The lead actress in Rebel Wilson’s directorial debut The Deb is releasing a new synth-infused pop single and accompanying album while simultaneously suing Wilson for defamation in Australia.
Charlotte MacInnes, who testified this week in a Sydney courtroom about a 2023 incident at Bondi Beach that led to multiple lawsuits involving Wilson, released her single “Celestial” on Thursday ahead of the release of her debut album Highwater, out June 5 via Atlantic.
“I’ve been living with this new music for a while now and working with the most incredible people to bring it to life. I am in love with the magical yet honest world we’re building. The whole process was a very empowering catharsis, and I hope that feeling extends out to anyone that hears it,” she said in a statement.
Lyrics on the new single might prompt some immediate buzz, especially when MacInnes sings, “What if I can be bigger than my ghosts. Collect my memories, of my soul screaming out … None of this is real.” A listed collaborator on the album is Amanda Ghost, a lead producer who worked on The Deb with Wilson in the director’s chair.
The film opened earlier this month in Australia to generally warm reviews but dismal box office returns. Long delayed, the project has become better known for the sprawling legal disputes surrounding it, with Wilson embroiled in a series of lawsuits pitting her against Ghost and MacInnes.
The wild legal battles largely center on a disputed incident in Ghost’s Bondi Beach bathroom on Sept. 5, 2023, after she and MacInnes went for an evening swim. In an Instagram video posted in July 2024, Wilson accused Ghost of “inappropriate behavior” towards MacInnes that night, as well as embezzling funds from the film’s budget and trying to bury The Deb as retribution for Wilson’s reporting of the alleged “behavior.”
In court filings, Wilson claimed that Ghost forced MacInnes to live with her during the movie’s production and then pressured her to take a shower and bath with her the night of the swim. MacInnes disputed that account, describing the incident as a nonsexual response to a medical episode.
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“Ms. Ghost and I went swimming in the ocean near the apartment, and the cold water caused Ms. Ghost to have a medical reaction. I helped Ms. Ghost by bringing her back to the apartment and running a warm shower and bath to warm her back up. We both remained in our bathing suits,” MacInnes wrote in a sworn declaration filed in California last November and previously obtained by Rolling Stone. “There was nothing sexual or inappropriate about the incident whatsoever. It was a medical situation.”
For her part, Ghost denied the accusations and sued Wilson for defamation in Los Angeles County Superior Court, claiming the actress-director was lashing out because she didn’t get a writing credit on The Deb. Three months after that, Wilson sued Ghost with breach of contract and fraud claims.
MacInnes also sued Wilson for defamation, and that case led to MacInnes’ testimony in a federal court in Sydney this week. According to The Guardian, MacInnes denied ever telling Wilson that the incident made her uncomfortable, despite Wilson claiming MacInnes complained to her. In another social media post, Wilson alleged MacInnes retracted her complaint to advance her music career (Ghost is partnered with Warner Music Group, parent company to Atlantic, on projects related to music and film).
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“I never made a complaint to Ms. Wilson,” MacInnes allegedly testified Thursday, according to The Guardian. The trial is ongoing, the outlet reported.
The next hearing in the Los Angeles County-based legal battle is set for May 5.
