UPDATE:
Sacha Baron Cohen has responded to claims from Rebel Wilson, rebuking her words. Read his statement below:
“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.”
ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
Rebel Wilson is taking the title of her forthcoming memoir, Rebel Rising, to heart, using it as a forum to call out those who have behaved badly on set. Two weeks ago, Wilson alluded to a co-star who she called a “massive asshole”, saying she would go into detail in the book. This prompted one Hollywood figure to attempt to block the book. And that man is Sacha Baron Cohen, who Wilson worked with on 2016’s The Brothers Grimsby.
Rebel Wilson took to social media over the weekend to call out Cohen, saying, “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.” While she didn’t fully elaborate on exactly why she would label him as such – hey, you’re gonna have to buy the book for that! – that she would out Cohen before Rebel Rising is even on shelves (it’s due for release next Tuesday) shows how determined she is in calling people out.
And Cohen may not be the only one who feels the Rebel wrath, as Wilson posted a video two weeks ago that alluded to perhaps another male co-star, while also outlining what she has learned on the matter as she continues her career. “When I first came to Hollywood, people were like, yeah, ‘I have a no asshole policy, that means like, yeah, I don’t work with assholes.’ I was like, ‘oh yeah. I mean, that sounds sensible or logical…But then it really sunk in what they were meaning by that, older people in the industry. Because I worked with a massive asshole, and, yeah, now I definitely have an assholes policy. Chapter on said asshole – it is chapter 23, that guy was a massive asshole.” So are there multiple men Rebel Wilson has a problem with or does Cohen make numerous appearances in the book? It’s worth noting that Wilson had previously said that one of her male co-stars pulled his pants down in front of her and tried to initiate a sexual act.
If the alleged situations are true, it is quite refreshing that stars that do wrong are being outed, as it is high time that such behavior isn’t merely sticking to “an unnamed co-star.” While Sacha Baron Cohen has yet to comment on any accusations by Rebel Wilson, we will keep you posted on if and when he responds.
What do you make of Rebel Wilson’s comments about Sacha Baron Cohen?