Rebel Wilson claimed that "Borat" star Sacha Baron Cohen has hired lawyers to threaten her over her upcoming memoir.
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"Pitch Perfect" star Rebel Wilson claimed that Sacha Baron Cohen used lawyers to threaten her over her upcoming memoir, "Rebel Rising," after she said she would expose a male co-star.
The book arrives on shelves on April 2 and covers the "Senior Year" and "JoJo Rabbit" actor's life and career.
Last week, Wilson said that one chapter would expose the behavior of a male actor that she had previously worked with. In an Instagram story published on Friday, she said: "I wrote about an asshole in my book. Now, said asshole is trying to threaten me."
Wilson posted another Instagram story on Sunday that named Sacha Baron Cohen as the person she will discuss in her book.
She wrote: "I will not be bullied or silenced by high priced lawyers or PR crisis managers. The 'asshole' that I am talking about in ONE CHAPTER of my book is: Sacha Baron Cohen."
Rebel Wilson/Instagram
The pair starred in 2016's "The Brothers Grimsby," which sees the "Borat" star play Nobby Buther, a man from the UK town of Grimsby, who discovers that his long-lost brother, Sebastian Butcher (Mark Strong) is a spy. Wilson played Nobby's girlfriend, Dawn, in the film.
"The Brothers Grimsby" was a misfire for the "Borat" star, earning a 36% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and making $27 million worldwide (via Box Office Mojo).
The chapter in Wilson's book will presumably cover her time working with Cohen on "The Brothers Grimsby," and she has previously made allegations about how he behaved on set in 2014.
During an appearance on the Kyle and Jackie O radio show (via The Courier Mail) in 2014, Wilson recalled how Cohen pestered her to go nude in the film.
She said: "Every day he's like, 'Just go naked, it will be funny. Remember in Borat when I did that naked scene? It was hilarious.'"
The star added: "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 claimed that he made lewd requests for her character that weren't in the script.
She said: "Then in the last scene he was like, 'Rebel can you just stick your finger up my butt?' 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's comments in 2014 appear to align with now-deleted tweets she posted in 2017, where she recalled being harassed by a male costar (via The Guardian).
"A male star in a position of power asked me to go into a room with him and then asked me repeatedly to stick my finger up his ass," she wrote. "All whilst his male 'friends' tried to film the incident on their iPhones and laughed. I repeatedly said no and eventually got out of the room."
Representatives for Rebel Wilson and Sacha Baron Cohen did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
