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Sacha Baron Cohen denies Rebel Wilson’s claims of ‘asshole’ behaviour on set

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Australian star names Baron Cohen as the ‘massive asshole’ referred to in her memoir, Rebel Rising, as representatives for the Borat actor reject ‘demonstrably false’ allegations

‘I will not be bullied or silenced with high priced lawyer or PR crisis managers’ … Rebel Wilson. Photograph: Caroline Brehman/EPA

Rebel Wilson has named Sacha Baron Cohen, who she worked with on the 2016 film The Brothers Grimsby (known as Grimsby in the UK), as the “massive asshole” she refers to in her forthcoming memoir, Rebel Rising.

The Australian actor also claims that the Borat star is attempting to block publication of the book.

Writing on Instagram today, Wilson said: “I will not be bullied or silenced with high priced lawyer or PR crisis managers. The ‘asshole’ that I am talking about in ONE CHAPTER of my book is Sacha Baron Cohen.”

In a statement shared with the Guardian, representatives for Baron Cohen strongly rejected the allegations of bad behaviour on set, saying:

"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."

In previous Instagram posts, Wilson claimed that a “massive asshole” she once worked with had hired a crisis PR team and started sending her threats after she claimed they would be the subject of a chapter of her book. “He’s trying to stop press coming out about my new book,” she wrote. “But the book WILL come out and you will all know the truth.”

Ten days ago on Instagram, Wilson said: “When I first came to Hollywood, people were like, yeah, ‘I have a no asshole policy, 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 because I worked with a massive asshole and yeah, now I definitely have a no assholes policy.”

Wilson and Baron Cohen starred together as husband and wife in Grimsby, and Wilson has previously discussed her experiences making the movie, saying that Baron Cohen encouraged her to strip off entirely, before hiring a body double when she refused.

Speaking on the Kyle and Jackie O radio show in Australia in 2014 (Grimsby had a long period in post-production), Wilson said that Baron Cohen was so persistent that she told him she would call their shared agent “and tell her how much you are harassing me”.

She continued: “Every day he’s like, ‘Just go naked, it will be funny. Remember in Borat when I did that naked scene? It was hilarious.’ On the last day I thought I’d obviously won the argument and he got a body double to do the naked scene.”

Wilson also alleged that Baron Cohen asked her to stick her finger up his bottom in the final scene. “And I went, ‘What do you mean Sacha? That’s not in the script.’

“And he’s like, ‘Look, I’ll just pull down my pants, you just stick your finger up my butt, it’ll be a really funny bit.’” Wilson said they finally reached a compromise: “You don’t wanna be a diva so I … said I’ll slap you once on the butt and that’s it,” said Wilson.

Grimsby, which co-starred Isla Fisher and Mark Strong, is widely considered the lowest moment in Baron Cohen’s screen career. Speaking to the Guardian in 2021, Baron Cohen said:“Any flop is difficult. But in retrospect, the experience was fantastic. I was on the trajectory of a comedy movie star in Hollywood where you make a certain amount of movies that have to do well at the box office. The great thing about having a complete bomb was being liberated from that.”