Rebel Wilson’s Book Released in U.K. Without Sacha Baron Cohen Claims – Hollywood Life
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Rebel Wilson‘s memoir, Rebel Rising, hit bookshelves in the U.S. earlier this month, but it’s only reaching the U.K. on Thursday, April 25 — and multiple passages about Sacha Baron Cohen have been redacted. In the original published version, the 44-year-old Pitch Perfect franchise actress dropped multiple bombshell claims against the comedian, 52.
“We are publishing every page, but for legal reasons, in the U.K. edition, we are redacting most of one page with some other small redactions and an explanatory note,” a HarperCollins spokesperson said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE. “Those sections are a very small part of a much bigger story, and we’re excited for readers to know Rebel’s story when the book is released.”
A rep for Baron Cohen also provided a statement to the outlet, alleging that the publisher “did not fact check this chapter in the book prior to publication” and claimed that HarperCollins “took the sensible but terribly belated step of deleting Rebel Wilson’s defamatory claims once presented with evidence that they were false.”
“Printing falsehoods is against the law in the U.K. and Australia; this is not a ‘peculiarity’ as Ms. Wilson said but a legal principle that has existed for many hundreds of years,” the rep added. “This is a clear victory for Sacha Baron Cohen and confirms what we said from the beginning — that this is demonstrably false, in a shameful and failed effort to sell books.”
In her memoir, Rebel accused Sacha of sexual harassment. While working together on their spy comedy, Grimsby (also known as Brothers Grimsby), the Australia native accused Sacha of pitching a nude scene to her out of nowhere.
“It felt like every time I’d speak to SBC, he’d mention that he wanted me to go naked in a future scene,” she claimed in one excerpt from the original version. “I was like, ‘Ha, I don’t do nudity, Sacha.’”
Rebel also recalled an alleged incident when Sacha sent a production assistant to tell her that she was “needed to film an additional scene.”
“‘OK, well, we’re gonna film this extra scene,’ SBC says,” Rebel claimed. “Then he pulls his pants down. SBC says very matter-of-factly: ‘OK, now I want you to stick your finger up my ass.’ And I’m like, ‘What?? … No!!’”
In response, an anonymous producer defended Sacha and the production team in a statement obtained by PEOPLE.
“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,” the producer claimed. “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.”
