Rebel Wilson's Los Angeles trial may move to March 2027
The trial in Rebel Wilson's defamation fight with the producers of her film The Deb could slip from January to late March 2027. Her lead lawyer, Allyson K. Thompson of Hart Kienle Pentecost, has filed an agreed request with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Thomas Long, Deadline reports.
The request would push back the trial, now set for January 19, 2027, by more than two months. The parties want it moved to March 22, 2027, or to a later date that both sides accept. Expert-discovery deadlines, the stage where each side exchanges reports from its specialist witnesses, would move with it.
Thompson has also asked for the summary judgment hearings set for December to be pushed back. Summary judgment is a request to end a case before trial because the facts are not in dispute. Deadline reports that Thompson was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and is due to be on medical leave for surgery from November 30, 2026, to January 4, 2027. The parties discussed the change by phone on October 16, 2026, and agreed in principle to the new timetable.
A hearing in downtown Los Angeles is scheduled for Friday, October 23, to address the requests.
The dispute began in July 2024, when three producers behind The Deb sued Wilson for defamation in California. Wilson had accused them of sexual harassment, embezzlement and extortion, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter reported at the time. The Deb is Wilson's directorial debut. In January 2026, The Hollywood Reporter reported that a court had dismissed most of Wilson's lawsuit against the producers. In April 2026, Courthouse News reported that Wilson had appealed for dismissal of the producers' suit against her. In late September, Page Six reported that the producers claim Wilson committed perjury and fraud in pretrial statements. Those are allegations, and no court has ruled on them.
A separate case is running in Australia. Charlotte MacInnes, an Australian actress who is the lead actor in The Deb, brought a defamation claim against Wilson over social media posts. Wilson appeared in a Sydney court on April 20, 2026, for the start of the case. On July 22, 2026, a Sydney court cleared Wilson of defaming MacInnes, the BBC reported.
So the Los Angeles calendar is the next date to watch. If the judge agrees to the request, the trial would be held in March 2027 instead of January.
