Rebel Wilson claims Sacha Baron Cohen is the 'a--hole' trying to block her memoir: 'I will not be silenced'

Rebel Wilson has revealed that her The Brothers Grimsby co-star Sacha Baron Cohen is the previously unnamed “a--hole” who is trying to prevent the release of her upcoming memoir, Rebel Rising.

Last week, the Australian actress took to Instagram with the origins of their dispute, explaining that she dedicated an entire chapter of the book to “a massive a--hole” she worked with in Hollywood. At the time, she didn’t reveal the individual’s name, the project they worked on together, or any further details beyond her intent to expose their behavior.

However, in a new Instagram update on March 25, she revealed the individual. “I will not be bullied or silenced with high priced lawyer or PR crisis managers. The ‘a--hole’ that I am talking about in ONE CHAPTER of my book is Sacha Baron Cohen," she shared in her Instagram story.

In older posts, Wilson hinted at friction with the Borat actor, whom she worked with early in her career, following her breakout roles in Bridesmaids and Pitch Perfect.

“When I first came to Hollywood, people were like, yeah, ‘I have a no-a--hole policy. It means like, yeah, I don’t work with a--holes.’ I was like, ‘Oh yeah. I mean, that sounds sensible or logical,'” Wilson says in an Instagram video posted March 15. “But then it really sunk in what they were meaning by that. Because I worked with a massive a--hole and yeah, now I definitely have a no-a--holes policy.”

Wilson added, “The chapter on said a--hole is Chapter 23. That guy was a massive a--hole.”

Wilson later shared an update, claiming that the star in question was attempting to “threaten” her with lawyers. 

“I wrote about an a--hole in my book. Now, said a--hole is trying to threaten me,” Wilson wrote in a now expired Instagram Story. “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.”

A representative for Baron Cohen responded to these claims on Monday, in a statement shared with Entertainment Weekly. "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," they told the publication.

In Grimsby, Wilson played the girlfriend of Baron Cohen’s character Nobby, an alcoholic footballer who becomes an elite spy. The film also starred Mark Strong and Baron Cohen’s real-life wife, Isla Fisher. Ahead of its release, Wilson discussed having her boundaries tested on set.

“They wanted full-frontal nudity,” she recalled in a 2016 Marie Clare profile.  “We write in the contract, specifically, ‘No nudity’. 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.'”

She also spoke about the experience in 2014, during her appearance on the Kyle and Jackie O radio show. “Sacha is so outrageous,” Wilson told the hosts, according to Australia’s The Courier-Mail newspaper. “Every single day he’s like, ‘Rebel, can you just go naked in this scene?’ And I’m like, ‘No!’ 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.”

Rebel Rising will be released on April 2, 2024.

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