Footage from the sex scene in the 2016 film where Rebel Wilson claims Sacha Baron Cohen told her to ‘stick her finger up his butt’ seems to show that the action was actually part of the script and the actress was on board with the scene.
Several never-before-seen clips from the movie The Brothers Grimsby that failed to make the final cut have been obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com and they depict Wilson and Cohen’s characters using a cellphone to film themselves getting intimate.
But Wilson, 44, is sticking by the claims she made in her upcoming memoir, Rebel Rising, where she says that Cohen, 52, requested she ‘stick your finger up my a**’ while his ‘male friends’ stood around laughing and recording on an iPhone.
Clips from the scripted scene, which was read and approved by Wilson before filming began, tell a different story, insiders from the movie say.
In one pivotal intimate scene, Wilson’s character Dawn slaps the butt of Cohen’s character Nobby’s and then attempts to put her finger between his cheeks. He rejects her advances, saying, ‘Not my bumhole, Dawny. After that curry last night it’s like a loaded gun.’
Still on camera but out of her character, Wilson can be heard discussing the blocking, telling Cohen, ‘I’ll do a slap [of your butt] and I’ll do a – going down the crack’, to which Cohen replies, ‘It’s almost as if you’re going to ram your fingers inside.’
She answers, ‘Yeah.’
Rebel Wilson claims Sacha Baron Cohen told her to ‘stick a finger up his butt’ as his people laughed and recorded on their phones
But never-before-seen footage of the intimate scene obtained by DailyMail.com shows she was meant to appear to put her finger in his rear as per the script
Out of character, Wilson can be heard discussing the blocking, telling Cohen, ‘I’ll do a slap [of your butt] and I’ll do a – going down the crack.’ To which Cohen replies, ‘It’s almost as if you’re going to ram your fingers inside’
Rebel Wilson claims Sacha Baron Cohen told her to ‘stick a finger up his butt’ while filming the 2016 film The Brothers Grimsby together
The call sheet for the movie – which had the working title of The Curse of Hendon – shows which characters would be needed, along with aliases for he actors playing them. It included a note in all caps and underlined that read, ‘No personal stills, video or digital photography or tweeting on set at any time including mobile phone cameras’
Indeed, producers tell DailyMail.com Wilson was well aware of the intimate scene at the time she accepted the role of Dawn and she was ‘fully engaged…confidently kissing Nobby’.
According to a call sheet obtained by DailyMail.com, the scene was shot at a stadium in Cape Town that was made to look like a bedroom.
The detailed call sheet shows which characters would be needed, which scenes would be shot and included a note in all caps, underlined and in bold that read, ‘No personal stills, video or digital photography or tweeting on set at any time including mobile phone cameras.’
In a statement to DailyMail.com, Wilson doubles down on her book’s description of Cohen as an a**hole.
‘It is an a**hole move to release footage of one part of that disgusting episode while leaving out everything that preceded it including my horrified refusal to stick my finger up SBC’s butt,’ she said.
‘This could not have possibly been for the film as the director Louis Leterrier was not even present,’ she claimed.
‘What this edited video shows is what I had to do in order to get out of the room, as written in Rebel Rising. Releasing unauthorized and misleading behind the scenes video without my approval is SBC’s latest way of bullying and gaslighting me.’
Wilson’s version of events has changed several times over the years, from claiming the incident took place in a room with ‘male friends’ recording, to being ‘summoned’ by Cohen and told on the spot that they needed to film an additional scene.
In a 2017 tweet, she wrote, ‘A male star in a position of power asked me to go into a room with him and then asked me repeatedly to stick my finger up his a**. All whilst his male ”friends” tried to film the incident on their iPhone and laughed. I repeatedly said no and eventually got out of the room.’
She told a similar story in an interview while promoting the film, naming Sacha Baron Cohen but claiming this incident happened while shooting a sex scene – one she called the ‘most disgusting thing ever’.
‘He was like, ”Rebel can you just stick your finger up my butt?” And I went, ”What do you mean Sacha? That’s not in the script”. And he’s like, ”Look, I’ll just pull down my pants, you just stick your finger up my butt, it’ll be a really funny bit”.’
And now, in her upcoming memoir she writes, ‘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!!” ‘
Wilson continues, ‘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.’
Cohen has called the claims ‘demonstrably false’ and ‘directly contradicted by extensive detailed evidence’.
According to those close to Cohen, Leterrier had to discuss any nudity or sex scenes with Wilson before they were shot. They say she agreed to the scene.
They also say that the cell phone was used because the movie called for Dawn and Nobby to use an iPhone to film themselves having sex.
Several people who worked on the movie and who were present during the filming of the scene have come forward to tell about their experiences on set, supporting Cohen.
They insist that Wilson approved scripts in advance, confirmed that the ‘finger in butt’ direction came from the script, and say everyone on set acted professionally.
‘I recall that this particular scene was shot as the script described, filmed on both a film camera and an iPhone,’ said one crew member.
‘To suggest that this was anything other than a scripted, professional shoot is not only untrue but a potentially harmful distortion of events.’
A producer on the film said, ‘As per the script, which Rebel had read and approved in advance, her character was attempting to put a finger in Sacha’s character’s butt. At no point did Sacha actually ask her to put a finger in his butt.
‘Throughout this entire period, she was treated with the utmost respect and empowerment and was welcomed as a collaborator in all creative areas.’
Rebel Wilson tweeted about the incident in 2017, but didn’t name Cohen. Wilson wrote, ‘A male star in a position of power asked me to go into a room with him and then asked me repeatedly to stick my finger up his a**. All whilst his male ”friends” tried to film the incident on their iPhone and laughed’
Another producer claimed, ‘The notion that Sacha would ask Rebel, or anyone else, to put their finger inside his butt at any time, let alone on the set of a movie, on camera, in front of the crew is ludicrous and most certainly did not happen during the shooting of this scene, at which I was present.’
Insiders from the movie say only around five people were present for the shooting of the scene. They included both men and women.
One film insider suggests that Wilson was so comfortable with the scene that she took ‘ownership of the production’ and ‘dictated ”rolling” to the production team even though she wasn’t a director or producer on the film. She was fully engaged.’
Another production source said Wilson ‘had the power and agency to withdraw from the film, or to have refused to have participate in the sex scene. She did not.’
The actress has also claimed that Cohen pressured her to go nude, writing, ‘It felt like every time I’d speak to SBC, he’d mention that he wanted me to go naked in a future scene. I was like, ”Ha, I don’t do nudity, Sacha.’
According to Wilson’s nudity rider, ‘The director was required to discuss any nudity and sex scenes with her in advance.’
A makeup artist on set said, ‘To protect the privacy of the actors we had limited crew in the room which is a standard practice in the industry for sensitive scenes.
‘I was on the set for this shoot and can attest that this was a fully professional operation with cast, creative and crewmembers diligently and professionally working together.’
Months later, Wilson even flew to South Africa to reshoot a sex scene and never expressed she was uncomfortable, they said.
Wilson – who has lost around 50lb. since shooting the movie – also claimed Cohen wanted to ‘humiliate’ her by forcing her to wear skimpy clothing and go nude for a streaking scene, eventually getting a body double to do the scene.
Our source says it comes as a surprise that she would feel degraded because ‘at that time she had built a successful career…due to her commanding roles as ‘Fat Amy’ and ‘Fat Mandi’ and in ‘Fat Pizza’.
‘[She’s] well known for positively embracing her size.’
In the wake of her statement, Sacha said, ‘While we appreciate the importance of speaking out, these demonstrably false claims are directly contradicted by extensive detailed evidence’
The post came two days after the Pitch Perfect star alleged that a celebrity she had worked with was threatening her over the release of the memoir
‘Rebel is incredibly talented,’ one insider from the movie tells DailyMail.com. ‘But it is surprising and disappointing that her book publisher would stretch a single tweet into an entire chapter, without ever contacting Sasha and giving him a chance to comment.’
Ironically, Wilson appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2019 when she told the host that she stuck her finger in actor Tom Hardy’s rear without consent while filming the 2012 movie This Means War.
‘My first day on set, the director said, ”When you enter the scene, I want you to just stick your finger up Tom Hardy’s butt.”
‘I just did it. He gave a really realistic shocked expression. And then he didn’t really talk to me.
‘He was wearing pants, so I couldn’t go all the way up,’ she aid.
Many familiar with the filming contend that Wilson only made the allegations when she realized most of the scenes she improvised ended up on the cutting room floor.
They say film editor Debra Neil Fisher reviewed her improvised work ‘and did not consider that it was either funny or appropriate for inclusion in the film’.
In the Brothers Grimsby – which was filmed under the working title The Curse of Hendon – Sacha Baron Cohen portrays reformed football hooligan Norman ‘Nobby’ Butcher who is forced to go on the run with his brother Sebastian – a suave secret agent played by Mark Strong.
Rebel plays Nobby’s on-screen love interest Dawn while Cohen’s real-life wife Isla Fisher plays Sebastian’s handler Jodie Figgs.
The film was lambasted by critics, and it currently holds a 34 percent rotten rating from the most prestigious reviewers surveyed by Rotten Tomatoes.
It flopped at the box office, making around $28 million against a budget of $35 million, according to Box Office Mojo.
Wilson branded her sex scene with Sacha Baron Cohen ‘the most disgusting thing ever’, nine years before calling the star an ‘a**hole’ in her new memoir
Over the weekend Rebel named Cohen as the celebrity responsible for making threats over her no-holds-barred memoir, Rebel Rising.
‘I wrote about an a**hole in my book,’ she told Instagram followers. ‘Now, said a**hole is trying to threaten me. He’s hired a crisis PR manager and lawyers.
‘He is trying to stop press coming out about my book. But the book WILL come out and you will all know the truth.’
Taking to Instagram on Sunday to confirm the star’s identity, Rebel wrote: ‘I will not be silenced by high priced lawyers or PR crisis managers. The a**hole I am talking about in ONE CHAPTER of my book is: Sacha Baron Cohen.’