Rebel Wilson slams Sacha Baron Cohen and The Deb producers’ lawsuit and claims she has ‘substantial proof’ of their ‘blatant lies’

Rebel Wilson has hit back at the producers of her latest film The Deb over the defamation lawsuit they filed against her last month, involving Sacha Baron Cohen. According to Wilson, she has “substantial evidence of their blatant lies.”

The fallout began on July 2, when Rebel, 44, posted a video on Instagram accusing producers Amanda Ghost, Gregor Cameron and Vince Holden of “blocking” her film from the Toronto International Film Festival, engaging in “inappropriate behavior toward a lead actor” and “misappropriating funds from the film’s budget.”

In response, the trio filed a defamation lawsuit, seeking $35,000, accusing her of “bullying staff,” “vindictive behavior,” and “shirking her responsibilities” as the film’s director.

She was also accused of “disappearing from the set for extended periods of time… and falsely claiming writing rights” from Hannah Reilly, the young writer she had hired.

In an amendment to the lawsuit obtained by DailyMail.com, the producers have now cited allegations Rebel made against Sacha, 52, earlier this year in her autobiography Rebel Rising.

They alleged that the “false” allegations were “used to promote sales of her book” because she “hypocritically played the victim to generate public sympathy in the hope that this would serve her professional interests.”

DailyMail.com has learned from sources close to Rebel that she has “substantial evidence of their blatant lies”, proving that she has performed her duties as director well.

Dozens of cast and crew members have written messages of support for the actress, who they described as “professional” and “exceptionally helpful” on set.

Shane Jacobson, who stars in the film, said: ‘I found Rebel to be incredibly supportive and helpful on set, not only to me, but to the people around me during the shoot and at all times… I’ve had the pleasure of working with many great directors in my long career, and I would love to be directed by Rebel Wilson again in the future.’

Jane Dawkins, a member of the crew, added: ‘As part of the crew who worked closely with you for months on Rebel, you were nothing but professional, approachable and a great director. You treated everyone with respect and were so generous with your time taking pictures with everyone in between scenes. We all said it – one of our favourite films to work on! It would be such a shame if this little Australian film didn’t get shown.’

In addition to the statements – some of which have already been made public by PageSix – The source said Rebel has “evidence in the form of photos and videos” taken every day of the shoot, proving she “went beyond what was expected.”

“The Deb filmed from October to December of last year and Rebel was there every day,” the insider said. “She was the director on every scene and went above and beyond what was expected. She also worked 16-hour days most days of filming.

‘In addition to the letters, there were photos and videos every day that proved she was there. They also made an EPK every day to use the footage for promotional purposes.’

Earlier this month, The Deb’s producers, who are represented by attorney Camille Vasquez, amended their complaint to add: “In her autobiography, Rebel Rising, the actress made false allegations about Sacha Baron Cohen’s alleged inappropriate behavior on the set of the 2016 comedy The Brothers Grimbsy.”

“Rebel successfully used the furor surrounding such allegations to promote sales of her book. As in this situation, Rebel hypocritically played the victim to garner public sympathy. Rebel has played this script one too many times,” the amended complaint states.

Ahead of the release of her autobiography Rebel Rising in April, passages from the book were redacted in the UK, Australia and New Zealand after Sacha threatened legal action over claims she made in the book.

The Borat actor claimed that all of Rebel’s allegations were fabricated to increase sales.

One of those claims was that during the filming of The Brothers Grimm, Sacha asked her to strip naked for scenes, despite her ‘no nudity’ rule.

She also claimed that Sacha asked her to stick her finger up his bum because he thought it would make for a funny scene in the film. She wrote that “it felt like [he] had sexually harassed me.’

According to another source, this was a scene in the movie and was not privately requested by Rebel.

A friend of Rebel disagrees, calling Sacha’s denials “blatant lies.”

“Sacha did not pursue a lawsuit. If he could have proven his innocence, he would have done so,” the source said.

‘Instead, the whole thing was swept under the rug and forgotten about until The Deb’s producers brought him into court to draw attention to their cause.

“This will obviously backfire on them, because of the evidence she will have to provide that they are lying about their allegations surrounding her involvement in the film. She was so committed to this film and the letters and evidence show that.”

Another insider said her presence on set is “irrelevant” to the libel case.

“The filmmakers never claimed that Rebel was not active on set,” they said.

“There were stages of the productions that she was involved in and others that she was not involved in. That is irrelevant to this issue that is being contested in the defamation case.”

Representatives of Rebel and attorneys for the producers of The Deb were contacted.

A spokesperson for Sacha told DailyMail.com: ‘HarperCollins did not review this chapter in the book before publication and has taken the sensible but appallingly late step of removing Rebel Wilson’s defamatory claims after evidence was provided that they were false.

‘Printing untruths is against the law in the UK and Australia; this is not a “quirk” as Ms Wilson said, but a legal principle that has existed for hundreds of years.

“This is a clear victory for Sacha Baron Cohen and confirms what we have said from the beginning: that this is demonstrably false, a shameful and failed attempt to sell books.”

The defamation lawsuit filed by The Deb’s producers came after Rebel shared a video on Instagram in which she accused the producers of extorting money and blocking the premiere of her latest film at the Toronto International Film Festival.

They responded with the complaint filed earlier this month in Los Angeles.

After being called an “evil bully,” Rebel took to Instagram to defend her accusations that producers secretly pocketed money from the low-budget film.

“Len Blavatnik, please stop funding and protecting Amanda Ghost, Gregor Cameron and Vince Holden,” she said in a video. “It is clear that these recent press releases and the constant reprisals against me for speaking the truth about my little Australian film are FALSE.

“All I’ve done is tell the truth about these absolute assholes. Now they’re filing a false libel lawsuit and spreading false articles to cause even more harm.”

Rebel also claimed in her first video that The Deb’s producers denied her credit for her writing work on the film.

However, another source indicated that the Australian Writer’s Guild provides the writing credits for a film, not the producers.

Amanda’s friend Boy George also weighed in on the ongoing feud, describing Rebel’s claims as “outrageous and painfully untrue.”

The Deb, Rebel’s directorial debut, will hit theaters on September 15. The film will close out the Toronto International Film Festival, which runs from September 5 to 15.

The film, an adaptation of the Hannah Reilly and Megan Washington musical originally staged at Sydney’s Rebel Theatre in 2022, also stars Natalie Abbott.