Rebel Wilson’s upcoming memoir, Rebel Rising, is No. 1 on my reading list at the moment. She’s promised us some major tea recently, and I’m literally so excited. Surely, the woman who gave us Pitch Perfect, Bridesmaids, and Senior Year has several intriguing Hollywood stories to tell. Not to mention, she’s kind of a messy queen. Remember when Rebel low-key lied about her age, casually not correcting anyone when the public thought she was 29 and not 35? We have to stan.
I realize that all of our attention spans are extremely limited these days, but everyone’s priority pop culture assignment right now is to read Rebel Rising ASAP. Rebel’s been teasing chapters about her atypical sex life and her intense feud with a fellow actor, so I’m exploding with curiosity. Clearly, there’s gonna be a whole lot to discuss at Rebel Book Club. To help you prepare for those high-level conversations, here are some of the most shocking revelations from her book.
Rebel Lost Her Virginity At 35 To A Co-Star
In her new book, the actress gets candid about being a “late bloomer” and losing her virginity at 35. I love that for her. “Normally I would just leave the room when the conversation [about sex] was happening,” she recalled to People during a conversation about her memoir. “And then the people that said, ‘Oh, at 24, it’s so late.’ And then I’m sitting here thinking, ‘Oh my God, my number’s 35. What the hell? I’m going to look like the biggest loser.'”
She also NAMED the guy in the memoir. Iconic. It was with her How to Be Single co-star, everyone’s favorite comedian and actor: Mickey Gooch Jr. At the time, he was not aware that Rebel was a virgin. “Micks, I know this might be news to you if you are reading this, but yes I lost my virginity to you,” she writes in the book, which he has now read.
She Has Major Beef With Sacha Baron Cohen
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I can’t wait for chapter 23 — the part where Rebel details why she thinks her The Brothers Grimsby co-star, Sacha Baron Cohen, is a “massive asshole.” She teased the revelation in an Instagram video and then revealed the actor and comedian’s identity in an Instagram Story. “I will not be bullied or silenced by high priced lawyers or PR crisis managers,” she wrote, insinuating that he tried to block her memoir.
Later that day, Sacha responded through a spokesperson. “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,” they said. Hmmm.
While speaking with The Sunday Times on March 31, Rebel said she believed that her Brothers Grimsby costumes were designed to show “all the cellulite on my thighs and a top to show the fattest part of my arm…like I was something to be laughed at and degraded because of my size.” She added, “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.” Major ick.
Rebel Tried Ozempic Once
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In 2020, the actress lost 80 pounds and experimented with Ozempic to keep her weight down. “Someone like me could have a bottomless appetite for sweets, so I think those drugs can be good,” she told The Sunday Times during an interview about her memoir. Rebel added that she isn’t taking the popular drug anymore.
These days, she’s happy with her “still curvy and solid” figure. Slay. “I feel strongly that young women shouldn’t try to obsess over looking like Victoria’s Secret models — they should just look like themselves,” Rebel shared with the newspaper. “I know that my relationship with food is complicated.”
She Changed Her Name At 17
Apparently, Rebel used to be Melanie. Her mother always wanted to name her Rebel, but her father thought that that was a “ridiculous” idea. The actress was estranged from her father who died in 2013. She accuses him of getting violent with her and threatening her when she was a child. Ultimately, her mother stood up to him, and Rebel got the name she was always supposed to have. (And it 100 percent suits her!!)
She Thinks Adele Hates Her
In an excerpt from her book, Rebel opens up about her complicated relationship with Adele and shares why she believes the singer doesn’t like her. Around the time, Rebel starred as “Fat Amy” in the Pitch Perfect movies, she and Adele were often compared to each other.
“Some actresses would get offended if I called them plus-size in this book, so I have to be careful with what I say,” Rebel writes. “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 … I am assuming, because to be fair I’ve never asked her.” She added that when they ran into each other at events, Adele would “always quickly” walk away.
“As if my fatness might rub off on her if I were near her for more than thirty seconds,” Rebel says in the book. “That she didn’t like being compared to ‘Fat Amy.'” Uggghh, I need to go sob about this to some Adele ballads.
Rebel Reveals She Was Contractually Obligated To Stay Overweight For Pitch Perfect Films
When she worked on the iconic franchise in the 2010s, Rebel’s contract had a clause against changing her appearance for up to a whole year after they wrapped filming. Umm… extremely stressful. Basically, from 2012 to 2017, she had to stay within 10 pounds of the same weight.
Rebel told The Sunday Times that she used to “deliberately made myself less attractive” in order to further her career. “I knew I wouldn’t be taken seriously like a Cate Blanchett or Nicole Kidman, but I quickly realized that the bigger you were, the more audiences laughed,” she said. “So I’d have my gut hanging out and wear micro-shorts onstage, no make-up, stuff that horrified my mother. It was a really conscious decision to look ugly. It was part of my plan.” Sigh. Remind me why the entertainment industry literally hates women?
Stay tuned for more revelations when the full book comes out!
