Rebel Wilson’s memoir Rebel Rising pulled from New Zealand shelves for alleged ‘legal reasons’

Kiwi fans hoping to get their hands on the star's new memoir have been left disappointed. Photo / Getty Images

Rebel Wilson’s bombshell memoir Rebel Rising has seemingly been pulled from shelves in New Zealand.

The autobiography was set to be released yesterday, however, the book has been removed from bookshops’ websites in Australia and New Zealand.

Amazon, one of the biggest book retailers in the world, made the book unavailable to order, and informed customers: “We don’t know when or if this item will be back in stock.” The book is currently listed as “unavailable” on Booktopia.com, with no date listed to indicate when it will be back on sale.

Kiwi booksellers such as Whitcoulls and Paper Plus also show no sign of the memoir on their websites.

Time Out Bookstore in Mt Eden told the Herald that the book’s distribution had been put on pause for legal reasons.

“We received an email last week to recall any stock on the shelf due to legal reasons”, they said, “however we didn’t have any and no pre-orders so it didn’t make a difference to us.”

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Local online store Bookety Book Books was also in the dark with regards to the book’s current distribution status, telling the Herald, “I don’t have any other information on this.”

On Tuesday, the Pitch Perfect actress took to Instagram to celebrate her memoir hitting shelves, however, the post was flooded with comments from fans in Australia and New Zealand asking why their pre-orders had been cancelled.

One fan alleged that an Aussie bookstore had told them that the memoir had been “recalled” in the final hour, reports news.com.au.

“I am in Australia and can’t get a copy,” the frustrated social media user wrote. “Just went to my local book store and they said it has been recalled to be possibly be re-printed and have parts redacted!! Can we get it in the US?”

UK book enthusiasts are also struggling to get their hands on the book, with many complaining that it wasn’t on British bookshelves either.

In the book, Rebel Wilson claims co-star Sasha Baron Cohen pressured her to film a nude scene. Photo / AP

In Rebel Rising, Wilson slams comedian Sacha Baron Cohen over his alleged harassment of her during the filming of the 2016 movie Grimsby. She claims the actor pressured her to film a nude scene and asked her to put a finger up his behind, however, the Bridesmaids actress refused.

She said her experiences with the comedian motivated her to adopt a “no a**holes” policy when deciding who to do films with, and further revealed that she cautioned other actors about working with him.

Baron Cohen has vehemently denied Wilson’s allegations, with a spokesperson dubbing the claims in her memoir “demonstrably false” and “directly contradicted by extensive detailed evidence”.

Later on, the Aussie actress revealed that Baron Cohen had been trying to hire lawyers to halt the release of her book in its current form.

“Now the a**hole is trying to threaten me. He’s hired a crisis PR manager and lawyers. He’s trying to stop press coming out about my new book,” she shared in a rant on Instagram last week. “But the book WILL come out and you will all know the truth.”

The NZ Herald has reached out to publisher Harper Collins for comment.