Sacha Baron Cohen responds to Rebel Wilson ‘a**hole’ allegations

Sacha Baron Cohen has denied Pitch Perfect star Rebel Wilson’s claims that he behaved badly towards her while the pair shot a movie together years ago.

Wilson revealed the name of the person who she will call out in her new book, on Monday morning (25 March) via her Instagram Stories.

In her upcoming memoir, Rebel Rising, the actor said she had dedicated an entire chapter to a “massive a**hole” and would not be “bullied” into silence.

“I will not be bullied or silenced by high priced lawyers or PR crisis managers,” she wrote.

“The ‘a**hole’ that I am talking about in ONE CHAPTER of my book is: Sacha Baron Cohen.”

Wilson and Baron Cohen starred together in the 2016 comedy, The Brothers Grimsby. The Borat actor played Nobby, a football hooligan who becomes an elite spy, while Wilson played the role of his girlfriend Dawn. Baron Cohen’s wife, Isla Fisher, also starred in the movie alongside Penelope Cruz.

In a statement given to The Independent, Baron Cohen’s representatives denied Wilson’s claim, stating: “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.”

In an Instagram post last week, Wilson had shared that she intended to dedicate an entire chapter in her book to the “massive a**hole” she had worked with in Hollywood, but did not reveal their name.

“When I first came to Hollywood, people were like, yeah, ‘I have a no a**hole policy, [it] means like, yeah, I don’t work with a**holes.’ I was like, ‘oh yeah. I mean, that sounds sensible or logical,’” Wilson said in an Instagram video posted on 15 March.

“But then it really sunk in, because I worked with a massive asshole and yeah, now I definitely have a no a**holes policy.”

Speaking on the Kyle and Jackie O radio show in 2014, Wilson claimed that Baron Cohen would ask her “every day” to go naked in scenes.

At the time she said he had asked her: “Rebel can you just stick your finger up my butt?”

“Sacha is so outrageous,” Wilson said. “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.”