Rebel Wilson Says That A Magazine Publisher Cost Her Acting Jobs By Calling Her A Liar
Two years ago, a former classmate of Rebel Wilson’s from Australia exposed her alleged creative re-writing of her life by giving receipts to the tabloid Woman’s Day. Rebel claimed at the time that she was 29 years old, but it turned out she was really more like 36, and that her real name was actually Melanie Elizabeth Bownds. Rebel had also apparently given herself a new backstory when she got to Hollywood. Rebel allegedly told tales of being a trashy chick with siblings named Ryot, Liberty, and Annachi. That classmate says Rebel was actually raised in an upper middle class family.
Famous people lie about their age and change their name all the time, but apparently it hasn’t been so good for Rebel’s career. She sued the publisher Bauer Media for career-killing defamation and they’re currently fighting it out in court.
BBC News says that Rebel sued over eight articles published in 2015. Rebel’s lawyer Dr. Matthew Collins argued that her world “collapsed” after the articles were published. He says she was painted as a serial liar and that Bauer Media tore her down to sell magazines, adding that she’s never experienced “such nastiness.” Really? Nastier than getting blasted with a burrito in Pitch Perfect?
Rebel’s lawyer claims the “phone stopped ringing” not long after the articles were published. The only time the phone rang was when someone called to fire her. Rebel was cast in Trolls and Kung Fu Panda 3, but she says she was let go because of Woman’s Day’s articles. Bauer Media’s lawyer argued the articles weren’t nasty.
Speaking in a Melbourne court today, Rebel admitted she was 37 and that she had legally changed her birth name to Rebel Elizabeth Melanie Wilson. She also claimed she wasn’t lying about having a “bogan” upbringing, except that now she would consider herself a “cashed-up bogan.” An episode of an Australian television show called Home Delivery was also screened during the trial. In it, Rebel is shown going back to her home in the Sydney suburb where she grew up. Rebel said in court she never expected to one day have to “prove every aspect” of her life.
Rebel attempted to prove to the jury today that she’s majorly bummed out she’s no longer a “hot, hot property” in Hollywood. The Guardian says that Rebel claimed she was meant to be a Hollywood actress and realized this during a Malaria-induced hallucination as a teenager while on a trip to South Africa. In the hallucination, she claims she rapped an Oscar acceptance speech. No matter what the outcome of this trial, I hope Rebel gets her once-hot Hollywood career back. The Oscars are so boring, and I would love to see an award-winner spice it up a bit with a rapping acceptance speech that was once born from a fever dream.
Pic: Wenn.com