‘Pitch Perfect’ actress Rebel Wilson has been sued by the three producers of her directorial debut, ‘The Deb,’ for defamation. The legal action comes after Wilson accused them of “bad behaviour.”

In an Instagram video posted by the actress on Wednesday, she said that she reported the producers last year when she “found out not minor things, big things” related to “inappropriate behaviour towards the lead actress of the film” and “embezzling funds from the film’s budget.”

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She added that she faced “with absolute viciousness and retaliatory behaviour” after reporting them. She also accused the producers—Amanda Ghost, Gregor Cameron, and executive producer Vince Holden—of blocking the movie from premiering at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September.

 

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In the defamation suit filed against Rebel Wilson in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, on Friday, July 12, the three producers denied Wilson’s claims that they embezzled funds from the film’s budget and behaved inappropriately towards the lead actress. The producers also accused Wilson of misconduct. A portion of the submission obtained by PEOPLE outlined the accusations against Wilson’s behaviour: “She flatly refused to collaborate with Plaintiffs, absconded from the Film for months at a time, behaved unprofessionally with employees of the Film, and repeatedly made unauthorized and improper disclosures about the Film.”

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The producers further claimed that Wilson lied in an attempt to secure a premiere for ‘The Deb’ at TIFF, along with obtaining a writing credit for the film. The lawsuit stated that “the dispute between Plaintiffs and Rebel came to a head” after Wilson tried to take the writing credit away from Hannah Reilly, a recipient of Wilson’s theatre scholarship, despite a ruling from the Australian Writers’ Guild. The guild found in March that the screenplay credit belonged to Reilly, with Wilson receiving an “additional writing by” credit.

The lawsuit argued that since Wilson was unable to secure the writing credits, she accused the producers of sexual harassment. As reported by Hollywood Reporter, the suit added that the actress “soundly denied any claims of inappropriate behaviour” by the producers, at which point Rebel Wilson admitted she wasn’t aware of any specific allegations of sexual misconduct.

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The producers explained their decision to pull ‘The Deb’ from TIFF, stating that they had to deliberate about whether to proceed with the marketing of the film while it was embroiled in numerous credits and licensing disputes fueled by Wilson. The lawsuit also alleged that Wilson attempted to bully them into meeting her demands by sharing a video on her social media, leveraging her popularity and fan following.

Wilson responded to the lawsuit with an Instagram post of an on-set photo, writing, “It’s not defamation if it’s the TRUTH (those ‘producers’ who I mentioned in my last post have just filed a defamation suit against me and sent it to the press)! Let our cool movie play at Toronto and stop messing about with a rubbish defamation suit against me!”

 

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She also took to Instagram Stories to share more pictures and videos while discussing the lawsuit, claiming that she had witnesses to attest to her claims. Additionally, a source told PEOPLE that “the entire cast and crew of The Deb are with Rebel and sending her messages of support.”