Rebel Wilson’s new film is set to be released after she made shocking allegations claiming producers were ‘burying’ the project and not allowing her to release it, which they have denied.
The Pitch Perfect actress makes her hotly-anticipated directorial debut in The Deb, an original comedy musical about two teenage girls attending a debutante ball in a small country town.
Wilson, 44, also stars in the flick, alongside Tara Morice and Naomi Sequeira.
The Deb was due to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), which runs from September 5 until September 15 this year.
However, Wilson has accused three business partners of ‘inappropriate behaviour’ which, when she called out last year, led to them ‘threatening’ her with pulling the film from release entirely.
It has now been confirmed that the film will be released at the TIFF, as the closing night film.
Rebel revealed the news on social media and said: ‘Beyond grateful that THE DEB will be shared with audiences in Toronto this September!
‘Thank you TIFF for the selection of a film so close to my heart, a film I’ve fought to make as a first time female director – to the cast and crew, and to my awesome fans, thank you for your continued love and support! Let’s go to Toronto!!
Ahead of this announcement, on July 10, Rebel took to Instagram to say that her film had been ‘buried’. The Australian movie star expressed her frustration by venting to her 11 million followers.
‘You know sometimes in life where you try so hard and you just don’t know what to do? This is that situation,’ she began.
Detailing her claims, Wilson shared: ‘Let me try to explain as best I can. You might have noticed that I did a post a week ago about my film, the first film that I’ve directed, that I’m so proud of, The Deb, which is a little Australian original musical, it’s so cute and it’s awesome.
‘It got selected for closing night of the Toronto Film Festival, which is the hugest, best platform, and to be a first-time female director, it’s just huge. It’s massive.
‘So, to have the joy of the movie being selected is one thing, but then to have the business partners 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?
‘Well, this dates back to October of last year where I discovered bad behaviour by these business partners.’
Naming the parties involved outright, Wilson said: ‘I just tell it how it is, so I’m just gonna tell you who they are. They are so-called producers of the film, I use that phrase very lightly, their names are Amanda Ghost and Gregor Cameron, and an executive producer who works with them called Vince Holden.’
Research shows that Ghost is a Golden Globe and Grammy Award nominee who is also a songwriter. She’s previously worked with Beyoncé, Shakira, John Legend, Florence + The Machine, and famously co-wrote James Blunt’s You’re Beautiful.
Meanwhile, Cameron is the co-founder of Unigram and produced the feature Kill Your Friends, starring Nicholas Hoult.
‘So, I’m there on set, I’m trying to film my movie with my gorgeous Australian cast and crew who are so amazing, shoutout to all of you guys, and yet every step of the way, these people who I complained about then tried to make my life hell,’ she added.
‘In the meantime, though, I still finished the movie, I made this great movie, The Deb, and now, almost at the finish line, they’re saying it can’t come out, they might not release it, they might bury it… this is work of hundreds of people who have put their heart and soul into this.’
Wilson blasted their actions as ‘absolutely vile and disgusting’.
She concluded by vowing to continue speaking out in a bid to get her film shown.
‘I won’t be threatened. I will speak the truth and warn people about these people in the industry who are just not behaving ethically,’ she declared.
‘So, that’s my dilemma. If the movie doesn’t play at Toronto, it’s because of these absolute f**kwits.’
The Hustle star was met with an outpouring of support after sharing the video as fans praised her for refusing to be silenced.
‘Women raising their voices is going to change the tides for our daughters. Love this,’ wrote Instagram user carly_sue_k.
‘Let’s not forget that Rebel is a lawyer. Don’t play with her. ❤️🙌’, said jubeememyselfandmoi.
‘This has really backfired on them because now I am GAGGING to see this film’, wrote erinbarkerjones.
When contacted for comment, an unnamed spokesperson for the producers of The Deb denied Wilson’s allegations.
Their statement to Metro.co.uk read: ‘RW’s allegations are false, defamatory, and disappointing.
‘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.’
This is not the first time in recent months that Wilson has been at the centre of legal drama.
Months ago, she accused her The Brothers Grimsby co-star Sacha Baron Cohen of threatening to sue to bar her memoir from being released.
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