Aussie star hits back at Rebel Wilson over memoir: ‘Hurtful and disgusting’
Another celeb named in Rebel Wilson’s new tell-all has come out swinging, dubbing her claims about him “hurtful and disgusting”.
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Another of the celebrities Rebel Wilson calls out in her controversial new memoir has hit back at the star, saying her comments about him are “hurtful and disgusting”.
In her new book Rebel Rising, out tomorrow, Wilson opens up about her experiences working on what was her TV breakthrough, playing the character of Toula on the SBS cult comedy Pizza in the early noughties.
Wilson writes that her role in the show “was to be the big fat whale that got laughs”, and that the atmosphere on the show was akin to a “special men’s club”.
“I was in a boys’ show, so I had to take their fatphobic jokes right on my double chin,” she writes, in an excerpt first published by Stellar yesterday.
As her character’s popularity grew and Wilson started to field more opportunities, she claims that Pizza creator and star Fenech approached her on set to tell her simply: “You try too much.”
But Fenech has now hit back at Wilson’s claims, questioning her recollection of events in an interview with the Daily Mail.
“Rebel was happy building a career playing the big girl in Hollywood, now she’s saying we did her wrong? We gave her a start, took her around the world, gave her stage training and TV and feature film opportunities. How ungrateful,” Fenech fumed to the outlet.
“I guess she’ll do or say anything to sell a book.”
Fenech also insisted that he and the rest of the Pizza cast and crew gave Wilson “the creative freedom she needed”, and argued she should have thanked them in the book, rather than complaining about her time on the show.
“No thank you, no gratitude, (and calling us) fatphobic? It’s hurtful and disgusting to me to hear this,” he said.
Fenech isn’t the only celebrity Wilson names in her book who’s publicly hit back at her claims.
Wilson slams comedian Sacha Baron Cohen in the tell-all over his alleged conduct when she appeared in his 2016 film Grimsby. She alleges the Borat comedian pressured her to film a nude scene, which she refused to do.
She said her experiences with Baron Cohen had prompted her to adopt a “no a**holes” policy in deciding who she works with, and had said that she’d warned many other people away from working with him.
Baron Cohen has strongly denied Wilson’s claims, with a spokesperson calling them “demonstrably false” and “directly contradicted by extensive detailed evidence”.
And perhaps Wilson should now prepare for a response from Adele, after the latest except from Rebel Rising reveals that the Pitch Perfect actress thinks the singer “hates” her.
“Some actresses would get offended if I called them plus-size in this book, so I have to be careful with what I say. This is why, I think, Adele hates me,” Wilson writes.
She claims Adele’s alleged dislike of her stems from a time before Adele had lost weight, and would get confused for Wilson.
She says she’s encountered Adele at several events, only to have the star “always quickly” turn away.
“As if my fatness might rub off on her if I were near her for more than thirty seconds,” she writes.
Elsewhere in the book, Wilson makes a surprising confession about her sex life: She only lost her virginity nine years ago, at the age of 35.
“People can wait till they’re ready or wait till they’re a bit more mature,” Wilson explained to People magazine of why she broaches the subject in the book.
“And I think that could be a positive message. You obviously don’t have to wait until you’re in your thirties like me, but you shouldn’t feel pressure as a young person.”
Wilson confessed that for years she’d avoided the topic when asked about her sex life (or lack thereof) by friends.
“Normally I would just leave the room when the conversation was happening,” she added. “And then the people that said, ‘Oh, at 24, it’s so late.’ And then I’m sitting here thinking, ‘Oh my God, my number’s 35.’ What the hell? I’m going to look like the biggest loser.’”
Originally published as Aussie star hits back at Rebel Wilson over memoir: ‘Hurtful and disgusting’
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