Rebel Wilson has claimed she’s referring to Sacha Baron Cohen in a chapter of her new memoir about an “asshole” she once worked with.
Last week, the Australian star shared a video on Instagram, in which she referred to advice given to her by older members of the industry when she was first starting out about implementing a “no assholes” policy.
“When I first came to Hollywood, people were like, ‘yeah I have a ‘no assholes’ policy, it means I don’t work with assholes’,” she told her followers. “And I was like, ‘ah yeah, I mean, that sounds sensible, logical’.
“But then, it really sunk in what they were meaning by that – older people in the industry – because I worked with a massive asshole, and yeah, now I definitely have a ‘no assholes’ policy.”
Gesturing to a copy of her new book, Rebel continued: “The chapter on said asshole is chapter 23.”
After an exhale, she added: “That guy was a massive asshole.”
In a follow-up Instagram story post shared in the early hours of Monday morning, Rebel continued: “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.”
A spokesperson for Sacha told HuffPost UK: “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 [Grimsby].”
Rebel and Sacha previously worked together in the 2016 comedy Grimsby, which also starred Penélope Cruz, David Harewood, Mark Strong and Gabourey Sidibe.
Although she didn’t offer any further information, Rebel previously lifted the lid on her working relationship with the Borat creator during a 2014 radio interview with KIIS FM.
“Sacha is so outrageous,” she said, as reported by Australia’s Courier Mail. “Every single day he’s like, ‘Rebel, can you just go naked in this scene?’ And I’m like, ‘No!’. Sacha and I have the same agent in America and I’m like, ‘Sacha, I’m going to call our agent Sharon and tell her how much you are harassing me’.
“Every day he’s like, ’Just go naked, it will be funny. Remember in Borat when I did that naked scene? It was hilarious’.”
Rebel continued: “On the last day I thought I’d obviously won the argument and he got a body double to do the naked scene.
“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’.”
She added: “You don’t wanna be a diva so I [said] I’ll slap you once on the butt and that’s it.”
The Pitch Perfect actor’s book, Rebel Rising, is currently scheduled for release next month.
This article has been updated to include a statement from Sacha Baron Cohen’s spokesperson.