Rebel Wilson took to social media on Wednesday to accuse the producers behind her directorial debut, The Deb, of “bad behavior” and sabotaging the film from making its premiere on closing night at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
In an Instagram video, Wilson claimed that producers Amanda Ghost and Gregor Cameron and executive producer Vince Holden embezzled funds from the film’s budget, acted inappropriately towards the project’s lead actress, and retaliated by blocking the Australian musical from the festival.
In Wilson’s post, she discussed the elation she felt about it being chosen for TIFF, only to be “devastated” when it did not premiere. “It’s awesome that [The Deb] got selected for closing night of the Toronto Film Festival, which is like the best platform to be a first-time female director. I mean, it’s huge. It’s massive,” said Wilson in her post. “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.
“Why are they saying this? Why are they stopping it from premiering at Toronto?,” she continued. “Well, this dates back to October of last year, where I discovered bad behavior by these business partners. I just tell it how it is. So I’m just going to tell you who they are, the so-called producers of the film. I use that phrase very lightly. Their names are Amanda Ghost and Gregory Cameron, and an executive producer who works with them called Vince Holden. So these are the people involved.”
In a statement to Deadline, a spokesperson for the producers called Wilson’s allegations “defamatory, and disappointing,” adding, “Her self-promotional claims are clearly intended to cause reputational harm to the individuals who have supported her directorial debut film The 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.” (Reps for the producers did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment.)
Wilson further accused the film’s backers of “inappropriate behavior towards the lead [actor] and embezzling funds from the film’s budget which we really needed because we’re a small movie.” She also claimed they responded with “absolute viciousness and retaliatory behavior” after she reported the behavior.
“In the meantime, though, I still finished the movie. I made this great movie, The Deb, and then now, almost at the finish line, they’re saying it can’t come out. They might not release it, they might bury it,” Wilson alleged, before signing off: “Yeah, so that’s my dilemma. If the movie doesn’t play at Toronto, it’s because of these absolute fuckwits.”
Representatives for Wilson did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s requests for comment.
Earlier this year, in her memoir, Wilson accused Sacha Baron Cohen of behaving like a “massive asshole” while filming the 2016 comedy, The Brothers Grimsby. A spokesperson for the Borat actor rejected Wilson’s “demonstrably false claims.”
The actress’ publisher later announced that the book’s U.K. edition would redact the passages about about her experiences with Sacha Baron Cohen for “legal reasons.”
