Rebel Wilson and Sacha Baron Cohen ongoing public dispute over The Brothers Grimsby film set behaviour

The long-running public disagreement between Australian actress Rebel Wilson and British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen continues into 2026, stemming from their work together on the 2016 comedy movie The Brothers Grimsby. Rebel Wilson has accused her co-star of harassment and inappropriate conduct during filming. She claimed he repeatedly asked her to do nude scenes saying it would be funny like in Borat, and also suggested a lewd act where she should insert her finger into his backside in a scene that was not in the script. Wilson first spoke about it anonymously in a 2014 radio interview and later in deleted tweets from 2017. In her 2024 memoir Rebel Rising, she dedicated a full chapter to the experience, naming Sacha Baron Cohen and describing him as difficult to work with. She also alleged that he tried to threaten her with lawyers and crisis PR to stop the book from coming out. Sacha Baron Cohen’s team strongly denied all claims, calling them demonstrably false and saying they are contradicted by film footage, documents, and eyewitness accounts from the set. Some sources claimed the controversial scene was actually in the script that Wilson had approved, and that she became upset after some of her improvised parts were removed. No lawsuit has been filed by either side. However, due to legal concerns, the entire chapter about Sacha was redacted in the Australian and New Zealand editions of the memoir, while parts were also blacked out in the UK version. As of 2026, the feud remains unresolved with no new legal action, but both actors have continued with their separate careers in Hollywood. The case highlights ongoing conversations around on-set behaviour in the film industry.