The book has not only been a talking point among fans over its content, which covers the actress’ weight loss journey, sexuality and career in the spotlight, but has been making waves over its legality.
Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen not only threatened legal action in response to her accusations of inappropriate behaviour in the book, but the memoir has seemingly been delayed in some countries due to “legal reasons”, according to Time Out Bookstore in Mt Eden.
Here is everything you need to know about Rebel Rising, its bombshell revelations and all the drama off the page.
Wilson alleges Grimsby co-star Baron Cohen repeatedly asked her to strip “naked” to shoot a scene. Photo / AP
“It felt like every time I’d speak to SBC [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’,” she wrote in the memoir.
The Australian-born actor then wrote about how the situation allegedly escalated while they were shooting scenes for Grimsby at a football stadium in Cape Town, South Africa.
“SBC summons me via a production assistant saying that I’m needed to film an additional scene. ‘Okay, well, we’re gonna film this extra scene’, SBC says. Then he pulls his pants down ... SBC says very matter-of-factly: ‘Okay, now I want you to stick your finger up my a**’. And I’m like, ‘What??... No’!!
“I was now scared. I wanted to get out of there, so I finally compromised: I slapped him on the a** and improvised a few lines as the character,” Wilson said.
“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,” Cohen’s representatives said in their statement.
Rebel Wilson says she found actor Mickey Gooch Jr “instantly sexy” and the pair went on to date for six months. Photo / Getty Images
Rebel Wilson reveals she lost her virginity at 35 to a fellow actor
In the chapter, Wilson revealed she was almost at her “highest weight” when she lost her virginity, which happened while she was filming How To Be Single in New York back in 2016.
Wilson goes on to confess she had waited so long to have sex that she was convinced that “as a big girl, no one would ever truly find me sexually attractive”.
Upon meeting Gooch, the actress says she found him “instantly sexy” and the pair went on to date for six months.
Wilson alleges in her memoir that superstar Adele “hates” her. Photo / Getty Images
Rebel Wilson claims Adele hates her
Wilson alleges in her memoir that superstar Adele “hates” her.
The actress claims Adele would turn away when she saw her in public, which Wilson thinks is because the Hello songstress did not want to be compared to Wilson’s Fat Amy character from Pitch Perfect.
“Some actresses would get offended if I called them plus-size in this book, so I have to be careful with what I say,” Wilson recalls in her book, according to the Independent. “This is why, I think, Adele hates me. There was a moment when she was bigger, and some people would confuse us for one another.”
However, Wilson confessed she had never spoken to the singer, so her assumptions are purely speculation.
Rebel Wilson says her “year of health” came after a fertility doctor told her a lifestyle change could give her a better chance of conceiving through IVF. Photo / AP
Rebel Wilson gets candid about her weight loss journey
In her memoir, Wilson reveals her agents discouraged her from losing weight to help her secure “fat funny girl” roles, dubbing the scheme a “multimillion-dollar pigeonhole”.
However, the actress shed light on her decision to start her health journey, confessing her “year of health” came after a fertility doctor told her a lifestyle change could give her a better chance of conceiving through IVF.
“Basically, no one apart from my mom wanted me to lose weight. People thought I’d lose my pigeonhole in my career, playing the fat funny character, and they wanted me to continue in that.”
She said long walks, a low-sugar and high-protein diet, and discussions with a doctor about her relationship with food helped her along the way.
Now, she’s happy with the way she looks and feels — and wants to be a positive influence for other women.
“I feel strongly that young women shouldn’t try to obsess over looking like Victoria’s Secret models — they should just look like themselves,” she said.
Producer Judd Apatow, actors Maya Rudolph, Kristen Wiig, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Jon Hamm, Ellie Kemper, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Rebel Wilson, (front) director/executive producer Paul Feig and actor Chris O'Dowd at the premiere of Bridesmaids in 2011. Photo / Getty Images
Rebel Wilson’s Bridesmaids pay cheque was shocking
Wilson was put on the map by her small supporting role in the hit comedy movie Bridesmaids with Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph and Melissa McCarthy.
However, while the film may have launched her career in the US, it didn’t pay well. According to Wilson, she was paid only US$3500 ($5800 at today’s rates) for the project and, despite the paycheque only just covering her dues needed to join SAG-AFTRA, it “didn’t matter to me”.
Two weeks after the film hit screens, Wilson had booked six other movie roles, including Pitch Perfect, a franchise that led to Wilson banking US$10 million for its third instalment.
