ActressRebel Wilsonis accusing the producers of her new film of embezzling money from the project, and attempting to stop its premiere. In response, the producers are calling Wilson’s claims “defamatory.” The film, a musical comedy calledThe Deb, is Wilson’sfeature film directorial debut, and in a fiery video posted to Instagram, thePitch Perfectactress calls out producers Amanda Ghost and Gregory Cameron and executive producer Vince Holden with some very specific charges.
In the video, Wilson claims the producers are refusing to premiere the film on the closing night of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September. This isn’t the first time Wilson has addressed controversy publicly;she called out Sacha Baron Cohenfor his bad behavior in her recent book. She says she is now going public this time in an effort to save the film from being buried, and to secure its premiere at TIFF.
“It’s awesome that it got selected for closing night of the Toronto Film Festival, which is like … just you know, the best platform, and to be a first-time female director it’s just like, I mean, it’s huge. It’s massive. So to have the joy of the movie being selected is one thing. But then to have the business partners that are involved in that movie turn around and say that no, the movie can’t premiere, is just beyond devastating.
Wilson claims producers Amanda Ghost and Gregory Cameron, and executive producer Vince Holden engaged in “retaliatory behavior” towards her after she reported their “bad behavior.” She accused the trio of “inappropriate behavior towards the lead actress of the film (and) embezzling funds from the film’s budget,” but did not provide additional details. She said:
Since I reported that behavior, I have been met with absolute viciousness and retaliatory behavior…And then now, you know, almost at the finish line. They’re saying, you know, it can’t come out. They might not release it, they might bury it. This is work of hundreds of people who have put their heart and soul into this.
In a response provided toDeadline, a spokesperson for producers Ghost, Cameron, and Holden called her accusations “false, defamatory, and disappointing,” but did not provide details on the very specific charges Wilson made. The statement said (in part):
Her self-promotional claims are clearly intended to cause reputational harm to the individuals who have supported her directorial debut filmThe Deb— a joyous movie that we’re very proud of and are looking forward to sharing with audiences. For her to promote a false narrative to advance her own agenda undermines the film and all the people who worked on this project.
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All About The Deb
According toDeadline, the film, set in Australia, follows three girls who find their lives changed when one of them is kicked out of her posh city school and is sent to work with other girls on a farm in a bush town far from civilization. Wilson stars in the film with Tara Morice, Naomi Sequeira, Hal Cumpston, Shane Jacobson, and Ioane Saula.
The Debis based on an original concept by Hannah Reilly, who created the Australian TV seriesGrowing Up Gracefully. In 2018, Reilly was awarded the Rebel Wilson Comedy Commission from the Australian Theatre for Young People, which allowed her to developThe Debintoa full-blown stage musical. In 2023, Wilson announced that the film version of the musical would be her directorial debut, and production appeared to be moving along on schedule, until the recent troubles surrounding its premiere.
Wilson insists she will continue to fight for the film. “I won’t be threatened,” she said in the video. “I will speak the truth, and, you know, warn people about these people in the industry.”
The Debdoes not yet have a distributor. The Toronto International Film Festival has not commented on the controversy.
