A judge has granted a motion for partial discovery by one of three producers of Rebel Wilson’s film “The Deb” who are suing her for defamation, which the producer can now use in challenging the Australian actress’ dismissal motion.
Wilson opposed Amanda Ghost’s bid for discovery, arguing through her attorneys’ court papers that Wilson’s anti-SLAPP motion put an automatic hold on discovery until the motion was ruled upon. But in his Thursday ruling, Judge Thomas D. Long ruled that Ghost was entitled to some discovery in the interim.
Ghost has filed a separate defamation action in addition to the one she and fellow producers Gregor Cameron and Vince Holden originally brought against Wilson in Los Angeles Superior Court in July 2024 after Wilson allegedly told her 11 million Instagram followers that the producers of the film had engaged in theft, bullying and sexual misconduct. “The Deb” is a 2024 film that was Wilson’s directorial debut.
Wilson, 45, has moved to dismiss Ghost’s individual action on First Amendment grounds. Wilson’s motion prompted Ghost to file her own motion to take limited discovery in order to oppose Wilson’s motion, but such a move required permission from the judge. Ghost contended the discovery will show that Wilson’s statements in a sworn declaration that she had nothing to do with the alleged defamatory social media statements are false.
Among other things, Ghost wanted to take the depositions of Wilson and publicist Melissa Nathan in order to ask them about their declarations. But in his ruling Thursday, Long denied Ghost’s requests to depose Wilson and Nathan but did say that her lawyers can depose Katie Case, a former employee of Nathan and Nathan’s company, the Agency Group.
According to the judge, in separate litigation in New York, Case was deposed about the allegedly defamatory websites.
“In a letter brief filed there, a party indicated that Ms. Case testified that, at Nathan’s direction and control, she engaged in a pattern and practice of writing content for other defamatory websites about other individuals,” the judge wrote.
Wilson’s attorneys contended that a discovery hold is intended to protect people like Wilson from the burden of discovery and may only be lifted for good cause and not merely to test the truthfulness of an opponent’s declaration.
Wilson’s attorneys further state in their pleadings that the actress has stated “under oath unequivocally and categorically that she did not create the allegedly defamatory websites, she did not authorize or direct their creation and she does not know who created them.”
Wilson has filed a countersuit in the original underlying case that accuses the producers of a “troubling pattern” of “theft, bullying and sexual misconduct” while also contending that they inflated the film’s budget and split the extra money between them.
In November 2024, the judge denied Wilson’s dismissal motion in the producers’ underlying case and his ruling is under appeal.
In both the underlying case and in opposing Ghost’s individual action, Wilson is citing the state’s anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) statute. The law is aimed at stopping people from using courts, and potential threats of a lawsuit, to intimidate those who are exercising their First Amendment rights.