Sacha Baron Cohen Section Of Rebel Wilson’s Book To Be Censored In UK Edition

The UK edition of Rebel Wilson’s new book will feature a censored version of her account of working with Sacha Baron Cohen.

Last month, the Pitch Perfect star made headlines when she posted a cryptic video on Instagram, in which she teased that a chapter of her new memoir Rebel Rising would see her speaking about an undisclosed “asshole” co-star.

She later named the actor in question as Sacha Baron Cohen, with whom she appeared in the 2016 comedy Grimsby.

At the time, a spokesperson for the Borat creator told HuffPost UK: “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…”

The Guardian has now reported that a chapter of Rebel’s book titled Sacha Baron Cohen And Other Assholes reads: “SBC summoned me via a production assistant saying that I was needed to film an additional scene. What followed was the worst experience of my professional life. An incident that left me feeling bullied, humiliated, and compromised.

“It can’t be printed here due to peculiarities of the law in England and Wales.”

According to the news outlet, the rest of the page is “blacked out”, as are select sentences in the remainder of the chapter.

UK publisher HarperCollins told The Guardian: “We are publishing every page, but for legal reasons, in the UK edition, we are redacting most of one page with some other small redactions and an explanatory note. Those sections are a very small part of a much bigger story.”

Meanwhile, Sacha’s representative said: “[HarperCollins] did not fact check this chapter in the book prior to publication and took the sensible but terribly belated step of deleting Rebel Wilson’s defamatory claims once presented with evidence that they were false.

“Printing falsehoods is against the law in the UK and Australia; this is not a ‘peculiarity’ as Ms Wilson said, but a legal principle that has existed for many hundreds of years.”

Sacha Baron Cohen
Sacha Baron Cohen

Michael Buckner via Getty Images

They added: “This is a clear victory for Sacha Baron Cohen and confirms what we said from the beginning – that this is demonstrably false, in a shameful and failed effort to sell books.”

Rebel recently told The Times she felt “disrespected” and “humiliated” on the set of Grimsby due to her appearance, claiming she felt “like I was something to be laughed at and degraded because of my size”, and that her character was “demeaned” in certain scenes.

The Times noted that Sacha had “refuted” his former co-star’s version of events.

Rebel first opened up about her working relationship with Sacha during a 2014 radio interview with KIIS FM.

Rebel and Sacha in Grimsby, which was released in 2016
Rebel and Sacha in Grimsby, which was released in 2016

Moviestore/Shutterstock

“Sacha is so outrageous,” she said at the time, as reported by Australia’s Courier Mail outlet.

“Every single day he’s like, ‘Rebel, can you just go naked in this scene?’ And I’m like, ‘No!’.”

She continued: “On the last day I thought I’d obviously won the argument and he got a body double to do the naked scene.

“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’.”

Rebel concluded: “You don’t wanna be a diva so I [said] I’ll slap you once on the butt and that’s it.”

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Rebel Wilson Opens Up About Working With Sacha Baron Cohen After ‘A*****e’ Jibe

Rebel Wilson has reflected on her past work with Sacha Baron Cohen, which she has described as the “worst professional experience of my career”.

Last month, the Pitch Perfect star made headlines when she posted a video on Instagram, in which she referred to an undisclosed former co-star who she’d written about in her upcoming memoir Rebel Rising.

“I worked with a massive asshole, and yeah, now I definitely have a ‘no assholes’ policy,” she explained. “The chapter on said asshole is chapter 23. That guy was a massive asshole.”

In a follow-up Instagram story post shared a few days later, Rebel told her followers: “I will not be bullied or silenced by high priced lawyers or PR crisis managers. The ‘asshole’ that I am talking about in ONE CHAPTER of my book is: Sacha Baron Cohen.”

At the time, a spokesperson for Sacha – who worked with Rebel in the 2016 film Grimsby – told HuffPost UK: “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…”

Rebel reflected further on her work with Sacha in an interview with the Sunday Times published over the weekend.

“It’s one thing for someone who is fat to exploit their size for comedy, but it’s another for somebody else to humiliate you,” the Australian star claimed, saying she felt “disrespected” on set, particularly due to her character’s revealing outfits, but didn’t want to speak out in case she were to be labelled a “troublemaker”.

Rebel said she felt “like I was something to be laughed at and degraded because of my size”, noting her character was “demeaned” in certain scenes.

Rebel Wilson and Sacha Baron Cohen in Grimsby
Rebel Wilson and Sacha Baron Cohen in Grimsby

Moviestore/Shutterstock

According to the Times, Rebel later returned to sets for reshoots, to which she recalled: “The fact that I then went back… I felt ashamed of myself. Why do I have such low self-worth?”

In her book, the Times quotes her as saying: “I’m sharing my story now because the more women talk about things like this, hopefully the less it happens. And hopefully fewer women have to work harder just to respect themselves.”

The newspaper also writes that the Borat creator “refutes [Rebel’s] claims about her experiences on the set of Grimsby”.

Sacha Baron Cohen
Sacha Baron Cohen

Kevin Dietsch via Getty Images

Sacha Baron Cohen’s team reiterated his original statement when contacted for comment by HuffPost UK.

Rebel previously opened up about her working relationship with the Borat creator during a 2014 radio interview with KIIS FM.

“Sacha is so outrageous,” she said a decade ago, as reported by Australia’s Courier Mail outlet.

“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’.

“Every day he’s like, ’Just go naked, it will be funny. Remember in Borat when I did that naked scene? It was hilarious’.”

She continued: “On the last day I thought I’d obviously won the argument and he got a body double to do the naked scene.

“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’.”

Rebel concluded: “You don’t wanna be a diva so I [said] I’ll slap you once on the butt and that’s it.”

This article has been updated to include a response from Sacha Baron Cohen via his spokesperson.

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Rebel Wilson Reveals She’s Become A Mother As She Celebrates Birth Of Baby Girl

Rebel Wilson has announced that she has become a mother after welcoming a baby girl.

The Pitch Perfect star shared a photo of the newborn – who was born last week, via a surrogate – on her Instagram page on Monday afternoon.

“Beyond proud to announce the birth of my first child, Royce Lillian, born this past week via surrogate,” Rebel told her followers.

“I can’t even describe the love I have for her, she’s a beautiful miracle!”

She continued: “I am forever grateful to everyone who has been involved, (you know who you are), this has been years in the making… but particularly wanted to thank my gorgeous surrogate who carried her and birthed her with such grace and care.

“Thank you for helping me start my own family, it’s an amazing gift. The BEST gift!! I am ready to give little Roycie all the love imaginable.”

The Australian actor added: “I am learning quickly…much respect to all the Mums out there! Proud to be in your club.”

The Bridesmaids received a wave of support from her celebrity friends after the announcement, with Taika Waititi – who directed Rebel in Jojo Rabbit – commenting: “Yes Rebz, congrats.”

Rebel is best known for her performance in comedy films like Bridesmaids, Isn’t It Romantic and the Pitch Perfect series, as well as the musical Cats.

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Rebel Wilson Says Male Co-Star Sexually Harassed Her, Then Tried To ‘Destroy’ Her Career

Rebel Wilson has revealed she was once sexually harassed by a male co-star who then tried to “destroy her career”.

The Pitch Perfect star detailed the “disgusting” incident in an interview with People in which she says the actor pulled down his pants and asked her to perform a sexual act.

She did not name the actor or say what film they were in together.

“He called me into a room and pulled down his pants,” Rebel recalled.

“It was awful and disgusting,” she added. “And all the behaviour afterwards — this was all before #MeToo — where they kind of tried to destroy me and my career. If it had happened after #MeToo, then I could have just blasted them.”

The 42-year-old star, who trained as a lawyer before she found fame on screen, documented the incident and told others what had happened.

She eventually finished the film with the unnamed actor, saying she wanted to “do the right thing, be a professional” but says with hindsight, she would never do that now.

Rebel Wilson
Rebel Wilson

“Why did I stay in that situation … with that awful guy?” she said. “I should have left. It wasn’t worth it. But at the same time, I was like, ‘Oh well, do the right thing, be a professional and finish the movie.’ Now I would never do that.”

The actor says that after complaining to the film studio behind the movie, she discovered she wasn’t the first person to make a complaint.

“I thought even complaining to my agency was a big step,” she said. “And to complain to the studio. I found out I was like the fourth person to complain about the guy. Such gross behaviour, but a lot of women have had it way worse.”

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Rebel Wilson’s Mortifying Emergency Poo Tale Is Giving Us Bridesmaids Flashbacks

That explosive poo scene in Bridesmaids is one of the most memorable in recent(-ish) cinema history, but it’s come to light that something similar actually happened to one of the film’s stars.

Rebel Wilson, who played Brynn in the 2011 comedy, has revealed that life imitated art when she was once caught short out in public shortly after making the movie.

Although Rebel doesn’t feature in the scene in question – when Maya Rudolph’s bride-to-be character and her bridesmaids end up decorating a bridal shop (and the road outside) after a dodgy meal – she can most certainly relate.

The 41-year-old Aussie star has confessed that she once had to take an emergency number two in someone’s front garden whilst out on a hike in LA.

Rebel Wilson
Rebel Wilson

Stefanie Keenan via Getty Images

Rebel shared the (very detailed) gory details on the Life Uncut podcast with Brittany Hockley and Laura Byrne.

“I go on the hike, and it’s hiking uphill, and I was feeling very sluggish after eating, like, probably thousands of calories,” Rebel began.

“I get this instant feeling. I’ve got to go to the toilet, I can’t make it the few streets back to my place… It hit me and it was all inside and it just had to come out.”

“I’m feral,” she continued. “I’m just in leggings, like I don’t look nice, I don’t have any makeup on or whatever. I’d been in the movie Bridesmaids so I was kind of recognised, not a superstar or anything, but I was kind of recognisable.

“I squat in this person’s front yard and then I’m just kind of frozen [thinking] what if somebody sees this… I often get papped there, going on the hike.”

Rebel starred alongside (L-R) Melissa McCarthy, Ellie Kemper, Rose Byrne, Wendi Mclendon-Covey, Maya Rudolph, Kristen Wiig in Bridesmaids.
Rebel starred alongside (L-R) Melissa McCarthy, Ellie Kemper, Rose Byrne, Wendi Mclendon-Covey, Maya Rudolph, Kristen Wiig in Bridesmaids.

Suzanne HanoverSuzanne Hanover/Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock

Explaining that a car then pulled up, Rebel said: “I’m like, they’re going to see me. If they get out of that car they’re going to see me. I’m still squatting on their front lawn.

“It’s so disgusting, I can’t even, my mind goes, if they come and say something I’m just going to scream that ‘I’m pregnant, I’m pregnant’.

“I don’t know why that was my thing. That was just what I was going to say, because you’ve got to say something.”

Luckily the person who pulled up was visiting the house next door.

“So I just pulled up my pants and I left,” Rebel explains, before offering up a belated apology.

“If anyone is listening and owned a house in Los Feliz and was very confused by what had happened and now they understand, just know I’m very, very sorry and it won’t happen again,” she said.

“I hope those nutrients went into the ground.”

Watch *that* classic scene from Bridesmaids below…

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