‘The truth will come out’: Rebel Wilson takes aim at Sacha Baron Cohen again
Australian actress Rebel Wilson has fired another salvo at Sacha Baron Cohen, insisting “the truth” about him “will come out”.
Australian actress Rebel Wilson has fired another salvo at Sacha Baron Cohen, insisting “the truth” about him “will come out”.
Wilson’s new memoir, Rebel Rising, accuses the British comedic actor of “humiliating and degrading” her on the set of Grimsby, a 2016 film in which they both starred.
The Australian has publicly accused Baron Cohen of trying to block the release of the memoir, which labels him an “asshole”.
“I will not be bullied or silenced by high-priced lawyers or PR crisis managers,” she wrote on Instagram last month.
“The asshole that I am talking about in one chapter of my book is Sacha Baron Cohen.”
Baron Cohen has denied Wilson’s claims.
The book’s Australian release, which was expected last week, has been delayed.
According to Harper Collins Australia, the publication “has been moved to coincide with Rebel Wilson’s press tours”, and the new date “will be announced in due course”.
In a new interview with The Sun, Wilson says she has been contacted by multiple other women in the wake of her claims against Baron Cohen.
“What’s been comforting is, like, several women have now been in contact, and it’s up to them whether they want to go public with their stories,” Wilson said.
“Because it is hard to say something against somebody who’s high profile, because they hit you with high-price lawyers and crisis PR people and all sorts of little tricks.
“It doesn’t feel great when all I’m doing is sharing my story in my memoir, which I’m very entitled to do.
“But I always think the truth will come out, which is why it’s great to have the book out now, so people don’t just read the headlines but can read the actual chapter.”
None of the women Wilson says contacted her have gone public with any claims of their own about Baron Cohen.
‘I felt shame’
In the book, Wilson says her time on set for Grimsby was “kind of the worst professional experience I ever had on a movie”. She claims Baron Cohen repeatedly pressured her to film nude scenes.
“One of the reasons why I wrote it is because I felt shame, at the time, that I didn’t do more,” she recently said.
“What I should have done is left that set. The moment that first act happened, I should have left. I should have just gone back to the hotel, demanded to leave and never come back.
“But we (Wilson and Baron Cohen) had the same agent at the time, and I was kind of, you know, talked around into, ‘Well just be professional.’
“The great thing about having the Me Too movement is that now, if something happened like that, the 44-year-old version of myself would just get out of it, put them on blast publicly.
“But back then, ten years ago, it was different. There weren’t intimacy coaches on set. It was a very different vibe, and often not great for women.
“I wish I knew back then how to handle it.”
Baron Cohen’s legal team has accused Wilson of making claims with “no basis in reality” as part of a “cynical ploy” to promote her memoir.
Baron Cohen mired in high profile divorce
Meanwhile Baron Cohen, 52, and his wife, 48-year-old Australian actress Isla Fisher, have announced they are getting divorced after 13 years of marriage.
The pair have three children together.
“After a long tennis match lasting over twenty years, we are finally putting our racquets down,” they announced on social media this week.
“In 2023 we jointly filed to end our marriage. We have always prioritised our privacy, and have been quietly working through this change.
“We forever share in our devotion and love for our children. We sincerely appreciate your respecting our family’s wish for privacy.”
Baron Cohen and Fisher got engaged in 2004, and married each other in 2010, in a Jewish ceremony in Paris. Fisher converted to Judaism, Baron Cohen’s faith.