Rebel Wilson says 'Borat' star Sacha Baron Cohen 'bullied' her with lawyers after she revealed plans to expose a male star in her memoir
Rebel Wilson has claimed Sacha Baron Cohen threatened her with lawyers over her memoir.
She previously teased that her book would criticize the behavior of someone she'd worked with.
Wilson and Cohen starred in the 2014 action-comedy "The Brothers Grimsby."
The "Pitch Perfect" star Rebel Wilson claimed Sunday that Sacha Baron Cohen used lawyers to threaten her over her upcoming memoir, "Rebel Rising," after she said she would expose a male costar.
The book arrives on shelves on April 2 and covers the "Senior Year" and "Jojo Rabbit" actor's life and career.
Last week, Wilson said that one chapter would expose the behavior of a male actor whom she previously worked with. In an Instagram story published on Friday, she said: "I wrote about an asshole in my book. Now, said asshole is trying to threaten me."
Wilson posted another Instagram story on Sunday that named Cohen as the person she would discuss in her book.
She wrote: "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."
The pair starred in 2016's "The Brothers Grimsby," which sees the "Borat" star play Nobby Butcher, a man from the UK town of Grimsby who discovers that his long-lost brother, Sebastian Butcher (Mark Strong), is a spy. Wilson played Nobby's girlfriend, Dawn, in the film.
The chapter in Wilson's book will presumably cover her time working with Cohen on "The Brothers Grimsby," which was a misfire for the stars, earning a 36% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes and making $27 million worldwide (according to Box Office Mojo).
A spokesperson for Cohen told Business Insider: "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.'"
Wilson has previously accused Cohen of behaving inappropriately on set
Wilson made allegations in 2014 about how he behaved on set. During an appearance on the "Kyle and Jackie O" radio show in 2014, Wilson said Cohen pestered her to go nude in the film, according to The Courier Mail.
She said: "Every day he's like, 'Just go naked. It will be funny. Remember in Borat when I did that naked scene? It was hilarious.'"
The star added: "On the last day, I thought I'd obviously won the argument, and he got a body double to do the naked scene."
Wilson also claimed that he made lewd requests for her character that weren't in the script.
She said: "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.'"
Wilson's comments in 2014 appear to align with now deleted tweets she posted in 2017, in which she said she was harassed by a male costar, The Guardian reported.
"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 ass," she wrote. "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's representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment from BI.
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