Actor and comedian Rebel Wilson has been calling out an unnamed Hollywood star in social media posts over the past week, alleging that a “massive a–hole” has been trying to block her memoir Rebel Rising from being published.
Now, she has named that star as Sacha Baron Cohen — the celebrated, yet controversial, comedian behind the Borat and Ali G characters.
Wilson claimed in past social media posts that the star, still unnamed at the time, had been sending her threats because he was the subject of one of the chapters in her memoir.
In a Monday Instagram story, Wilson wrote that she will no longer “be bullied or silenced by 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.”
Screengrab of Rebel Wilson’s Instagram story calling out Sacha Baron Cohen.
Global News
Last week, the Pitch Perfect actor posted a cryptic video to her Instagram about how she now refuses to work with “a–holes.”
“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 and 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.”
“The chapter on said a–hole is Chapter 23,” Wilson continued, holding up a copy of her memoir Rebel Rising. “That guy was a massive a–hole.”
In an Instagram story that has since expired, Wilson claimed that the star 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 and Baron Cohen worked together on the 2016 film The Brothers Grimsby, which Baron Cohen wrote and starred in. In the film, Wilson and Baron Cohen are partners who share 11 kids. The movie was largely panned by critics and seen as a low point in Baron Cohen’s career.
Wilson was upfront at the time about how much she disliked working with Baron Cohen.
On the Kyle and Jackie O radio show in Australia, she said Baron Cohen was persistent that she appear naked in the film and he eventually hired a body double for her when Wilson refused.
“Every day he’s like, ‘Just go naked, it will be funny. Remember in Borat when I did that naked scene? It was hilarious.’ On the last day I thought I’d obviously won the argument and he got a body double to do the naked scene,” she said.
When it came time to shoot the final scene of the movie, Wilson claimed that Baron Cohen asked her to “stick your finger up my butt.”
Wilson said she pointed out that there was no mention of this in the script but didn’t want to come across as “a diva.”
“I’ll slap you once on the butt and that’s it,” she said, according to the radio interview.
Wilson’s memoir is slated to arrive on April 2.
A representative for Baron Cohen told media outlets that Wilson’s allegations are “demonstrably 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.”
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