented messages showing Wilson asking her publicist to leak her lawyer’s demand letter to a reporter on July 12, 2024
- Evidence allegedly linked Wilson to two websites portraying Ghost as a sex trafficker, including voice notes discussing the sites and a Word document with her company’s metadata
- The producers sought dismissal of Wilson’s claims or $474,026 in penalties
- Judge Long left open the possibility for jury instructions on evidence suppression and amendments to add destruction-of-evidence claims