left arrow BackNext right arrow
< BACK TO Fresh Intelligence

List of Cohen Litigants Longer than Borat Credits

Borat_0615_FRESH.jpg
SUIT UP Borat
Seven months after Sacha Baron Cohen's wacky Kazakhy first appeared in theaters, the pissed-off participants of Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan who feel they were duped into signing release forms keep adding up.

The most recent to file a lawsuit against Cohen is Jeffrey Lemerond, the businessman who shouts "Go away!" as Cohen chases him down Fifth Avenue in an attempt to hug strangers. Lemerond's June 1 suit makes claims of "public ridicule, degradation, and humiliation" and says that he did not give consent to appear in the film. Twentieth Century Fox dismisses the claims as "completely without merit."

Lemerond's in good company. After the jump, the long list of litigants and dupes you won't see in the credits of the Borat director's cut ...

The Duped: Two racist, sexist University of South Carolina frat boys (you know, the ones who wanted to bring back slavery)
The Duping: The young men who may win the award for most outrageous-yet-sickeningly genuine performance claim they were told the film would not be shown in America
Quotable: The fraternity brother who doesn't seem to care: "I don't normally like getting lied to, but am I pissed off? No, not really ... It is what it is. I had a fun time"
To Sue or Not To Sue: Lawsuit dismissed in two courts



The Duped: Cindy Streit, etiquette consultant in Birmingham, Alabama
The Duping: Streit maintains her composure at a dinner party while Borat shows pictures of his naked son and spouts countless inappropriate anti-Semitic, racist comments (... and invites a prostitute ... and brings a bag of his feces to the dinner table)
Quotable: "I am mortified at forever being portrayed in an R-rated movie with the most horrifying, pornographic scene imaginable to me"
To Sue or Not To Sue: Lawsuit filed under California's Unfair Trade Practices Act


The Duped: Dharma Arthur, a news producer for WAPT television in Jackson, Mississippi
The Duping: After allowing him to appear on her show, Arthur claims, in a letter to Newsweek, that Borat's appearance caused her to lose her job
Quotable: "Because of him, my boss lost faith in my abilities and second-guessed everything I did thereafter ... How upsetting that a man who leaves so much harm in his path is lauded as a comedic genius"
To Sue or Not To Sue: Seeking an apology


The Duped: Boby Rowe, producer of the Salem, Virginia, rodeo depicted in the film
The Duping: Rowe permits Cohen to sing the national anthem but does not likely anticipate Borat's comments ("May George Bush drink the blood of every man, woman, and child in Iraq!") which solicit wild cheers from the crowd
Quotable: "Some people come up and say, 'Hey, you made the big time'; I've made the big time, but not in the way I want it"
To Sue or Not To Sue: No lawsuit (ass whuppin' pending)


The Duped: Patrick Haggerty, a public speaking coach from Washington, D.C.
The Duping: Haggerty does his best to teach Borat humor (the whole "This suit is not black" bit)
Quotable: "They were exercising a First Amendment right ... 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"
To Sue or Not To Sue: No lawsuit


The Not-Duped: Pamela Anderson, buxom Baywatch babe and (it turns out) a big-time fan of Cohen's
The Duping: Borat chases and ultimately tackles Anderson to the ground after he proposes to her at a book signing (security guards may have been left in the dark)
Quotable: "I love Borat ... Of course [Sacha] and I planned this years ago ... And it turned out perfect. I'm so happy for him"
To Sue or Not To Sue: No lawsuit, just an allegedly spastic reaction from ex-husband Kid Rock


Other Beefs:

The villagers of Glob, Romania: The burg appears as the fictitious Kazakh hamlet from which Borat hails. Villagers claim Cohen and company tricked them into believing the film was a documentary about their poverty and hardship. They collectively filed a $30 million lawsuit, but were told their claims were too vague

Dovale Glickman, Israeli comedian: Claimed in January that he had coined Borat's exclamation "Wa wa wee wa" 16 years ago for a character on his television show, Zehu Zeh, and that he is considering litigation

Advertisement