Rebel Wilson memoir published with redacted allegations about Sacha Baron Cohen
By Laura Harding, PA Deputy Entertainment Editor
Rebel Wilson’s headline-making memoir has been published in the UK with allegations about the actor Sacha Baron Cohen redacted for legal reasons.
The book Rebel Rising, which has already been published in the US, features a chapter entitled Sacha Baron Cohen and Other Assholes.
In it, Wilson makes claims about Baron Cohen’s behaviour during the filming of their 2016 comedy Grimsby, which he has strongly denied.
After the allegations were detailed in the US version of the book, his spokesperson said: “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 UK version includes a reference to “the worst experience of my professional life. An incident that left me feeling bullied, humiliated and compromised.
“It can’t be printed here due to the peculiarities of the law in England and Wales.”
The rest of the page is redacted, with black lines also removing shorter details elsewhere in the chapter.
The Pitch Perfect and Bridesmaids star said her aim was not to cancel Baron Cohen with her recollections in the memoir, but to retell an experience which made her feel “completely disrespected, which led to me treating myself with even more disrespect by eating in an extremely unhealthy way”.
In the UK book, Wilson says she “rues the day” she met Baron Cohen, who she describes as her “idol”.
She describes how they first met at a dinner party hosted by Little Britain star Matt Lucas, and a year later he offered her a role in Grimsby, which was released in North America as The Brothers Grimsby.
She played Dawn, the wife of Baron Cohen’s character Nobby, a football fan who gets drawn into the world of his secret agent brother.
Wilson will be discussing her book on a UK tour later this month, with appearances in Edinburgh, Manchester and London.
She will speak to comedian and Loose Women star Judi Love in Edinburgh and Manchester on April 24 and 26 respectively, and will speak to broadcaster Fearne Cotton at the London Palladium on April 29.
Representatives for Baron Cohen and publisher Harper Collins have been contacted for comment.
