celebrity

Rebel Wilson's reportedly being threatened by another celeb over her upcoming memoir. They just responded.

Rebel Wilson has named the former colleague she refers to as an "a**hole" in her upcoming memoir Rebel Rising, which is set for release on April 3, and now, he has responded.

The actor alleges she's been facing harassment from a former co-star, who reportedly enlisted the help of crisis PR managers and lawyers in an attempt to prevent the release of her new book.

In a post shared to Instagram, Wilson has said the "a**hole" in question is actor Sacha Baron Cohen, who she worked with on the 2016 film Grimsby.

Cohen has now released a statement of his own, refuting Wilson's claims.

"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 Grimsby," his representative told TMZ.

While Wilson had previously not disclosed his name, she wrote on social media that she would not be "bullied" or "silenced" before naming the comedian, who is married to Australian actor Isla Fisher.

"I will not be bullied or silenced by high-priced lawyers or PR crisis managers," Wilson wrote. "The a**hole that I am talking about in ONE CHAPTER of my book is Sacha Baron Cohen."

Rebel Wilson said she would not be "bullied" or "silenced". Image: Instagram @rebelwilson.

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While filming Grimsby in 2014, Wilson hinted it did not go entirely smoothly.

"Every single day he's like, 'Rebel, can you just go naked in this scene?' And I’m like, 'No!'" she said on the Kyle and Jackie O Show at the time. "Sacha and I have the same agent in America and I'm like, 'Sacha, I'm going to call our agent, Sharon, and tell her how much you are harassing me.

"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."

Wilson elaborated, saying, "Then in the last scene... he was like, 'Rebel can you just stick your finger up my butt?' And I went, 'What do you mean Sacha? That's not in the script.' And he’s like, 'Look, I'll just pull down my pants, you just stick your finger up my butt, it'll be a really funny bit.'"

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Sacha Baron Cohen and Rebel Wilson in Grimsby. Image: Sony Pictures.

Earlier this year, the Pitch Perfect star said that a then-unnamed actor had forced her to take a "no a**holes policy" in future when it came to acting gigs.

"When I first came to Hollywood, people were like, 'I have a no a**holes policy, meaning I don't work with a**holes,'" she said. "I was like, 'Oh yeah. I mean that sounds sensible, logical.'

"Then it really sunk in what they were meaning by that: Older people in the industry."

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She added, "And yeah, now I definitely have a no a**holes policy. The chapter on said a**hole is Chapter 23 [in my memoir]. That guy was a massive a**hole."

Following the claims against Cohen, Wilson alleged in an Instagram story that he was "trying to threaten" her.

"He's hired a crisis PR manager and lawyers. He is trying to stop press coming out about my book. But the book WILL come out and you will all know the truth."

Rebel Wilson said an "a**hole" was trying to threaten her. Image: Instagram @rebelwilson.

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Wilson had previously spoken about experiencing misconduct among some of her Hollywood coworkers, although she did not name anyone (and there is no insinuation that she was referring to Cohen).

"I've been away in a 'bubble' of sorts creating new comedy overseas, but it's so hard to hear all these stories relating to sexual harassment and assault in Hollywood," the actor said on X (formerly Twitter) in November 2017, following the rise of the #MeToo Movement.

"A male star, in a position of power, asked me to go into a room with him and then asked me repeatedly to stick my finger up his a**. All whilst his male 'friends' tried to film the incident on their iPhones and laughed. I repeatedly said no and eventually got out of the room."

Wilson explained that she called her agent "immediately" before her attorney "made a complaint" with the film studio.

"[It was] basically to protect myself that in the event something similar ever occurred I'd be able to walk out of the job and not [be] obligated to return.

"Later I was threatened by one of the star's representatives to be nice and support the star. I refused. The whole thing was disgusting."

This story was originally published on March 25, 2023, and has since been updated with new information.

Feature Image: Instagram @rebelwilson.

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