Rebel Wilson offered a young star less than $2,000 for international exclusive rights to all her future recordings for a contract for up to four albums, court documents reveal.
The Pitch Perfect star and film production company Unigram offered the contract to singer and actor Charlotte MacInnes after she was cast in the lead role for the musical comedy film, The Deb.
The Deb was co-produced by Unigram - which is owned by Amanda Ghost and her husband, Gregor Cameron - and Wilson, who also directed and starred in the film.
On Tuesday, the Federal Court heard Wilson and Ghost were excited by MacInnes' talent after her film audition in 2023.
They gave her the lead role in the film and offered her a recording contract under Wilson's imprint label Rebellionaire with an advance of £1000, about AU$1800, in exchange for the rights to her future as a recording artist.
But the contract wasn't a record deal - instead, it gave Wilson and Unigram the option of giving MacInnes a record deal if they wanted to, but they were under no obligation to do so.
It also tied MacInnes' future career to the release of The Deb. If Wilson and Unigram decided to give her a record deal, they would have to do so 'no later than one year after the initial commercial cinematic release of The Deb movie'.
This tied her music career into the release of the film. If it was delayed or shelved, MacInnes would have been locked into the contract indefinitely and banned from entering another agreement with a record label.
The contract also had a table for the advances MacInnes would receive if she released up to four albums with Rebellionaire, but the minimum and maximum figures were left blank.
MacInnes did not sign the contract and told the court last week it was a bad deal.
She instead signed with Atlantic and received an advance of about $145,000.
