Overview
- A Federal Court judge dismissed MacInnes’s defamation and breach‑of‑confidence claims on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, and ordered her to pay Rebel Wilson’s legal costs.
- Justice Elizabeth Raper found only one meaning was conveyed by Wilson’s posts — that MacInnes later changed her account about feeling uncomfortable — and ruled that meaning was not defamatory under Australian law.
- The judge made alternative findings that MacInnes had not proven the posts caused or were likely to cause serious harm and that Wilson would have succeeded with a defence of substantial truth.
- Raper expressed doubts about the reliability of key witnesses but accepted, on the balance of probabilities, that MacInnes told Wilson she felt uncomfortable after the Bondi Beach/bath episode and later retracted that account.
- The ruling resolves the Australian defamation action for now but leaves MacInnes’s planned appeal and separate producer lawsuits in the UK, US and NSW active, with potential effects on the film’s reputation and its upcoming international release.