Rebel Wilson stumbled her way through cross-examination on Tuesday morning.

But aside from batting her false eyelashes and flicking her ponytail, the Hollywood star didn’t so much as raise an eyebrow.

Wilson was asked several times whether she understood the questions she was being asked, or if she was just confused.

Eventually, Sue Chrysanthou SC, representing Charlotte MacInnes, asked Wilson if her confusion was a charade.

She assured the court her bewilderment was genuine.

Her memory appeared to have failed her on multiple counts – she couldn’t remember claiming to be the first plus-size lead actor in a romantic comedy, or whether she was separately sued for defamation in 2016.

She also couldn’t remember telling cast and crew that The Deb’s lead actor MacInnes was a ‘liar’, or what media outlets she spoke to about the same claim.

Asked whether she had a good memory, Wilson hesitated: ‘I have a normal memory.’

Within her first three hours under cross-examination, she asked for a number of questions to be repeated.

She often answered very slowly, seeming significantly less confident than the characters she plays in her films.

She often said ‘um’, ‘ah’, and ‘I don’t recall’.

Wilson was repeatedly accused of inventing evidence, orchestrating a smear campaign, and mistreating women.

But it was hard to tell whether Wilson felt humiliated by the intense cross-examination, because her taut face barely moved.

The first day of Rebel Wilson’s cross-examination finished with questions about whether she thought Charlotte MacInnes was talented.

When MacInnes auditioned for The Deb in 2023, she had very few acting credits.

Asked whether she was excited after watching MacInnes’ audition, Wilson said: ‘I thought she was inexperienced, but her look was good and her singing was very good.’

MacInnes’ lawyer Sue Chrysanthou SC said: ‘You thought she was a superstar.’

Wilson replied: ‘I don’t remember using that word, but I thought she was very good.’

Ms Chrysanthou said: ‘You and [co-producer Amanda Ghost] ere excited by the absolute talent of Ms MacInnes.’

Wilson said she was sure they spoke in positive terms, though she couldn’t remember what was said.

Asked if she thought Ghost’s behaviour around MacInnes was unusual, Wilson said she had never heard of a producer taking someone to a recording studio straight after an audition.

Wilson’s cross-examination will continue at 9.30am on Wednesday.

(Pictured: Charlotte MacInnes outside the Federal Court on Tuesday)

Rebel Wilson has been questioned about allegations that a young actor Charlotte MacInnes was forced to live with married co-producers Amanda Ghost and Gregor Cameron.

MacInnes was the lead actor in Wilson’s new film, The Deb. Wilson, Ghost and Cameron were co-producers.

In a scathing letter from her lawyers, Wilson accused the Ghost and Cameron of forcing MacInnes to live with them, where she was ‘forced to comply with their depraved sexual demands’.

MacInnes briefly stayed with Ghost in a Bondi penthouse with another member of the crew. She strongly denies staying with Cameron or being subject to abuse.

In court on Tuesday, MacInnes’ lawyer Sue Chrysanthou asked when her client ever lived with Cameron.

Wilson replied: ‘It may have been true, at some point.’

Ms Chrysanthou said: ‘You have no idea?’

Wilson said MacInnes was ‘flown to London’ and ‘may have cohabitated with them’.

Rebel Wilson has been grilled over claims Charlotte MacInnes bathed and showered with The Deb’s co-producer Amanda Ghost.

The case revolves around whether MacInnes felt uncomfortable when she jumped in the bath with her boss, producer Amanda Ghost, following an ill-fated sunset swim at Bondi Beach in September 2023.

Ghost has a rare condition called cold urticaria, which causes hives or swelling after exposure to cold air or water. She had a reaction to the cold water that day, so MacInnes took her back to their rented Bondi penthouse and ran a hot bath.

Both were wearing swimming costumes at the time.

In court on Tuesday, Wilson said MacInnes then ‘confided’ in her about the situation in a recording studio in Surry Hills, Sydney.

She said MacInnes had a bath and a shower with Ghost, and that she believed MacInnes a sexual harassment complaint was being made.

MacInnes strongly denies feeling uncomfortable or making a complaint about the bath situation.

It is not disputed that MacInnes and Ghost bathed together, but they deny having a shower.

McInnes’ lawyer Sue Chrysanthou SC asked Wilson where she had heard the pair had a shower together.

Mc Chrysanthou asked: ‘You understand what a bath and a shower is?’

(Pictured above: Charlotte MacInnes outside court on Tuesday with her lawyer, Sue Chrysanthou SC. Bottom: The bath used by Charlotte MacInnes and Amanda Ghost)

Wilson replied: ‘Yes.’

Ms Chrysanthou continued: ‘One is standing up and one is sitting down?’

Wilson replied: ‘Yes, it was confirmed they had a shower together.’

Ms Chrysanthou asked: ‘Where was it confirmed? In what document or statement do you say they had a shower together?’

Wilson said: ‘I believe it was in Charlotte’s statement.’

Ms Chrysanthou said: ‘I suggest to you that absolutely no one ever said to you that these two women showered together.’

Wilson said: ‘It was definitely said to me.’

She said the short conversation with MacInnes took place in Surry Hills, and that she felt shocked because she had a friendly and professional relationship with Ghost.

‘I took it as a sexual harassment complaint – I’d worked for years on this film, we were only weeks away from shooting and it’s such a girl power movie and the worst thing that could have fallen in my lap was a sexual assault complaint,’ she said.

Ms Chrysanthou asked whether Wilson checked in with MacInnes to ask if she was OK.

Wilson replied: ‘I can’t remember if I did or didn’t, this was a shock, this was new information to me.’

‘I wish I was a trained investigator in sexual harassment complaints, but I’m not, so I did the best I could and I listened to her and I took the report to the local producer…and I decided I should get the other side of the story.’

Rebel Wilson has been questioned over a letter her lawyers sent to her co-producers for The Deb, accusing some of forcing Charlotte MacInnes to submit to ‘depraved sexual demands’.

Wilson’s relationship with her co-producers fell apart when she accused two of them, husband and wife Amanda Ghost and Gregor Cameron, of embezzling $900,000 from The Deb’s budget.

She also accused them of ‘commandeering coercive and physical control of [MacInnes] for their vile purposes’.

In court on Tuesday, MacInnes’ barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC asked Wilson about the unproven claims in the letter.

Wilson agreed that her lawyer drafted the letter, but she had a hard time agreeing the letter was sent on her behalf.

Eventually, Ms Chrysanthou asked Wilson to confirm if she had a law degree, and whether she did an ethics course during that degree.

Wilson agreed, and was then asked whether she knew it was wrong to make unproven claims.

Asked why she accused Ghost and Cameron of embezzlement, Wilson admitted she didn’t understand the word.

‘Do you know what embezzlement means?’ Ms Chrysanthou asked.

Wilson replied: ‘It’s being dodgy with money.’

Ms Chrysanthou said: ‘Is that a serious answer?’

Wilson said it was a serious answer.

Ms Chrysanthou continued: ‘Embezzlement is an English word, do you speak English Ms Wilson?’

Wilson replied: ‘Yes.’

Ms Chrysanthou asked: ‘How do you define embezzlement?’

Wilson said: ‘Being dodgy with money.’

Ms Chrysanthou asked if she knew embezzlement was a crime.

Wilson replied: ‘A financial crime, I guess it can be used in that sense.’

Ms Chrysanthou said: ‘That’s the only sense, as a financial crime.’

Wilson said: ‘I use it as people being dodgy with money.’

Ms Chrysanthou asked: ‘Have you ever looked it up?’

Wilson said; ‘No, I haven’t looked it up.’

Ms Chrysanthou asked why she didn’t look it up before repeatedly accusing Ms Ghost and Mr Cameron of stealing $900,000.

Wilson continued to explain that she meant they were being ‘dodgy’ with money.

Rebel Wilson was grilled over two ‘take-down’ websites that emerged in August 2024 about The Deb’s co-producer, Amanda Ghost.

The sites, amandaghost.com and amandaghostsucks.com, contained a raft of criminal allegations against Ms Ghost, describing her as the Indian version of Ghislaine Maxwell.

Maxwell trafficked teenage girls for notorious paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The sites also accused Ms Ghost of stealing writing credits from Shakira and others.

The court previously heard Wilson’s company, Camp Sugar, emailed a crisis PR firm about the websites.

Last week, the court heard the owner of the firm Melissa Nathan texted another employee: ‘So basically Rebel wants one of those sites’.

In court on Tuesday, Wilson denied ordering the sites.

However, she agreed the PR firm was hired on her behalf by a member of her legal team.

Defamation lawyer Sue Chrysanthou SC pointed to an interview Wilson did with Channel Nine journalist Tara Brown on 60 Minutes.

In that interview, Wilson told Ms Brown she had nothing to do with the sites.

(Amanda Ghost is pictured, above, outside the Federal Court in Sydney last week)

Ms Brown asked: ‘So why is your name linked to it? Why does she say Rebel?’

Wilson replied: ‘I have no idea. I don’t know whether those texts are real. I don’t know where they came from. I learnt about it in the press and was like, “oh okay’…but obviously the evidence is with the court that I had absolutely nothing to do with it.’

In court on Tuesday, Ms Chrysanthou asked why she questioned the authenticity of the texts.

She pointed out that Wilson had seen the texts in a previous court case.

Wilson said she was not a party to those texts so she couldn’t confirm if they were authentic.

Wilson said: ‘I can see how people might think I’m associated.’

Ms Chrysanthou put to Wilson that Camp Sugar was listed as an author in PR firm emails, she was named in the texts, and a document from August 2024 was allegedly authored and modified by Camp Sugar. She said: ‘How do you explain that?’

The document contained allegations about Ms Ghost.

Wilson said the document was under Camp Sugar but she couldn’t confirm who actually wrote it.

Charlotte MacInnes’ barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC has accused Rebel Wilson of inventing evidence.

Wilson was grilled over the reason she didn’t appear in court beyond the first day of the defamation case last Monday.

She has been absent from Tuesday.

Wilson said she didn’t feel safe leaving the court on Monday due to the media attention.

‘When I tried to leave there was a media scrum downstairs, which prevented me from leaving safely,’ she said.

‘When I did leave, a man fell over and I thought I could watch it on YouTube, so that was a better use of my time.’

Ms Chrysanthou said Wilson’s lawyer Dauid Sibtain SC had told the court last week that his client would not be in court while other witnesses gave evidence.

Wilson said: ‘I don’t remember him saying that.’

Ms Chrysanthou asked whether she didn’t attend court because there were issues entering and exiting the building, or if Wilson thought she shouldn’t watch evidence.

Wilson said: ‘The media was a contributing factor – originally I didn’t want to hear the other witnesses, I take this seriously and it’s important in my life, but knowing it was available on YouTube, I watched it on YouTube.’

Ms Chrysanthou asked: ‘So the evidence about the media scrum is made up?’

Wilson said her non-appearance in court was a mixure of both factors.

Rebel Wilson appeared confused on the witness stand on Tuesday morning.

Charlotte MacInnes’ lawyer Sue Chrysanthou SC immediately hit her with a barrage of questions over her treatment of women during the making of The Deb.

The Pitch Perfect actor told the court she was a ‘champion of women’ who had never launched criticism against her female colleagues.

Ms Chrysanthou pointed out that Wilson had launched significant criticism at MacInnes and The Deb’s producer Amanda Ghost.

Wilson agreed she had criticised those women on social media, but she said those claims were ‘true’.

Asked whether she recalled making negative statements about MacInnes and Ghost to others, Wilson said she couldn’t remember.

She also couldn’t remember giving statements about the defamation proceedings to the press, nor could she remember texting someone about The Deb’s original writer, Hannah Reilly, saying ‘she can go f*** herself’.

Wilson then told the court she could not recall whether she had previously been sued for defamation for identifying the wrong journalist in a social media post, she said ‘I can’t recall’.

Ms Chrysanthou asked: ‘Ms Wilson, you look confused, are you confused?

Wilson replied: ‘Yes, I’m not sure what you’re referring to.’

(Pictured: Charlotte MacInnes with her boyfriend, Carlos Boumouglbay)

Ms Chrysanthou said: ‘Really? Wasn’t there a scandal on social media where you identified the wrong journalist?’

Ms Wilson said: ‘There’s stuff written about me on a daily basis in the press so I can’t recall.’

‘Ms Wilson, do you have a good memory?’ Ms Chrysanthou asked.

‘I would say I have a normal memory,’ Wilson replied.

Ms Chrysanthou said: ‘Then why don’t you remember being sued for defamation?’

Wilson said: ‘There’s stuff written about me on a daily basis in the press so I can’t recall.’

Wilson settled a defamation case for $120,000 for launching a social media tirade against freelance Australian journalist Elizabeth Wilsn in 2016.

‘If your name is Elizabeth Wilson and you work for ACP Magazines, just know that you are a disgrace for harassing my sweet, sick grandma,’ Wilson wrote on Twitter.

She then posted a photo of another Elizabeth Wilson who worked at the same company.

Rebel Wilson smiled as she walked into the Federal Court in Sydney on Tuesday.

She will be cross-examined for two days by Charlotte MacInnes’ barrister, Sue Chrysanthou SC.

Wilson is represented by Dauid Sibtain SC.

The trial is being livestreamed on the court’s YouTube page.

More than 1100 people were watching the livestream from 10.30am, before Wilson was called to the witness box.

Rebel Wilson is being sued for defamation in the Federal Court by Charlotte MacInnes – the lead actor in musical comedy The Deb, which was directed by Wilson.

MacInnes launched legal proceedings in September after a series of Instagram posts where Wilson accused her of complaining about unwanted sexual advances by producer Amanda Ghost, and then lying about it to get a record contract.

MacInnes denies the sexual assault occurred, that she complained about it to Wilson, and that she retracted it in return for another lead role and the record deal.

The situation unfolded when MacInnes and Ghost had a sunset swim at Bondi Beach on September 5, 2023.

Ghost had a flare-up of a rare condition called cold urticaria, which causes hives or swelling after exposure to cold air or water. MacInnes took her back to their rented Bondi penthouse and ran a hot bath.

MacInnes got in the bath with Ghost. They were both wearing swimming costumes.

Wilson claims MacInnes felt uncomfortable about bathing with Ghsot, who was her boss at the time, and made a complaint to Wilson.

MacInnes says she never felt uncomfortable about the bath and denies making a complaint.

According to MacInnes’ statement of claim, Wilson’s posts accused her of lying about sexual assault and blocking the film’s release, and portraying her as selfishly prioritising her own career over cast and crew who worked on The Deb.

She claims Wilson’s social media posts damaged her professional reputation and created doubts about her trustworthiness before she played her first lead role in a film.

MacInnes is seeking aggravated damages for serious harm caused, as well as a court order preventing Wilson from repeating the claims online.