Ahead of the release of her forthcoming memoir, Rebel Wilson is opening up about one of the lowest moments of her career.
Wilson told The Sunday Times in an interview published over the weekend that filming 2016′s “The Brothers Grimsby” alongside Sacha Baron Cohen, who starred in the movie and was also one of its producers and writers, was “the worst professional experience” she’s ever had.
The “Pitch Perfect” star said that she felt “disrespected on set” because of the way the movie was both shot and written for her character.
“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.
She also shared that her costumes appeared to be designed to “see all the cellulite on my thighs and a top to show the fattest part of my arm” and make her “something to be laughed at and degraded because of my size.”
Wilson said she didn’t speak out back then because she didn’t want to be called “a troublemaker” and even returned to the film months later for reshoots.
The actor told The Sunday Times the experience “took months to recover” from, and she’s never promoted or watched the film.
Last month, Wilson teased that her memoir, “Rebel Rising,” would reveal the identity of a “massive asshole” she previously worked with. Shortly after that, she named Baron Cohen as the person she was referring to and claimed he was trying to silence her ahead of the book’s release.
In the memoir, which releases on April 2, Wilson alleges that Baron Cohen pressured her to appear nude in “The Brothers Grimsby” and asked her to stick her finger up his behind for a scene, according to People.
“It felt like every time I’d speak to [Sasha Baron Cohen], he’d mention that he wanted me to go naked in a future scene. I was like, ‘Ha, I don’t do nudity, Sacha,’” Wilson writes.
The “Borat” actor responded to Wilson’s allegations in a statement shared with Deadline last week.
“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,” the statement said.
Need help? Visit RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s website.