‘Pitch Perfect‘ actress Rebel Wilson is opening up about her personal life in a new memoir, ‘Rebel Rising,’ where she accuses ‘Borat‘ actor Sacha Baron Cohen of sexual harassment. He has since called her claim “demonstrably false.”
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Ahead of her upcoming memoir release, which sees her speaking candidly about her sexuality, the 44-year-old actress has not only spoken about losing her virginity at 35 but also speaks on her allegations of Sacha Baron Cohen, 52, telling her to put her “finger in his a**.”
On March 15, the Australian-born actress shared a video to her Instagram stating that her new memoir, which releases on April 2, would include a chapter dedicated to a “massive a**hole” that she once worked with in Hollywood. She captioned the post, “Do you wanna know why I have a ‘no a**holes’ policy now with people I work with? …Well it’s all in the book: ‘REBEL RISING’ available for pre-order now (drops April 2nd, link in bio)…oh, and YES I name the a**hole!”
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After taking to her Instagram with the promotional and cryptic message, a week later, Wilson revealed on her Instagram Story that she was being threatened to remain silent. On Sunday (March 24), Rebel Wilson wrote, “I will not 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.”
After Rebel Wilson revealed that the person she was allegedly sexually harassed by was Sacha Baron Cohen, whom she filmed with for the 2016 spy comedy ‘The Brothers Grimsby,’ he responded and shut down the claims.
Speaking with PEOPLE, a rep for the ‘Borat‘ actor said, “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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However, according to PEOPLE, Rebel Wilson wrote in her memoir that she is “not about canceling anybody,” she only wants to share her experience to help other women feel empowered to speak up about their own. In her memoir, Wilson details how she met Baron Cohen at a 2013 dinner party, and how he later called her, asking her to play his girlfriend in ‘The Brothers Grimsby,’ a raunchy R-rated comedy he co-wrote, starred in, and produced.
Wilson claims that once they began filming, “It felt like every time I’d speak to SBC, he’d mention that he wanted me to go naked in a future scene. I was like, ‘Ha, I don’t do nudity, Sacha.’” She writes that while they were filming at a soccer stadium in Cape Town one day, “SBC summons me via a production assistant saying that I’m needed to film an additional scene. ‘Okay, well, we’re gonna film this extra scene,’ SBC says. Then he pulls his pants down … SBC says very matter-of-factly: ‘Okay, now I want you to stick your finger up my a**.’ And I’m like, ‘What?? … No!!’”
Wilson adds, “I was now scared. I wanted to get out of there, so I finally compromised: I slapped him on the a** and improvised a few lines as the character.”
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Again, Sacha Baron Cohen has since vehemently denied Rebel Wilson’s claims of sexual harassment, and his reps even provided PEOPLE with nine anonymous statements supporting his claims. Of the nine, five said they witnessed the Cape Town scene and disputed Wilson’s claims.
A producer reportedly wrote, “As per the script, which Rebel had read and approved in advance, her character was attempting to put a finger in Sacha’s character’s butt. At no point did Sacha actually ask her to put a finger in his butt. Throughout this entire period, she was treated with the utmost respect and empowerment and was welcomed as a collaborator in all creative areas.”
A writer-producer added, “This was a scheduled, scripted scene.” However, Wilson’s sister Liberty and a friend told PEOPLE that the actress called them immediately after the incident and detailed what happened. Wilson also told the publication that she tried to leave the film, but was advised by her agent and a lawyer to “be professional and finish the film.”
She said that as she finished the film, there were reshoots that included a sex scene. She said, “I filmed the scene, after demanding rewrites. But I still had to simulate having sex with this guy. I still had to kiss him repeatedly. [Months later,] it really sank in that all this wasn’t something that could be laughed off. I relayed to the producers that I would not be doing any promotion for the film. [In the end,] the movie bombed, which to me was karma enough. I’m not about canceling anybody and that’s not my motivation for sharing this story. I’m sharing my story now because the more women talk about things like this, hopefully, the less it happens.”
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