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Judge
Junks Fifth Avenue 'Borat' Suit
By Kati Cornell
New York Post
April 3, 2008
The controversial "Borat" movie got two thumbs up from a federal
judge, who scrapped a suit by a New York businessman who was
unwittingly chased down Fifth Avenue by comedian Sacha Baron Cohen.
Manhattan Federal Judge
Loretta Preska found that "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for
Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" benefited the public
with its quirky look at society, despite a "brand of humor that
appeals to the most childish and vulgar in its viewers."
Preska found that the
"newsworthiness" of the movie outweighs claims by Jeffrey Lemerond,
31, that his civil rights were violated when he was caught on film
fleeing the touchy-feely comedian.
Lemerond, who never signed
a release, was shown running and screaming as Cohen approaches with
his hand extended.
The businessman's lawyer,
Eric Hecker, said he would appeal the court's ruling.
"We think it's wrongly
decided," Hecker said.
Sacha Baron Cohen's
Borat Has the Last Laugh
By Colin Freeman
U.K. Telegraph
January 19, 2008
He was the strange
television reporter from the country no-one had never heard of, and
they were the unsuspecting Americans who helped him in his quest to
learn the ways of the West.
Now, having mercilessly
lampooned his interviewees in his film Cultural Learnings of America
for make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakstan, spoof newsman Borat
Sagdiev is having the last laugh over those who
The residents of a Romanian village
have already sued over
being depicted as inbred peasants in Baron Cohen's film.
A US court has thrown out a
lawsuit against Borat’s creator, the British comedian Sacha Baron
Cohen, brought by one of his unwitting victims - who says she was
left embarrassed and humiliated after being duped into appearing in
the movie.
The claim was filed by
Kathie Martin, an etiquette tutor from Birmingham, Alabama, who
attempted to teach the apparently sexist and bigoted Kazakh some
modern American manners.
As the resulting film
footage showed, the task of turning Borat into a Southern gentleman
was doomed to failure: in the movie, he proudly shows her a Polaroid
of his son in the nude, then heads to a well-heeled dinner party
where he defacates into a plastic bag and politely asks another
guest whether he is a "retard".
But while the scene proved
a highlight of the movie, which grossed more then $200 million (£100
million) at the box office, it infuriated Ms Martin, who claimed she
had been "tricked into being part of a childish prank."
She launched the
suit against both Baron Cohen and the film company, Twentieth
Century Fox, last April, but now the Supreme Court in Alabama has
turned it down - thanks partly to the carefully-worded release form
which the film’s producers made each of Borat’s interviewees sign
before they were filmed.
Written in dense legalese,
and typically thrust in front of the subject just before they were
about to go on camera, the form granted the film-makers indemnity
for any "breaches of alleged moral behaviour", and also stipulates
that cases can only be brought through courts in New York state.
Issuing the judgment,
though, Alabama justice Mike Bolin hinted that he sympathised with
Ms Martin’s complaint. Pointedly declining to discuss Borat’s
manners in detail, he simply remarked: "It is sufficient to say that
an eventful meal ensued, during which the alleged reporter engaged
in behaviour that would generally be considered boorish and
offensive."
Neither Ms Martin nor the
film makers have so far commented on the ruling.
But she is not the only
interviewee to have failed to win legal redress against the movie,
in which Baron Cohen’s creation travelled across the United States
claiming to be making a public education film for the Kazakh
ministry of culture.
Other stage-managed faux
pas during his journey included asking a group of American feminists
whether it was true that women have smaller brains than men, and
singing at a rodeo show in Texas, where he mangles the US national
anthem and tells the spectators: "God Bless America and your War of
Terror."
His bumbling manner,
hammed-up Central Asian accent and constant refrain of "Very nice!"
catch most interviewees off-guard, tempting many into saying and
doing things they later regret.
In November 2006, two male
college students from South Carolina who picked up Borat as he was
hitchhiking sued after being shown making racist remarks and
schooling their passenger in lewd, frat-house humour.
Their lawyer alleged that
the film had made both men so notorious that they were finding it
difficult to get work, but their bid to get both compensation and
have the offending scene cut from future broadcasts of the film
failed.
The ruling came despite the
students’ claims that the production crew took them to a bar to
drink and "loosen up" before filming, and that they were told the
"documentary" would only be shown outside the United States.
The film has also faced
several other litigants, including a state prosecutor in Germany who
complained about Borat’s jokes about Jews and gypsies, and the
entire population of a run-down Romanian village who were depicted
as inbred peasants in scenes purporting to be Borat’s home village
in Kazakhstan.
In the artistic sense,
though, the defendant himself no longer exists. In a
Telegraph interview last
month, Mr Baron Cohen told how he was killing off both Borat and his
stablemate Ali G, the fictional rapper, because the two characters
had become too well-known to dupe anybody.
He is now working on a new
project, featuring Bruno, a gay Austrian fashion reporter, and also
stars alongside Johnny Depp in the newly-released film Sweeney Todd.
"Borat" Sued by
Duped Drivers' Ed Teacher
By Larry Neumeister
The Associated Press
New York Lawyer
December 5, 2007
NEW YORK (AP) _ A driving
instructor has sued the makers of the movie "Borat," accusing them
of lying to him about the nature of the crass comedy by telling him
he'd be in a documentary about the integration of immigrants into
U.S. life.
The lawsuit was brought
Tuesday by lawyers for Michael Psenicska, a Baltimore high school
mathematics teacher who has owned a driving school in Perry Hall,
Md., for the last 32 years.
The suit, filed in U.S.
District Court in Manhattan, seeks $100,000 in compensatory damages
and unspecified punitive damages, saying the hit movie earned
hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office. It says Psenicska
is entitled to damages because defendants, including producer
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. and star Sacha Baron Cohen, used
images of him extensively in advertising the film, "Borat: Cultural
Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of
Kazakhstan."
The 2006 film, in which
Cohen plays an uncouth Kazakh journalist traveling across the "U.S.
and A." in pursuit of Pamela Anderson, has led to several lawsuits
and criticism that it depicts Kazakhstan as bigoted and backward.
Others who have sued include Southern conservatives, frat boys,
Romanian villagers and a businessman seen fleeing from a hug from
the British comedian.
Psenicska's lawsuit says
Fox and Cohen fraudulently induced him to sign documents approving
his appearance in "Borat" just before he was filmed giving Cohen's
Borat Sagdiyev character a driving lesson.
According to the lawsuit,
the film's staffers had promised they were producing a documentary
about the integration of foreign people into the American way of
life, a subject that interested Psenicska because he was in the
business of teaching foreigners to drive.
Yet, it says, when filming
began, Borat did a hugging and kissing routine, struggled with his
seat belt like a child, drove on the wrong side of the road, made
ethnic slurs, said women had small brains and rolled down a window
and offered a female pedestrian $10 for "sexy time."
Twentieth Century Fox
spokesman Gregg Brilliant said Psenicska consented to the filming.
"He signed a release, and
we have an agreement," Brilliant said. "Now, 2 1/2 years after
giving his consent and more than one year after the movie was
released, Mr. Psenicska has decided to file a lawsuit, citing the
financial success of the film, in spite of our agreement."
Borat
Film Notoriety Not Niiiice
By Denise Buffa
New York Post
July 11, 2007
A Bronx
man who became an instant movie star among friends, family and even
strangers after he appeared in a candid subway scene in the film "Borat"
has sued the moviemakers for $2.25 million, saying they invaded his
privacy.
Felix Cedeno, 31, a father
of four who works in a Manhattan copy shop, says he was riding the
No. 4 home from work to the South Bronx in November when a rooster
jumped out of British comedian Sacha Baron's suitcase.
Cohen looked familiar, but
Cedeno didn't know the comedian was playing a fictional Kazakh TV
journalist, the star of the hit movie: "Borat: Cultural Learnings of
America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan."
Ever since the film aired,
Cedeno says perfect strangers have recognized him. They come up to
him and say things like, "Hey movie star, how are you doing?" and
"You're the Borat kid!"
"It's pretty cool," he
said.
But he filed suit at Bronx
Supreme Court against producer 20th Century Fox Film Corp., saying
the moviemakers needed permission to use his image.
NY
Businessman Sues "Borat"
New York Lawyer
By The Associated Press
June 8, 2007
NEW YORK -- A businessman seen fleeing from a hug from British
comedian Sacha Baron Cohen in the hit movie "Borat" has sued
filmmaker 20th Century Fox, saying his civil rights were violated.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S.
District Court in Manhattan, seeks unspecified damages on behalf of
the businessman, who listed himself as John Doe. The New York Post
reported Thursday that the businessman was Jeffrey Lemerond, 31.
Lemerond, a Dartmouth
College graduate and financial analyst, was shown running and
yelling "Go away!" as Cohen's Borat character, a phony Kazakh
journalist, chased him down Manhattan's Fifth Avenue in an attempt
to hug strangers. His lawyer did not immediately return a telephone
message for comment Thursday.
The film company said that
Lemerond's claim was "completely without merit" and that it would
"aggressively defend this lawsuit" and anticipated it would prevail.
"Consistent with the First
Amendment, New York law does not recognize this kind of claim in
connection with the 'Borat' movie or other literary works and films
that are matters of interest to the public," spokesman Chris
Petrikin said.
Cohen's 2006 film, "Borat:
Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of
Kazakhstan," has led to several lawsuits and criticism that he
depicts the nation as bigoted and backward.
Lemerond's June 1 lawsuit
said the businessman suffered "public ridicule, degradation and
humiliation" as a result of his appearance in the film. It said 20th
Century Fox knew it was unlawful to use Lemerond's likeness without
his consent because the company scrambled his face in a trailer but
did not do so in the movie.
Wa
Wa Wee Wa, Is Borat in Trouble Again?
By The Associated Press
New York Lawyer
January 31, 2007
Wa wa wee wa, is Borat in
trouble again?
Following lawsuits from
Southern conservatives, frat boys, Romanian villagers and seemingly
every other group in the "U.S. and A.," Sacha Baron Cohen could be
facing even more legal difficulties over his wacky comedic creation,
Borat Sagdiyev. This time his accuser is an Israeli comedian who
claims that Borat's signature exclamation of excitement -- "Wa wa
wee wa" -- belongs to him.
According to "Good Evening
With Guy Pines," an Israeli entertainment news show, Dovale Glickman
plans to sue the Golden Globe-award winning comedian for copyright
infringement.
Baron Cohen capped his
Golden Globe acceptance speech by thanking "every American who has
not sued me so far."
But he didn't count on
Glickman. The Israeli comedian coined the phrase 16 years ago, for a
character on the hit Israeli comedy show "Zehu Zeh." Glickman
further popularized the expression in a series of TV commercials for
the Israeli yellow pages. It caught on and is still commonly heard
on the Israeli street.
When asked by The
Associated Press if he planned to press forward with a lawsuit,
Glickman would neither confirm not deny the report.
"Borat: Cultural Learnings
of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" was a
huge hit in Israel, in large part because Israelis were the only
ones to truly understand what the anti-Semitic, misogynist Kazakh
journalist was actually saying. Few realize that in the movie Borat
is not speaking Kazakh or even gibberish, but rather Hebrew.
Man Claiming
"Borat" Accosted Him in Restroom Sues
By The Associated Press
New York Lawyer
December 13, 2006
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- A man claims he was "accosted" by the star of the
spoof documentary "Borat" while using a restroom at an upscale
restaurant last year, according to a lawsuit.
It is the latest of several
lawsuits filed since the release of "Borat: Cultural Learnings of
America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan."
The scene with the man, who
was not identified in the lawsuit, doesn't appear in the hit movie
but has been shown on Comedy Central and various video-sharing Web
sites, said Columbia attorney Jonathan Milling. "He has been
contacted by numerous people who have recognized him," Milling said.
The plaintiff, a South
Carolina resident, says British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen posed as
a bathroom attendant at Ristorante Divino in October 2005, invading
his privacy and staring as he used a urinal, according to the
lawsuit.
"He is embarrassed and
humiliated and leaves the restaurant," Milling said of his client
Tuesday.
The plaintiff was told a
crew was filming a documentary on tourism but he never saw cameras,
which were hidden in the restroom, according to the lawsuit. The
lawsuit makes no mention of a consent waiver and Milling said his
client was not paid.
The man is seeking punitive
damages and is asking that the scene not be put on DVD.
A judge in Los Angeles last
week rejected a request by two South Carolina fraternity brothers to
block the DVD release of the movie. The judge also refused to order
the removal of a scene that includes the two men, who claim they had
been duped into misbehaving on camera.
The pair sued Nov. 9,
claiming they were tricked into making racist and sexist remarks to
Cohen in the movie.
The movie, which follows
the adventures of Cohen's Kazakh journalist character, has been a
surprise hit at the box office, earning more than $100 million in
the United States.
Louis Petrich, an attorney
for defendants 20th Century Fox and One America Productions, didn't
immediately return a call seeking comment Tuesday.
Frat Boys
Denied Injunction Against "Borat"
The Associated Press
New York Lawyer
December 12, 2006
LOS ANGELES -- A judge
rejected a request by two fraternity brothers to block the DVD
release of the hit spoof movie "Borat." West Los Angeles Superior
Court Judge Joseph S. Biderman also refused to order the removal of
a scene that includes the two men, who claim they had been duped
into misbehaving on camera.
Biderman issued his
two-page decision on Friday after hearing arguments the previous
day.
The South Carolina
fraternity brothers sued Nov. 9, claiming they were tricked into
making racist and sexist remarks to British comedian Sacha Baron
Cohen in "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit
Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan."
In one scene of the
mockumentary, Cohen as rowdy Kazakh journalist Borat hangs out with
three men in a motor home and watches the Pamela Anderson-Tommy Lee
sex tape. One of the three men did not participate in the lawsuit.
The fraternity brothers
claim the filmmakers got them drunk before getting them to sign
release forms agreeing to appear in the film. Their names do not
appear in the lawsuit.
The film "made plaintiffs
the objects of ridicule, humiliation, mental anguish, and emotional
and physical distress," the lawsuit claims.
A trial date for the
lawsuit, which seeks unspecified monetary damages, has not been set.
Louis Petrich of Los
Angeles-based Leopold, Petrich & Smith, who represents 20th Century
Fox and One America Productions, said he was pleased with the
judge's decision.
Calls to the plaintiffs'
attorney, Olivier Taillieu of LA's Zuber & Taillieu LLP, were not
immediately returned.
NY Judge
Gives "Borat" Suit a Thumb Down
Romanian Villagers Vow a Rewrite
By The Associated Press
New York Lawyer
December 5, 2006
NEW YORK -- A judge on
Monday told lawyers who filed a $30 million lawsuit accusing the
makers of the hit movie "Borat" of misleading residents of a remote
Romanian village that they must make specific allegations in their
lawsuit if they want it to have a chance at success.
The lawyers said they would
refile the lawsuit, which alleged the residents were duped into
participating into what they thought was a documentary that would
benefit them rather than the comedy hit "Borat: Cultural Learnings
of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan."
U.S. District Judge Loretta
A. Preska reminded the lawyers that the lawsuit would have to have
specific enough facts alleging the villagers were misled before she
could order defendants to turn over documents that might help the
villagers build their case.
The lawsuit in Manhattan
was filed on behalf of Nicolae Todorache and Spiridom Ciorebea, two
residents of Glod, a remote Romanian village whose Gypsies were used
as stand-ins for Kazakhs in the movie.
The lawsuit alleges that
20th Century Fox Film Corp. and others involved in the film
exploited the plaintiffs and other residents of Glod, telling them
the film was a documentary about extreme poverty in Romania that
would fairly depict their lives, living conditions, occupations,
community, heritage and beliefs.
Slade R. Metcalf, a lawyer
for the movie company, said the lawsuit did not make a specific
enough claim on behalf of the villagers to be considered by the
court.
He said the company should
not have to turn over documents related to the villagers so lawyers
for them could go on a fishing expedition to see if any of the
papers were improperly prepared.
A lawyer for the villagers
claimed that representatives of the defendants have tried to pay
some villagers to be silent since they complained about the film,
but Metcalf said the allegation was not true.
Glod is located 85 miles
northwest of Bucharest. The movie, starring comedian Sacha Baron
Cohen as a Kazakh journalist traveling across America in comic
encounters that mock Americans, has been a surprise hit at the box
office, earning more than $100 million in the United States.
Woman
Claims She was Duped by
"Borat," Seeks Criminal Probe
By Peter Prengaman
The Associated Press
New York Lawyer
November 17, 2006
LOS ANGELES -- The owner of an etiquette business who was handed a
plastic bag supposedly containing feces in the hit movie "Borat"
says she was told the filming would be used for a documentary in
Belarus.
Cindy Streit said
she filed a complaint Thursday with California Attorney General Bill
Lockyer, requesting an investigation into possible violations of the
California Unfair Trade Practices Act.
Streit said a
representative from a Los Angeles-based company called Springland
Films contacted her Birmingham, Ala.-based company, Etiquette
Training Services, about arranging an etiquette session for an
"international guest from Belarus Television."
Attempts to find a contact
for Springland were not successful. The company had no phone listing
and Streit's lawyers declined to provide copies of the contracts
allegedly signed.
The attorney general's
office had not received a copy of the complaint, spokesman Nathan
Barankin said late Thursday.
Streit said she arranged in
Alabama both a sit-down session with Borat, played by comedian Sacha
Baron Cohen, and a dinner party with some of her friends. Clips of
both appear in the movie "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for
Make Benefit of Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan."
Though awkward at times,
the dinner went well until Borat asked to use the bathroom, Streit
said.
"I had taught him to excuse
himself. He did that correctly and went upstairs," Streit told The
Associated Press. "The next thing that happened is that he came down
the stairs holding this plastic bag with whatever was in it."
"My horror was that he had
brought a bag of feces to my dinner table," she said.
Springland put in writing
that the second of two scheduled sessions "will be filmed as part of
a documentary for Belarus Television and for those purposes only,"
said Gloria Allred, Streit's lawyer.
A spokesman for 20th
Century Fox, which distributed the film, called Allred's contentions
"nonsense."
"Cindy Streit signed
written agreements with the production, which clearly stated that a
movie was being filmed and that the movie could be distributed
worldwide. Her fee was negotiated and paid," said studio spokesman
Gregg Brilliant.
Several weeks after filming
completed, Brilliant said, Streit asked for and received additional
payment for her etiquette training service and she signed an
additional release. He said he didn't have details on how much she
received.
Streit, 59, said she
requested an investigation by the attorney general instead of filing
a lawsuit in hopes of setting a precedent that will make movie
studios think twice before using other ordinary citizens for
"reality movies." However, she said she wouldn't rule out a lawsuit.
Streit's demand follows
complaints by others shown in the film, including a lawsuit filed by
two fraternity members from a South Carolina university who appear
in the film drunk.
"Borat"
Co-Stars Upset at Being Duped, Some Sue
By Erin Carlson
The Associated Press
New York Lawyer
November 13, 2006
NEW YORK -- While teaching American humor to a gregarious and
absurdly out-of-touch foreign journalist, Pat Haggerty realized
something was off -- who was this guy?
Haggerty, a public
speaking coach from Washington, D.C., is one of the unwitting
co-stars of the surprise hit movie "Borat: Cultural Learnings of
America for Make Benefit of Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." Haggerty
has no hard feelings toward Borat, a.k.a. comedian Sacha Baron Cohen
-- but the same can't be said for others who were humiliated or even
lost their jobs thanks to the awkward fellow with the bushy
mustache.
Their embarrassment over
the film's hilarious, cringe-inducing blend of fiction and
improvised comedy is magnified by its success -- "Borat" has topped
the box office two weeks in a row, earning a total of $67.8 million.
Last year, Haggerty agreed
to be filmed for what he thought was a benign documentary on his
client's journey across America. He hurriedly signed a release form,
was paid $400, and the lesson began.
As cameras rolled, his
client told raunchy stories in garbled English and laughed heartily
at the expense of handicapped people. "And then, I'm starting to
smell a rat," Haggerty told The Associated Press. "Each passing
minute I'm going, you know, this can't be real."
Confused, he ended up
playing along. He later figured out -- thanks to his son, an
HBO-watching college student -- that he'd been duped.
Duped by Borat
"They were exercising a
First Amendment right," said Haggerty, adding that he enjoyed the
movie. "And this Sacha Cohen guy's going to make 87 gazillion
dollars. You know, good for him. I'm just sorry that he had to do it
in such a way that he allowed people to make jerks out of themselves
exposing their character flaws."
Two of Cohen's targets --
fraternity boys who made drunken, insulting comments about women and
minorities -- are suing 20th Century Fox and three production
companies. The lawsuit claims that a production crew took the
students to a bar to "loosen up" before participating in what they
were told would be a documentary to be shown outside of the United
States, and that they signed waivers after drinking heavily. Studio
spokesman Gregg Brilliant said the lawsuit "has no merit."
Cohen's behavior also
wasn't funny to Dharma Arthur, who claims she was fired as a morning
show producer in Jackson, Miss., after being duped into giving Cohen
air time. Cohen's live appearance, in which he said he had to go
"urine" and hugged a bemused weatherman, led her life into a
downward spiral, she told the AP. She is seeking an apology.
Kathie Martin, who runs an
etiquette school in Birmingham, Ala., was also left out of the joke.
Even though she was gracious and calm when Borat showed her nude
photos of his son, Martin admitted she was "taken aback" by his
schtick during their on-camera meeting.
"Unless you can figure it
out for yourself, you have no way of knowing you have been tricked
into being part of a childish prank with an R rating attached," she
told the AP via e-mail.
"And even if you figure it
out, you've signed a release that Mr. Cohen's people say
relinquishes any rights on your part to take action against them."
Ronald Miller, of Natchez,
Miss., was baffled by the ruse. He and his wife attended a dinner at
a plantation house, which they were told would be an interview with
an "Eastern European television reporter coming to Natchez to film
social customs in the South," he told the AP.
Borat disturbed guests,
Miller said, by making anti-Semitic remarks and saying slavery was
wonderful. He also invited a dinner guest -- a woman posing as a
prostitute -- to join the group. Cohen's kerfuffle with Pamela
Anderson, however, did make the cut. The "Baywatch" babe was
attacked by his alter ego at a book signing, and he later chased her
through a parking lot.
Did she learn of his antics
in advance? Anderson's not telling.
"Unfortunately, Pamela is
not doing any press interviews for `Borat,'" her spokeswoman, Tracy
Nguyen, wrote in an e-mail.
"Regarding if it was a
surprise or not, we'd like to leave it to the imagination. Pam loves
Borat and Borat loves Pam."
Associated Press Writer
Kathy Hanrahan contributed to this report.
Sacha
Baron Cohen Hides in Plain Sight
'Borat' Creator Won't Break His Disguise for PR
By Steve Gorman
Reuters
November 10, 2006
LOS ANGELES - He is
Hollywood's latest box-office hero, but British comedian Sacha Baron
Cohen is hiding in plain sight as he promotes his new hit film about
an oversexed, anti-Semitic TV journalist from Kazakhstan.
To moviegoers who flocked
last weekend to the faux documentary of his cross-country U.S. road
trip, Cohen -- the creator of the cluelessly offensive Central Asian
character "Borat" -- remains largely a figure of mystery.
During scores of promotional appearances and interviews for the
film, Cohen has steadfastly clung to the guise of his Borat alter
ego, revealing nothing of his Orthodox Jewish upbringing in Britain
or Cambridge University education.
Appearing in character on NBC's "Today" show after his box office
triumph, he exclaimed: "I want to celebrate tonight!" then inquired
of host Matt Lauer, "Can you recommend any good prostitutes?"
But Cohen, 35, plays his character for social satire as well as
shock value. Asked on "Today" about U.S.-Kazakh relations since his
movie came out, he replied: "I hope you companies of Wal-Mart and
Nike will come and put their factories in Kazakhstan, where we have
hardest-working 7-year-olds in all of world. Please, let's get
drunk!"
His persona is overwhelming: thick mustache, wild-eyed grin,
unwashed gray suit and boisterous catch phrases like "Very nice!" "I
like! and "Sexytime!," all delivered in halting, heavily accented
English sprinkled with phony Kazakh (a mixture of gibberish, Polish
and Hebrew).
Borat is one of three alter egos Cohen introduced to U.S. audiences
on his HBO series "Da Ali G Show." His latest creation, the Austrian
fashonista Bruno, is headed for the big screen under a recent deal
with Universal Pictures.
While following in the footsteps of Andy Kaufman, Peter Sellers and
other comic actors famed for disappearing into their characters,
Cohen is known to his friends and associates as an individual
perfectly comfortable in his own skin.
'Make Benefit Glorious Nation'
"He's one of the least neurotic, most engaging people that I've
encountered in the performing arts," said Jay Roach, who produced
the movie, fully titled: "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for
Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan."
"You almost need to see him as the English-accented, baritone-voiced
guy he really is so you can recognize what a transformation every
one of those characters is," Roach said.
"Borat" topped the North American box office with $26.5 million in
ticket sales its first weekend, far more than expected for a
low-budget movie that opened in just 837 theaters. The film
benefited in part from publicity sparked by Kazakh officials
protesting the unflattering portrait of their country as a backward
nation of misogynists and racists.
Encouraged by rave reviews and media buzz, distributor 20th Century
Fox plans to expand the film's release this weekend to about 2,500
U.S. theaters.
The movie is being heralded as a breakthrough in the satirical "mockumentary"
genre popularized by such films as "This Is Spinal Tap."
The difference with "Borat" is a story driven by unscripted,
improvised encounters with ordinary people, who become Cohen's
unsuspecting foils while willingly taking part in what they think is
a real documentary.
Producers say the interactions captured on camera were completely
spontaneous and unrehearsed -- Borat letting a chicken loose on a
Manhattan subway; Borat singing a Kazakh version of the Star
Spangled Banner at a rodeo; Borat asking the owner of a gun store
for the best gun to kill Jews, and Borat asking a dinner party
hostess how to use the toilet.
"People had no idea that he was an actor," Roach said. "The film
that he says he's making -- they believe that."
As for Cohen's continued masquerade, Roach said he expects the
comedian to reemerge from his alter ego once the Borat hype has run
its course.
Accidental
'Borat' Stars Want Last Laugh
Americans in Blockbuster Film Say They Were Duped
By Blair Soden
ABCNews.com
November 13, 2006
Some unwitting stars of the
hit comedy "Borat" don't get the joke.
In the fall of 2005,
Michael Psenicska, owner of the Perry Hall Driving School in
Baltimore County, Md., got a call from a production company making a
foreign documentary film. Their star needed driving lessons.
Psenicska was not surprised: His school offers a class specifically
for immigrant drivers. But when the student arrived, Psenicska had
no idea that the supposed Kazakh journalist, Borat, was really
British comedian, Sacha Baron Cohen. Little did he know that 18
months later, the "foreign documentary" he agreed to appear in would
be the number one movie at the American box office.
Psenicska and several others approached by the film's producers are
the inadvertent stars of "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for
Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." The feature film
grossed over $26.4 million when it opened last weekend in limited
release. With the number of theaters tripling to over 2,500 this
weekend, it held the top spot, earning an estimated $29 million
more.
Duped by Cash
But the films "stars" aren't celebrating the chart-topping debut.
For more on the film and the objections of some of its "stars,"
watch "World News" this evening.
Most recently, Britain's Daily Mail newspaper reported that
villagers in the Kazakh town of Glod, where Baron Cohen filmed
scenes, feel that they were tricked and ripped off by the actor and
his producers.
Psenicska and several others said they were duped into participating
in the film. At least three people who appeared in the film claim a
producer handed them cash to distract them from the release form
that followed.
"I saw $500 and signed it," Psenicska said. "I thought nothing about
it because I would release them to do a documentary."
Car salesman Jim Sell said he also was deceived by the lure of
cold-hard cash when the producers of Borat approached him to
participate at the Criswell Chevrolet car dealership in
Gaithersburg, Md.
"They put [the release] in
front of me right when they were giving me the $150," Sell said.
He didn't read through the release because the crew had already
started filming. Sell also worries that his reputation as a dealer
of fine vehicles will be tarnished by the implication that he sold
Borat an ice-cream truck. (For the record, he did not.)
Joe Behar said he was duped into participating in the movie when
members of the production team arrived at the Four Seasons Kosher
Bed & Breakfast, which he owns with his wife Miriam in Newton, Mass.
He said he was told the documentary was commissioned by the
Kazakhstan Department of Tourism. Even then, Behar and his wife were
hesitant to participate.
"I told him that I didn't want our pictures to be presented in the
promotion of the movie," Behar said.
The producers kept to their word on that front. The Behars don't
appear in any of the previews or advertisements for the film, but
the couple believes that's hardly a consolation.
Rumors and Lawsuits
In a scene from the movie, Borat and his producer, Azamat, believe
two cockroaches in their hotel room to be the Behars. The joke is
that as Jews, the Behars have transformed into vermin to spy on the
Kazakh guests.
The Behars said the cockroaches were superimposed by the studio in
their house and "hurt us personally."
"This is very insulting to us," Joe Behar said. "They never told us
they were going to do this, so this is really terrible to us --
because every friend is talking to us, thinks we have cockroaches."
The Behars worry that word of the cockroaches will fuel the town
rumor mill, and others fear appearing in the movie will have
implications on their futures as well.
Car salesman Sell said he doesn't think he got his fair share of the
pie.
"One hundred-fifty dollars, and the movie grossed $26 million in
three days," he said. "Everybody there's all smiling at our
expense."
Sell isn't the only one questioning the film's payout. Two South
Carolina college students who appear in the film are now suing 20th
Century Fox for distributing their likenesses under false pretenses.
The unnamed plaintiffs said film producers told them they were
participating in a documentary to be shown outside of the United
States.
Olivier Taillieu, the attorney representing the students, told ABC
News, "Our contention is that they were set up, [that] they were set
up in a way that made them say certain things that they do not
believe to be true."
Driving instructor Psenicska said he also has hired an attorney, but
hopes to settle before taking it to court. He claimed he risked his
life by getting into the car with Borat, who drives on the wrong
side of the road in one scene.
Psenicska is hoping to have the last laugh.
"I don't care what I signed; I know what they did to me and it's
just not fair," he said. "Borat has not totally heard the end of
me."
Fool Me Once…
Some say Baron Cohen may be the ultimate prankster. Though he may
have duped people like Psenicska, Sell and Behar into humiliating
themselves for a couple bucks, in some ways he has earned respect.
When asked what he would like to say to Cohen, Behar replied, "He
made an extremely good movie. He's very polite. He's very nice. He's
a genius."
Despite portraying a character who is wildly anti-Semitic, Baron
Cohen himself is Jewish, a fact that was not lost on Behar.
"He doesn't know exactly what he's produced, and I don't think the
company knows what they've produced," Behar said, "because what
they've produced is a comedy that makes fun of Islam … and he's
Jewish, you know."
Psenicska and Behar have different theories on how participating in
"Borat" might impact their futures.
Psenicska said his involvement may make him the "cool, old relative"
several years down the road.
"My great grandchildren will be saying … 'Back in '06 grandpa was in
an R-rated flick,'" he said.
Behar, on the other hand, learned something from his experience. He
will forever be skeptical of inquisitive journalists, even the one
who wrote this article.
"Just make sure that you don't put anything in that's out of the
ordinary," he said.
http://news.aol.com/entertainment/movies/articles/_a/accidental-borat-stars-want-last-laugh/20061113070409990001
Frat Boys Are First Borat Victims To Sue
By Sam Knight
Times Online
November 10, 2006
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in London (Photo by MJ Kim/Getty Images |
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The makers of
the hit Borat movie by the British comedian,
Sacha Baron Cohen, have been sued by two American college
students who claim they were duped into taking part in the
film.In papers
served at a court in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, the two
plaintiffs, identified as John Doe I and John Doe II, said
that they "have suffered and will continue to suffer
humiliation, mental anguish, and emotional and physical
distress, loss of reputation, goodwill and standing in the
community" after being shown drinking with Borat Sagdiyev,
a fictional Kazakhstani television reporter, in a camper
van.
In the scene, three young
men, identified in the film as students from the Chi Psi
fraternity of the University of South Carolina, get drunk
with Borat, watch a sex video that purports to show Pamela
Anderson, the American TV star, and make disparaging
remarks about slavery, women and ethnic minorities.
Borat!: Cultural
Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of
Kazakhstan is top of the box office charts in
America, Germany and the UK after being released this
month.
It has enjoyed the most
successful movie release ever in the US for a film showing
at fewer than 1,100 cinemas.
According to Box Office
Mojo, a database of cinema release statistics, its haul of
$26.5 million surpassed that of Fahrenheit 9/11,
the last film publicised and released in a similar way.
Next week, the film will be shown at more than 2,500
screens.
But its enormous success
and publicity have made unknowing victims of Baron Cohen
laughing stocks across America.
Several people featured in
the film, including Linda Stein, an artist and veteran
feminist from New York, a car salesman called Jim Sell and
Pat Haggerty, a "humour" coach from Washington, have
complained that members of the production team tricked
them into thinking that the crew were from Belarus, not
Kazakhstan, and that they were hurried into signing
confusing consent forms thick with legalese.
Ms Stein has written of
her experience, saying she was left "confused and sad"
after the filming. "Maybe it's his way of gaining power
over the childhood sting of religious animosity or the
feelings of inferiority from a woman’s beating him at
Scrabble," she wrote in a local New York newspaper.
Organisers of a rodeo in
Virginia, whose producer, Bobby Rowe, is shown in the film
making homophobic and anti-Islamic remarks, have joked
about teaming up with the Kazakhstani Embassy in
Washington to burn an effigy of Borat.
In the lawsuit filed by
the college students, the plaintiffs said they were paid
$200, promised that the film would not be shown in America
and that they would not be clearly identified.
The suit claims that the
three students, one of whom was under the legal drinking
age of 21, were plied with drinks and "well under the
influence of alcohol before they signed the (consent)
Agreement".
"Believing the film would
not be viewed in the United States and at the
encouragement of Defendants, Plaintiffs engaged in
behaviour that they otherwise would not have engaged in,"
the suit claims, according to copies of the documents
posted on the website TMZ.
One of the three students
-- it is not known whether he was one of the plaintiffs --
has described the experience on the record. David Corcoran
told the men's magazine, FHM: "My first thought
was, 'What if my mom finds out?'
For text of complaint
click here.
Borat
Gets a New Suit
-It Was Only a Matter of Time, Wasn't It?
By Natalie Finn
Entertainment on Line
November 9, 2006
Two University of
South Carolina students are suing 20th Century
Fox, purveyor of Borat: Cultural Learnings of
America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of
Kazakhstan, claiming that they were tricked
into engaging in the boorish onscreen behavior
that has become the fake Kazakh journalist's
stock-in-trade.
The unnamed
plaintiffs alleged in their lawsuit filed Thursday
in Santa Monica that, by the time they were asked
to sign waivers allowing their images to be used
in the mockumentary, they were inebriated with
alcohol provided for them by the film's crew.
The young men
charged the studio with fraud; rescission of
contract; statutory and common law false light,
for framing their comments to make them appear
"insensitive to minorities"; appropriation of
likeness; and negligent infliction of emotional
distress.
In Borat,
which grossed a whopping $26.5 million its opening
weekend despite playing in only 837 theaters, the
title character gets drunk with three
fraternity members in a motor home and watches the
infamous Pamela Anderson-Tommy Lee sex tape. A
student also comments at one point that
"minorities have all the power."
And now, two of
Borat's party mates are stating that they have
been made "the objects of ridicule, humiliation,
mental anguish, and emotional and physical
distress" and have suffered "loss of reputation,
goodwill and standing in the community."
Obviously the
critically lauded delight that is Borat:
Cultural Learnings… hasn't opened in their
town yet.
According to their
court documents, the plaintiffs were told that the
film would never screen in the U.S. After being
taken to a bar to "loosen up" before shooting
their scenes with Borat, the brainchild of British
"prankster" Sacha Baron Cohen, they "engaged in
behavior that they otherwise would not have
engaged in."
Although, isn't
the beauty of Borat the fact that his own feigned
ignorance usually elicits the most instinctual
responses from people, people who don't realize
that their interviewer is baiting them to reveal
their true colors?
But beauty is in
the eye of the beholder, apparently.
Citing the film's
financial success to date, the complaint states,
"The funny part is when we, the audience, see how
these individuals react to him...The problem,
however, is that its success rests on the backs of
unsuspecting players. This lawsuit seeks to remedy
that."
"If you watch the
movie, one of them can barely keep his eyes open,"
the plaintiffs' attorney, Oliver Taillieu, told
Variety. "It's pretty obvious to me that
these guys did not know what they were getting
into."
The plaintiffs are
seeking unspecified monetary damages in excess of
$25,000 and an injunction preventing 20th Century
Fox from displaying their image or likeness.
"The lawsuit has
no merit," studio spokesman Gregg Brilliant said
Thursday, denying the plaintiffs were tricked into
engaging in, well, stereotypical frat-boy
behavior. One America Productions, Everyman
Pictures and Gold/Miller Productions were also
named in the suit.
Chi Psi's national
director of operations, Brad Beskin, said in a
statement that the fraternity "condemned" the
remarks made by the young men in the film. He said
that two of them have since graduated from the
University of South Carolina and one is still in
school.
A fellow frat boy
also weighed in, telling the Associated Press that
he supported the lawsuit if the guys were really
tricked.
"It obviously
doesn't make us look good by any stretch of the
imagination," Kappa Sigma member Harris Todd,
19, said. "It's definitely not helping any
stereotypes that there are about South Carolina,
and the South in general."
Meanwhile, Borat's
Cultural experiment opens in wide release
Friday.
http://www.eonline.com/news/article/index.jsp?uuid=fe1b2ee5-b2ea-434a-993c-a0ac02666c95&page=2
Turkish Man Says
He's the Real
"Borat," Wants Piece of the Profits
By Suzan Fraser
The Associated Press
New York Lawyer
November 7, 2006
ANKARA, Turkey -- A
Turkish Internet celebrity is so convinced he was the
inspiration for Sacha Baron Cohen's "Borat" character,
he's traveling to London seeking an apology and a way to
get paid from the film's surprise success.
Mahir Cagri 44, became a
cyber celebrity after posting a personal Web site in 1999,
featuring unintentionally amusing photos of himself
playing pingpong or the accordion and sunbathing in a
skimpy bathing suit. Fans were captivated by his broken
English and hilarious invitation to women: "Who is want to
come TURKEY I can invitate ... She can stay my home."
"The world knows he is
copying Mahir," Cagri told The Associated Press in a
telephone interview from his hometown of Izmir on Monday,
minutes before he was to board a plane for Istanbul to
appear on a talk show.
"I am not saying this --
the world is. I have received so many e-mails from people
in the United States who tell me he is imitating me," he
said.
Cagri, a freelance
journalist, was scheduled to fly to London on Tuesday for
meetings with his manager and lawyer there to discuss his
options and hold interviews with British newspapers. He
hopes to receive an "acknowledgment or an apology" from
Baron Cohen.
"The bombshell is going to
fall," he said of his London trip. "(Cohen) is making
money by using me."
The title character in the
movie "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make
Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" was first developed
for "Da Ali G Show" on HBO. The 20th Century Fox movie
took in $26.5 million in the U.S. its opening weekend,
more than any other film.
On the commentary track to
the DVD of "Da Ali G Show," Baron Cohen says Borat was
influenced by someone he met in southern Russia.
"I can't remember his name
-- he was a doctor" Baron Cohen said. "The moment I met
him, I was totally crying. He was a hysterically funny
guy, albeit totally unintentionally."
The character Borat has
caused outrage among Kazakhs over the way their nation is
being jokingly portrayed.
Cagri set up his Web site
in the hope of making foreign friends and welcoming guests
from abroad to his home. The Turk quickly became a
celebrity, much to his surprise. Relishing his fame, Cagri
has traveled to Europe and the United States to meet fans
on sponsored trips.
http://www.ikissyou.org
http://www.istanbul.tc/mahir/mahir/
First Comes Borat,
Then Comes Bruno, Then Comes the Big Bucks
By Gina Serpe
Entertainment Online
October 27, 2006
 Sacha
Baron Cohen has reportedly sparked a studio frenzy with
the announcement that he will follow up his highly
anticipated big-screen portrayal of the Jew-hating,
incest-friendly, homophobic Borat with the equally brash,
though slightly more palatable fashion reporter Bruno.
Here's hoping Austria has
a better sense of humor than Kazakhstan.
According to the
Hollywood Reporter, Universal Pictures has leaped to
the forefront of the bidding war over Cohen's next flick,
offering more than $42 million for the worldwide
distribution rights. The studio's bid reportedly puts it
ahead of DreamWorks, Sony, 20th Century Fox and Warner
Bros., all of which are vying for the comedy.
Apparently, timing really
is everything.
The studios are making
their wagers based solely on the presumption that
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit
Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, out Nov. 3, will be
such a success that moviegoers will be clamoring for more
from the English comedian.
Which, if the film's early
buzz is any indication, they will be.
As of now, Bruno exists in
theory only: There's no script, no director and no start
date, though the Reporter says that Cohen is
eyeing a summer 2007 production.
Like Borat, and Cohen's
other comic alter ego, Ali G, Bruno was originally
conceived on Da Ali G Show and will be the
series' final character to make the jump to the big
screen.
Though Bruno is much more
likely to toast his new deal with a sip from an appletini
than a chug of fermented horse's urine.
For those who don't know,
Bruno is a leather-clad, faux-hawked and otherwise
over-the-top gay fashionista who is endlessly on
assignment and who fancies himself the "voice of Austrian
youth TV."
One of his most popular
segments from Da Ali G Show featured Bruno
interviewing a Southern Baptist pastor who specializes in
converting homosexuals. Bruno peppers the "gay-saver" with
questions about what is acceptable manly behavior
(approved with a hearty "ach-ya") and what is not
(dismissed with a condescending "nish-nish").
Showering with men, eating
brunch, watching Will & Grace and just generally
"being fabulous," all are deemed "nish-nish" by the
pastor.
Some of Bruno's other
memorable reports include an investigation into wrestling
in Daytona Beach and his fashion industry-skewering trend
reports from New York and Los Angeles Fashion Weeks.
According to the
Hollywood Reporter, Borat producer Jay Roach
will produce Bruno.
Kazakhstan Strips
Borat of Site
By Sarah Hall
Entertainment Online
December 13, 2005
Kazakhstan's
self-proclaimed "sixth-most popular journalist," Borat
Sagdiyev, has thrown his support behind his country's
recent threats to take legal action against Da Ali G
Show mastermind Sacha Baron Cohen for allegedly
ridiculing the nation.
"I like to state I have no
connection with Mr. Cohen and fully support my
government's decision to sue this Jew," Borat recently
proclaimed on his official Website, www.borat.kz.
He went on to commend his
nation's efforts toward civilized reform.
"Since the 2003 reforms,
Kazakhstan is as civilized as any other country in the
world. Women can now travel on inside of bus, homosexuals
no longer have to wear blue hats and age of consent has
been raised to 8 years old.
"Please, captain of
industry, I invite you to come to Kazakhstan, where we
have incredible natural resources, hard-working labor and
some of the cleanest prostitutes in all of central Asia.
Goodbye."
Despite Borat's
impassioned pledge of camaraderie, the Kazakhstan
government was unmoved and responded by shutting down his
Website.
"We've done this so he
can't badmouth Kazakhstan under the .kz domain
name," Nurlan Isin, president of the Association of Kazakh
IT Companies, told Reuters on Tuesday. "He can go and do
whatever he wants at other domains."
Isin said the borat.kz
site had broken new rules governing all .kz domains
and had registered false names for its administrators.
Borat, who is, of course,
one of Cohen's alter egos on his Emmy-nominated HBO
program, infuriated Kazakhstani officials when he hosted
the MTV Europe Music Awards last month, and made quips
about his wife's inability to travel outside the country's
borders because of her gender and the Kazakhs' preferred
sport of shooting dogs.
"We view Mr. Cohen's
behavior at the MTV Europe Music Awards as utterly
unacceptable, being a concoction of bad taste and ill
manners, which is completely incompatible with ethics and
civilized behavior," foreign ministry spokesman Yerzham
Ashykbayev told reporters.
As if mounting a defense
against the comic's degradation of the nation, the
Kazakhstan government promptly took out a four-page spread
in the New York Times, touting the country's
natural resources and calling Kazakhstan a "model" for
gender equality.
Meanwhile, London's
Independent published a Kazakh-friendly article,
headlined: "What You Won't Learn From Borat: 50 Things You
May Not Have Known." Among the nation's qualities
seemingly overlooked by the intrepid reporter: it is "the
ninth-largest country in the world," "hunting is no longer
a popular pastime" and "the word 'Kazakh' means
'independent' or 'wanderer'."
Though he may no longer
have an official Website on which to air his views, Borat
has no plans to fade into obscurity, despite the best
efforts of the Kazakhstan government.
Cohen is currently working
on crafting his character's exploits into a full-length
mockumentary, titled Borat: The Movie. The end
result is due out next year.
Kazakhstan on Borat:
Not Nice
Bby Josh Grossberg
Entertainment Online
November 14, 2005
Let's get this straight:
Kazakhstanis aren't a bunch of backward drunks who
practice incest, guzzle wine made from fermented horse
urine and denigrate women.
But apparently they are
lacking in the sense of humor department.
The Central Asian country
is spitting mad at Da Ali G Show mastermind Sacha
Baron Cohen, threatening to sue the comedian because one
of his characters, Kazakhstani journalist Borat Sagdiyev,
ridicules its people.
According to Reuters,
Kazakhstan's foreign ministry held a press conference
Monday to condemn Cohen's brand of politically incorrect
buffoonery.
"We do not rule out that
Mr. Cohen is serving someone's political order designed to
present Kazakhstan and its people in a derogatory way,"
ministry spokesman Yerzham Ashykbayev told reporters.
What specifically peeved
the officials was Cohen's gig hosting the 2005 MTV Europe
Music Awards as Borat earlier this month in Lisbon.
Appearing in the guise of the well meaning foreign
correspondent with an avid curiosity of all things
Western, Cohen arrived at the show on an Air Kazakh
propeller plane controlled by a one-eyed pilot holding a
vodka bottle.
Following Madonna's
show-opening number, the mustachioed faux newsman said:
"That singer before me. Who was it? It was very courageous
of MTV to start the show with a genuine transvestite. He
was very convincing. It was only his hands and his
testisatchels that gave it away." And he signed off by
saying: "To the world, I love you! Apart from Uzbekistan.
A--holes."
"We view Mr. Cohen's
behavior at the MTV Europe Music Awards as utterly
unacceptable, being a concoction of bad taste and ill
manners, which is completely incompatible with ethics and
civilized behavior," Ashykbayev said.
"To prevent new pranks of
this kind," Ashykbayev threatened legal action, although
he did not specify exactly what options the government of
the former Soviet republic was considering.
Borat's bad taste and ill
manners has made for some hysterically funny moments on
the Emmy-nominated Da Ali G Show as Cohen uses his
alter ego to expose prejudice.
In one famous segment,
Borat masquerades as a country music star from Kazakhstan
who visits a bar in Oklahoma and sings a patently
anti-Semitic song that features the chorus: "Throw the
Jews down the well." Despite the over-the-top antics, bar
patrons are seen happily clapping, singing along and
stomping their feet.
This isn't the first time
a stunt involving Kazakhstan's sixth-most popular journo
has made headlines.
Appearing in character,
Cohen crashed a "marriage ceremony" for Pamela Anderson's
pooches on a beach in Malibu in August. Borat arrived in
the surf on an inflatable turtle-shaped raft. He was
promptly thrown back to sea by Anderson's unamused
security detail. The bit was presumably for the new season
of Da Ali G Show.
But people are beginning
to catch on to the 34-year-old Cohen's spoofs. New York
magazine reported that Borat was recognized immediately
when he showed up on the New York City subway in July,
speaking broken English and trying to kiss men. The New
York Times, meanwhile, said a Georgia politician
backed out of interview with Borat after being tipped off
by an aide about the shtick.
For its part, HBO has
declined to discuss Cohen's pranks. There's no word from
the comedian on the burgeoning Kazakhstan controversy.
But he might want to get
cracking on that legal defense fund. His feature
mockumentary, Borat: The Movie, is due out next
year.
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