Rebel Wilson's memoir to be published in UK with redactions
The United Kingdom version of Rebel Wilson's memoir, Rebel Rising, will be published with certain sections omitted. HarperCollins, the book's publisher, confirmed to a British publication that these redactions were legally necessitated. These omissions relate to Wilson's experiences while working with actor Sacha Baron Cohen on the 2016 action-comedy The Brothers Grimsby. Earlier, the Australian actor had accused Baron Cohen of trying to censor her memoir.
An explanatory note will follow the redactions
"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," HarperCollins told The Guardian. In a chapter titled Sacha Baron Cohen and Other Assholes, Wilson recounts being called in to film an additional scene for the 2016 comedy film. She then goes on to call it the "worst experience of my professional life."
'Can't be printed here due to peculiarities of the law'
Wilson describes the event as "An incident that left me feeling bullied, humiliated, and compromised." "It can't be printed here due to peculiarities of the law in England and Wales," reads the memoir. According to The Guardian, the rest of the page is blacked out, and there are several other lines redacted on the following pages. The book will see release in the UK on Thursday, following the US premiere earlier this month.
Baron Cohen's representative criticized HarperCollins for not verifying information
In response to Wilson's allegations about Baron Cohen's conduct during the filming getting redacted, a representative for the British comedian gave a statement. "HarperCollins did not fact-check this chapter in the book prior to publication and 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 UK and Australia; this is not a 'peculiarity' as (Wilson) said, but a legal principle."
Baron Cohen has maintained Wilson's account is 'false claim'
This is not the first time Baron Cohen's spokespersons have refuted Wilson's allegations. When Wilson originally identified the "massive a****le" co-worker as SBC last month, Baron Cohen's representative had issued a statement. It read: "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."
