Sacha Baron Cohen has reacted to Rebel Wilson‘s redacted memoir after it was released in the UK on Thursday.
The book was published in the US earlier this month, and features a chapter titled Sacha Baron Cohen And Other A**holes, where Rebel makes claims about Sacha’s behaviour during the filming of the 2016 film Grimsby, which he has strongly denied.
How the UK Law Black Out Some Wordings in the Memoir
However the UK copies feature the wording crudely blacked out due to what Rebel brands ‘peculiarities’ of English law.
Sacha Baron Cohen’s Response to the Book’s UK Release
In response to the book’s UK release, Baron Cohen’s legal team has deemed this decision by publishers HarperCollins a vindication, following the creator’s strong denial of Wilson’s claims.
‘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,’ the statement, presented in Deadline, said.
‘Printing falsehoods is against the law in the UK and Australia; this is not a ”peculiarity” as Ms Wilson said, but a legal principle that has existed for many hundreds of years.
‘This is a clear victory for Sacha Baron Cohen and confirms what we said from the beginning – that this is demonstrably false.’
Word From the Publisher
The publisher HarperCollins told DailyMail: ‘The book contains some redactions in chapter 23 on pages 216, 217, 218 and 221, as well as an explanatory note at the beginning of the chapter.’
After the allegations were detailed in the US version of the book, Sacha’s spokesperson 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.’
The UK version includes a reference to ‘the worst experience of my professional life. An incident that left me feeling bullied, humiliated and compromised…
‘It can’t be printed here due to the peculiarities of the law in England and Wales.’
