Fox News Flash top entertainment headlines April 1
Fox News Flash top entertainment and celebrity headlines are here.
Rebel Wilson isn't backing down from her shocking claims about former co-star Sacha Baron Cohen.
The actress wrote about her experience of working with Cohen in her new memoir, "Rebel Rising," describing how uncomfortable she felt while filming their 2016 film, "The Brothers Grimsby." Cohen has vehemently denied her claims, and now, Wilson is insisting she's telling the truth, saying she was "humiliated and degraded as a person" on the movie set.
"That was something that happened 10 years ago, and obviously I've moved past it now, but it was my worst professional experience," she admitted in an interview on "Today" on Monday morning.
SACHA BARON COHEN DENIES REBEL WILSON'S CLAIM HE WAS AN ‘A--HOLE’ ON MOVIE SET
Rebel Wilson isn't backing down from her claims about Sacha Baron Cohen. (Getty Images)
"Just feeling humiliated and degraded as a person, I just thought it's worth sharing in the book because there's probably a lot of people out there that have had the same experiences," she continued.
Wilson also claimed that since her allegations about Cohen's behavior have been getting attention, "I've had a lot of women reach out and say that they've had similar experiences with this guy."
"Rebel Rising" is set to release April 2, but she's spoken about the chapter of her book dedicated to Cohen on social media. She originally neglected to name names, instead referring to him as an "a--hole" that she'd worked with, but after he allegedly attempted to stop her from publishing her book, she called him out directly.
REBEL WILSON VS. SACHA BARON COHEN: ACTRESS MAY HAVE SIGNED ‘A PR DEAL WITH THE DEVIL,' EXPERT
Rebel Wilson claims that Sacha Baron Cohen sexually harassed her when they filmed 2016's "The Brothers Grimsby." (Brendon Thorne/Getty Images for AFI)
"I will not be bullied or silenced by high priced lawyers or PR crisis managers," Wilson wrote on her Instagram story last week. "The ‘a--hole’ that I am talking about in ONE CHAPTER of my book is: Sacha Baron Cohen."
In "The Brothers Grimsby," Wilson and Cohen starred together as a husband and wife of nine kids. Later, Wilson accused Cohen of "harassing" her on the movie set during a radio show interview, according to Variety.
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"Every day he’s like, ‘Just go naked. It will be funny. Remember in ‘Borat’ when I did that naked scene? It was hilarious,’" Wilson said, the outlet reported. "On the last day, I thought I’d obviously won the argument, and he got a body double to do the naked scene."
Sacha Baron Cohen released a statement through a representative denying Wilson's claims. (Getty Images)
Cohen allegedly told Wilson to "stick [her] finger up [his] butt" while filming the last scene, despite the move not being included in the script.
"Look, I’ll just pull down my pants. You just stick your finger up my butt. It’ll be a really funny bit," he allegedly said.
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A representative for Cohen denied her claims, telling Fox News Digital, "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.’"
They also provided a copy of the locked script pages, dated March 28, 2014, including a scene with Cohen's character showing a police officer a video on his phone asking Wilson's character to not put a finger in his butt during a sexual encounter, which they say Wilson would have had approval of prior to filming.
An anonymous producer provided a statement to Fox News Digital regarding the scene, saying, "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, or any other of his body’s orifices, for that matter."
They continued, "The notion that Sacha would ask Rebel, or anyone else, to put their finger inside his butt at any time, let alone on the set of a movie, on camera, in front of the crew is ludicrous and most certainly did not happen during the shooting of this scene, at which I was present.
"In my capacity as a writer and producer, I was present with Sacha and Rebel on pretty much a daily basis from the moment she was engaged as an actor to the moment the movie wrapped, and she was no longer involved. Throughout this entire period, she was treated with the utmost respect and empowerment and was welcomed as a collaborator in all creative areas; the script, costume, hair, makeup - everything that involved her."
Rebel Wilson says the claims in her book were "fully legally vetted." (James Gourley/Getty Images for AFI)
An anonymous make-up artist also stated that for the scene, "we had limited crew in the room which is a standard practice in the industry for sensitive scenes. I was on the set for this shoot and can attest that this was a fully professional operation with cast, creative and crewmembers diligently and professionally working together."
They recalled Wilson wearing underwear and a dressing gown while Cohen wore a modesty pouch, and added, "this scene was described in detail and therefore was known to the cast and crew well in advance of shooting. I recall that this particular scene was shot as the script described, filmed on both a film camera and an IPhone. To suggest that this was anything other than a scripted, professional shoot is not only untrue but a potentially harmful distortion of events."
In her Sunday Times interview, Wilson also said she felt "disrespected on set" and that her weight was used against her.
"It’s one thing for someone who is fat to exploit their size for comedy, but it’s another for somebody else to humiliate you," Wilson said.
Rebel Wilson says she felt "disrespected on set" of her movie with Sacha Baron Cohen. (Christopher Willard/ABC via Getty Images)
A source close to production on "The Brothers Grimsby" told Fox News Digital that Wilson had full veto power over her costume, and worked closely with the costume department on several outfits. They also noted she traveled to the North of England and purchased costumes she felt were appropriate for her character.
Regarding the costuming, the anonymous producer stated, "One should note that neither of their characters – Nobby or Dawn – were supposed to look conventionally attractive, that was the point and was always in the script that Rebel read and approved prior to signing up for the part. She also enthusiastically contributed to making jokes to that end, including about Dawn’s body type. If she’d ever felt uncomfortable or humiliated - and I was never aware that she was at any time - those would have been conversations the director, the costume designer, producers and Sacha would have been open to at the time. Never would Sacha want to humiliate his co-star and colleague. In 25 years of working together, he has never done that to a fellow actor."
During her new interview, Wilson admitted she wasn't surprised that Cohen is denying her accusations against him, saying, "Obviously, knowing his character, I assumed he would react in this way."
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"Writing a memoir, the book gets fully legally vetted," she explained, "so obviously there are tons of people to back what I'm saying in the book, the book is 100% honest and truthful."
Fox News Digital's Lauryn Overhultz contributed to this report.
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