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Rebel Wilson isn’t afraid of a challenge. The 44-year-old actress is gearing up for the release of her new memoir, Rebel Rising, but she’s facing one issue: her former Grimsby co-star Sacha Baron Cohen is allegedly threatening to block her book because she calls him out in one chapter.
“I wrote about an a**hole in my book. Now, said a**hole is trying to threaten me,” Rebel noted in a since-deleted Instagram Stories video. “He’s hired a crisis PR manager and lawyers. He is trying to stop press coming out about my book. But the book WILL come out, and you will all know the truth.”
In a separate message, the Pitch Perfect franchise star pointed out, “I will not be bullied or silenced by high-priced lawyers or PR crisis managers.”
“The ‘a**hole’ that I am talking about in ONE CHAPTER of my book is: Sacha Baron Cohen,” she acknowledged in another Instagram Story, which was a snap of a purple pen and book.
Earlier this month, Rebel teased the content of her memoir in a separate Instagram video post.
“When I first came to Hollywood, people were like, yeah, ‘I have a no a**hole policy, that means like, yeah, I don’t work with a**holes.’ I was like, ‘oh yeah. I mean, that sounds sensible or logical,” she explained in the clip, which was posted on March 15. “But then it really sunk in what they were meaning by that, older people in the industry. Because I worked with a massive a**hole, and, yeah, now I definitely have a a**holes policy. Chapter on said a**hole — it is chapter 23, that guy was a massive a**hole.”
Rebel and Sacha, 52, worked together in 2016’s spy-action comedy Grimsby (titled The Brothers Grimsby in the U.S.) He played the character Nobby, and Rebel played his girlfriend, Dawn, who is also the mother of their 11 kids.
Per a statement obtained by Us Weekly, Sacha commented on the How to Be Single actress’ comments.
“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,” a rep for Sacha told the outlet on Monday, March 25.
Rebel’s memoir is set to hit shelves on Tuesday, April 2. According to Simon & Schuster, Rebel Rising explores Rebel’s “incredible journey of ‘making it,’ constantly questioning, ‘Am I good enough? Will I ever find love? Will I ever change and become healthy?’”
“Rebel writes for the first time about the most personal and important moments in her life — from fertility issues, weight gain and loss, sexuality, overcoming shyness, rejections, and, well … OK, there’s at least one story thrown in about Brad Pitt!” the book’s description continues. “It’s all here. This memoir shows us how to love ourselves while making us laugh uncontrollably.”