Sacha Baron Cohen rejects Rebel Wilson’s serious allegations ahead of memoir
Source: Instagram/Rebel Wilson
Rebel Wilson and Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen are embroiled in an ugly war of words ahead of the planned release of the Australian actor’s autobiography next month.
Wilson, 44, has publicly accused Baron Cohen of allegedly trying to stop her from publishing her memoir, Rebel Rising, which she says includes a chapter on her experience with the British actor and director.
Wilson previously referred to a “massive a–hole” she once worked with allegedly hiring a crisis PR team after learning she would dedicate a chapter of her memoir to exposing their behaviour.
Naming Baron Cohen as the man in question on Instagram on Monday, she said she “will not be bullied or silenced with high-priced lawyers or PR crisis managers”.
“The ‘a–hole’ that I am talking about in ONE CHAPTER of my book is Sacha Baron Cohen.”
Baron Cohen, who is married to Australian actress Isla Fisher, and Wilson starred together in the 2016 comedy The Brothers Grimsby .
Wilson has made public comments about Cohen’s behaviour towards her on set, including that he allegedly pressured her to perform a scene naked.
While it is not known what Wilson has written about Baron Cohen in her memoir, a spokesperson for Baron Cohen was quoted by CNN on Tuesday saying that Wilson’s allegations are false.
“While we appreciate the importance of speaking out, these demonstrably false claims are directly contradicted by extensive detailed evidence, including contemporaneous documents, film footage, and eyewitness accounts from those present before, during and after the production of The Brothers Grimsby,” the spokesperson said.
Wilson previously made allegations about her time filming The Brothers Grimsby. Photo: Columbia Pictures
Wilson posted an Instagram video on March 16 promoting her book, saying that chapter 23 explored an unnamed actor’s behaviour towards her.
She has previously flagged that the actor, now revealed as Baron Cohen, was “trying to stop press coming out about my new book”.
“But the book will come out and you will all know the truth,” Wilson wrote.
“When I first came to Hollywood, people were like, yeah, ‘I have a no a–hole policy, means like, yeah, I don’t work with a–holes.’ I was like, ‘Oh yeah. I mean, that sounds sensible or logical’. But then it really sunk in because I worked with a massive a–hole and yeah, now I definitely have a no a–holes policy,” she said.
In an interview with Marie Claire UK after the release of The Brothers Grimsby in 2016, Wilson claimed Baron Cohen had asked her to perform a nude scene in the movie, which she declined.
“You want to know that the people [behind the camera] have a certain sensibility and decency. And a lot of times, in comedy, they’re not those people,” Wilson said in the interview.
Wilson said Baron Cohen ended up using a body double for the scene.
“They got in another girl – this larger burlesque dancer from South Africa – to be a nude double. And they got her to do all this stuff. Sacha would go, ‘See, she looks good’. I’m like, ‘I’m not doing it. I don’t care what you say’.”
In a 2014 appearance on Kyle and Jackie O radio show, Wilson alleged that Baron Cohen asked her to “stick her finger up his butt” during the final scene of The Brothers Grimsby.
“I’ll just pull down my pants, you just stick your finger up my butt, it’ll be a really funny bit,” Wilson claimed in the interview.
Rebel Rising is scheduled for publication on April 3.