Rebel Wilson says Brothers Grimsby costumes were chosen to humiliate her

Last week, Rebel Wilson caused a stir when she named Sacha Baron Cohen as the “massive asshole” who caused her to institute a “no assholes” policy after the two starred in the 2016 spy flop The Brothers Grimsby together. In an Instagram post, she also alleged that Cohen had sent lawyers and PR people to block the release of her upcoming memoir, Rebel Rising, in which she dedicates an entire chapter to her negative experiences with the Borat actor. (Cohen’s reps refuted Wilson’s claims in a subsequent statement to The A.V. Club).

But Cohen’s efforts aren’t stopping Wilson from either releasing her memoir (out April 2), or telling The Times even more about how “disrespected” she felt filming The Brothers Grimsby, which she said “turned out to be the worst professional experience of my career.”

Cohen was one of Wilson’s comedy heroes before everything went down, which made saying yes to the role an easy decision for her. But while she had poked fun at her own size before—who can forget Pitch Perfect’s “Fat Amy” and her horizontal running—this time felt different. “It’s one thing for someone who is fat to exploit their size for comedy, but it’s another for somebody else to humiliate you,” Wilson said, explaining that she felt her costumes were chosen to “see all the cellulite on my thighs and a top to show the fattest part of my arm.” “I was something to be laughed at and degraded because of my size,” she added.

In a statement to The A.V. Club, a spokesperson for a Brother’s Grimsby producer challenged Wilson’s claims, writing that she was “welcomed as a collaborator in all creative areas; the script, costume, hair, makeup” and she “enthusiastically contributed to making jokes … about Dawn’s body type.”

In her Times interview, Wilson also elaborated on claims she’s maintained since at least 2014—before the film was even released—that Cohen tried to coerce her into filming a nude scene even though she continually refused and had a no-nudity clause in her contract. Eventually, according to The Times, a sex worker was hired to film the scene, but Wilson was still made to watch on the monitor. In that moment, she felt the character was being “demeaned,” she said. After, she never promoted the film and still hasn’t been able to watch it all these years later.

“It took months to recover,” she concluded. “I’m sharing my story now because the more women talk about things like this, hopefully the less it happens. And hopefully fewer women have to work harder just to respect themselves.”

This post has been updated to include a statement from a Brother’s Grimsby producer.