8 months ago
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Rebel Wilson has been making headlines this week for her feud with Sacha Baron Cohen amid the upcoming release of her memoir, in which she writes about working with the actor. For those who don’t know, Rebel and Sacha starred together in the 2016 raunchy comedy The Brothers Grimsby, which he also co-wrote and produced. The film was a massive flop, grossing just $6.8 million in the U.S. Rebel wrote on social media over the weekend that a “massive a–hole” was trying to silence her through lawyers and a crisis PR manager. She then named Sacha as that person. Sacha has already spoken out through his legal team and denied any wrongdoing on the set of The Brothers Grimsby. Now, an excerpt from the book has been released and you can find out what Rebel actually said about her experience on set. Keep reading to find out more… “It felt like every time I’d speak to SBC, he’d mention that he wanted me to go naked in a future scene. I was like, ‘Ha, I don’t do nudity, Sacha,’” Rebel said in an excerpt, released online by People. Rebel claims that while filming at a Cape Town soccer stadium, “SBC summons me via a production assistant saying that I’m needed to film an additional scene. ‘Okay, well, we’re gonna film this extra scene,’ SBC says. Then he pulls his pants down … SBC says very matter-of-factly: ‘Okay, now I want you to stick your finger up my ass.’ And I’m like, ‘What?? … No!!’ … I was now scared. I wanted to get out of there, so I finally compromised: I slapped him on the ass and improvised a few lines as the character.” In the book, Rebel says that she talked to her agent and lawyer about the experience and was “encouraged to ‘be professional and finish the film’… my way of dealing with it at that point was to try to laugh it off.” Rebel says that she was asked to do reshoots for the movie, including a sex scene. “I filmed the scene, after demanding rewrites. But I still had to simulate having sex with this guy. I still had to kiss him repeatedly. [A few months later] it really sank in that all this wasn’t something that could be laughed off. I relayed to the producers that I would not be doing any promotion for the film,” Rebel wrote. “The movie bombed, which to me was karma enough. I’m not about canceling anybody and that’s not my motivation for sharing this story. I’m sharing my story now because the more women talk about things like this, hopefully the less it happens.” Sacha‘s team has 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,” his lawyer said in a statement. An anonymous producer backed up Sacha‘s statement and said, “As per the script, which Rebel had read and approved in advance, her character was attempting to put a finger in Sacha’s character’s butt. At no point did Sacha actually ask her to put a finger in his butt. Throughout this entire period, she was treated with the utmost respect and empowerment and was welcomed as a collaborator in all creative areas.” Rebel just provided a new update and says that others in Hollywood have had similar experiences with Sacha.
