When Rebel Wilson’s bombshell memoir drops in the United Kingdom today, allegations of inappropriate behavior by her onetime costar Sacha Baron Cohen won’t be in it. Rebel Rising was released by Simon & Schuster in the United States earlier this month, but her publisher in the UK has opted to redact sections of a chapter titled “Sacha Baron Cohen and Other Assholes,” a spokesperson for HarperCollins confirmed to The New York Times.
“We are publishing every page, but for legal reasons, in the UK edition, we are redacting most of one page with some other small redactions and an explanatory note,” the statement said. “Those sections are a very small part of a much bigger story.”
In the Times piece, a spokesperson for Baron Cohen lauded HarperCollins’ choice to redact the claims from UK editions. “Printing falsehoods is against the law in the UK and Australia,” the statement said, adding that the decision “confirms what we said from the beginning—that this is demonstrably false, in a shameful and failed effort to sell books.”
In her book, Wilson accused Baron Cohen of being a “massive asshole” on the set of 2016’s The Brothers Grimsby, and has alleged that he tried to prevent press on her book from being released. Speaking to The Sunday Times, Wilson called her work on The Brothers Grimsby, which Baron Cohen starred in, cowrote, and produced, “the worst professional experience of my career.” She discussed feeling “disrespected” on the set of the film, in which she played Baron Cohen’s character’s girlfriend, but said she refrained from speaking out for fear of being branded “a troublemaker” in the industry.
According to the Times, the redacted section pertains to Baron Cohen allegedly asking Wilson to appear nude in The Brothers Grimsby. After expressing her discomfort, a body double was eventually used instead. Wilson also claims that Cohen asked her to insert her finger in his anus while filming a sex scene, a request she refused and says was witnessed by others in the production.
Baron Cohen has vehemently denied the allegations. “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,” the actor said through a spokesperson in a statement to Vanity Fair.
In a statement to VF, a spokesperson for a Brothers Grimsby producer defended Baron Cohen’s behavior on the set of the film, stating, in part: “In my capacity as a writer and producer, I was present with Sacha and Rebel on pretty much a daily basis, from the moment she was engaged as an actor to the moment the movie wrapped and she was no longer involved. Throughout this entire period, she was treated with the utmost respect and empowerment and was welcomed as a collaborator in all creative areas; the script, costume, hair, makeup— everything that involved her.”
During a recent interview with The New York Times, Wilson reacted to Cohen’s denial. “This is not about canceling someone. It’s part of my story—my memoir,” she said. “And I’m allowed to write about what happened to me, and how that made me feel.” Vanity Fair has reached out to a rep for Wilson for comment on the overseas redaction.
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