Fat Pizza’s Paul Fenech Slams Rebel Wilson Following Memoir

Fat Pizza comedian Paul Fenech has slammed Rebel Wilson after she reflected on starring on the show in her memoir Rebel Rising, saying that she “had to take their fatphobic jokes right on my double chin.”

In an exclusive excerpt shared by The Herald Sun, Wilson opened up about playing the role of Toula in Fat Pizza.

For folks who are not familiar with Fat Pizza, it’s a very cooked TV series and movie that followed a dodgy Pizza Shop run by Bobo and a bunch of sketchy workers.

Toula (Wilson’s character) was the girlfriend of Habib — who worked as a pizza delivery driver and a drug dealer.

In the exclusive extract, Wilson talked about the role of Toula and how her mother loathed the character so much that she banned the show from her house.

“My cameo in the film Fat Pizza was so memorable that I was asked to be in the TV show of the same name. I play Toula, the overweight girlfriend of Habib, a drug-dealing pizza delivery guy. I make myself as fat and sloppy as I can,” the extract reads.

“I wear unflattering eye shadow colours and ill-fitting tracksuits. I eat doughnuts regularly to gain even more weight.

“I was the first recurring female character on Fat Pizza who wasn’t a sexy blonde bimbo. Cue the many, many derogatory jokes about my size and appearance.

“I knew the jokes weren’t directed at me personally – my role was to be the big fat whale that got laughs. And I was willingly playing into that. I was determined, though, to give my character some more depth.”

The Pitch Perfect actor continued to reflect on the work environment of Fat Pizza and how she improvised a number of her jokes in attempts to “hold my own among the guys”.

“I felt like the girl who had gained access to a special men’s club. It was very clear to me what they found funny, and I went with it,” she wrote.

“I was in a boys’ show, so I had to take their fatphobic jokes right on my double chin. All people cared about was that I was fat and funny. And I was doing both of those things very well.”

She then accused Fat Pizza showrunner Paul Fenech of telling her she was “[trying] too much” after the tickets for her debut at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival were selling out.

“The whale was developing quite a large fan base. I started writing a new one-woman stage show to capitalise on this fame,” she said.

“I was debuting it at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and tickets were selling out. Pauly came up to me on set and said, ‘You try too much.’

“Why was Pauly now criticising me? I’d been loyal to him for three seasons, showing up whenever he needed me on set.”

Despite the hardships of the show, she closed up her reflection on Fat Pizza by writing that she will “always be grateful to him” for “giving me my start in Australian television.”

Fat Pizza actor Paul Fenech responds to Rebel Wilson’s memoir

Following the release of the exclusive extract, Fenech slammed Wilson, saying “she’ll do or say anything to sell a book”.

“Rebel was happy building a career playing the big girl in Hollywood, now she’s saying we did her wrong? We gave her a start, took her around the world, gave her stage training and TV and feature film opportunities. How ungrateful,” the Housos star told Daily Mail Australia.

“We always looked after her and gave her the creative freedom she needed. But look at the end of the day No thank you. No gratitude, [and calling us] fatphobic?

“Rebel made her Hollywood career playing the big girl. Now suddenly Fat Pizza treated her badly? It’s hurtful and disgusting to me to hear this.”

Alongside his statement to Daily Mail Australia, Fenech also shared an Instagram post slamming his fellow comedian, claiming Wilson is “known to be a stooge in the industry”.

“She pretends she’s some victim but we gave her the start of her career, to see such an ungrateful person who has had a stellar career on the back of Fat Pizza it’s sad,” Fenech wrote.

Wilson has yet to respond to Fenech’s criticisms of Rebel Rising and her true thoughts on her role in Fat Pizza.

Fenech is not the only actor to speak against the allegations made in Wilson’s memoir.

Last week, Wilson called out Brothers Grimsby co-star Sacha Baron Cohen, labelling him the “asshole” she mentions in her upcoming book.

After revealing his identity, a spokesperson for the actor released a statement to CNN.

“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 spokesperson said.

PEOPLE has since shared the excerpt from her memoir which discusses Cohen, where she claimed that he asked her to stick a finger up his bum. Cohen has yet to respond to the extract that has been shared.

Wilson’s book Rebel Rising is set to be released on April 2.

Image source: Getty Images / Don Arnold and  Brendon Thorne — Fat Pizza / SBS