Rebel Wilson helped MGM appeal The Hustle’s initial R rating, and the Classification and Rating Appeals Board reversed it to PG-13. Wilson and MGM Film Group president Jon Glickman represented the studio; the board’s announcement identifies Wilson as a producer, not as the film’s lawyer or sole appellant. The decision was announced on August 28, 2018, before the film’s 2019 theatrical release.
How did Rebel Wilson get The Hustle’s R rating overturned?
MGM appealed the rating through the Classification and Rating Appeals Board (CARA). Its August 28, 2018 announcement says Wilson, a producer on the film, and Jon Glickman, then president of MGM Film Group, represented the appellant, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures. The board overturned the original rating; this was an industry ratings appeal, not a court case.
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The rating changed as follows:
| Stage | Rating and descriptor |
|---|---|
| Initial rating | R for “some crude sexual references” |
| After appeal | PG-13 for “crude sexual content and language” |
The distinction matters: CARA’s final PG-13 descriptor was not identical to the wording attached to the original R rating. The board did not publish a detailed explanation of how it assessed individual jokes.
Did Wilson use her law degree to appeal the rating?
Wilson graduated from the University of New South Wales in 2009 with a double degree in law and arts. UNSW reported that she had applied that education to professional negotiations and contract matters, and that she took The Hustle matter to arbitration and won. The board’s announcement separately identifies her as a producer representing MGM. Taken together, these accounts support saying Wilson used her legal education in the appeal effort, but not that she acted as a licensed attorney or brought the appeal alone.
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What standard did the appeals board apply?
CARA said a successful appeal required a decisive two-thirds majority finding that the assigned rating was “clearly erroneous.” That is the board’s stated standard, not a guarantee that every close or disputed rating would be changed.
In its 2018 announcement, CARA also said its appeals board reviewed 800–900 films each year and that fewer than a dozen ratings were appealed annually. Those are figures the organization published in 2018; they should not be read as current annual totals.
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What did Wilson and Anne Hathaway say about the appeal?
In a May 2019 interview, Wilson said proposed cuts would have removed jokes she felt had been unfairly singled out, and said she argued against the decision in person. She told Refinery29, “Hardly any movies get their ratings overturned, and we did.”
Hathaway described Wilson’s comparison with male-led comedies that had received PG-13 ratings: “Rebel had to go out and argue with the board that our movie was no more raunchy than certain comedies that star men that had been given PG-13 ratings.” Their comments explain the argument Wilson made, including her concern about a gendered double standard. The cited accounts do not provide comparative rating data establishing that broader claim as fact.
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