A British film production company is asking a judge to remove them as a defendant in a countersuit brought by Rebel Wilson against three producers of the film “The Deb” who are suing the Australian actress for defamation.
In court papers filed Friday with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Thomas D. Long in advance of a June 4, 2026, hearing, attorneys for AI Film Production Ltd. contend that the company is based in the United Kingdom and has no ties to California. Therefore, they say, service should be quashed for lack of personal jurisdiction. Wilson accuses AI Film of breach of contract.
“AI Film’s contacts with California are essentially nonexistent,” the AI Film attorneys state in their court papers.
“The Deb” is a 2024 film that was the 45-year-old Wilson’s directorial debut. Wilson alleges in her countersuit, among other things, that one of the movie’s actors, Charlotte MacInnes, was forced to shower with plaintiff/producer Amanda Ghost and that MacInnes additionally had a breakdown on set following an interaction with Ghost.
Ghost, Gregor Cameron and Vince Holden originally sued Wilson for defamation in July 2024 after the actor posted to her 11 million Instagram followers that the producers of the film had engaged in theft, bullying and sexual misconduct.
Wilson’s countersuit states that the plaintiffs engaded in a “troubling pattern” of “theft, bullying and sexual misconduct” and saying they inflated the film’s budget and split the extra money between them. According to Wilson’s court papers, MacInnes initially reported to Wilson that Ghost had sexually harassed her, which prompted Wilson to confront all of the producers.
But AI Film attorneys contend that a California judge has no jurisdiction over the company.
“This case arises out of a film … that was written, directed, filmed and edited in Australia by an Australian cast and crew,” according to the AI Film attorneys. “The contracts governing the film’s production were likewise negotiated and entered into entirely outside of California.”
Contrary to the cross-complaint’s “incorrect and conclusory allegations, which make no effort to state facts that would establish her purported agency,” Ghost is not and has never been an agent of AI Film (and) had no authority to enter into contracts on AI Film’s behalf, according to the AI Film lawyers’ pleadings.
