Portions of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/rebel-wilson">Rebel Wilson</a>’s memoir, which mention alleged incidents involving <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/sacha-baron-cohen">Sacha Baron Cohen</a>, have been redacted in both the U.K. and Australia.
The 44-year-old “Pitch Perfect” star released her <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/books">tell-all book</a>, Rebel Rising, on April 2 in the United States. Publication in several other countries has been delayed thus far.
A spokesperson for HarperCollins confirmed the redacted portions, per <a href="https://people.com/rebel-wilson-memoir-published-in-uk-with-sacha-baron-cohen-allegations-redacted-8638802">People</a>.
“We are publishing every page, but for legal reasons, in the U.K. edition, we are redacting most of one page with some other small redactions and an explanatory note,” the statement said. “Those sections are a very small part of a much bigger story and we’re excited for readers to know Rebel’s story when the book is released.”
Wilson had written about alleged interactions with Cohen on the set of the film “The Brothers Grimsby” in 2016. The actress claimed Cohen harassed her about performing naked and told her it would be “really funny” to engage in other lewd acts.
“Then in the last scene…he was like, ‘Rebel can you just stick your finger up my butt?’ And I went, ‘What do you mean Sacha? That’s not in the script,’” Wilson said. “And he’s like, ‘Look, I’ll just pull down my pants, you just stick your finger up my butt, it’ll be a really funny bit.’”
Cohen denied Wilson’s allegations in a public statement at the time the book was released. The actor’s rep claimed the redactions proved the incidents didn’t happen.
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&#8220;HarperCollins did not fact check this chapter in the book prior to publication and took the sensible but terribly belated step of deleting Rebel Wilson’s defamatory claims once presented with evidence that they were false,&#8221; Cohen’s spokesperson said.
&#8220;Printing falsehoods is against the law in the UK and Australia; this is not a &#8216;peculiarity&#8217; as Ms. Wilson said, but a legal principle that has existed for many hundreds of years. This is a clear victory for Sacha Baron Cohen and confirms what we said from the beginning — that this is demonstrably false, in a shameful and failed effort to sell books,&#8221; the statement continued.

Rebel Wilson

Rebel Wilson’s Harassment Allegations Against Sacha Baron Cohen Redacted In Her Memoir In 2 Countries

Rebel Wilson's Harassment Allegations Against Sacha Baron Cohen Redacted In Her Memoir In 2 Countries

Australia

Books

Sacha Baron Cohen

U.K.

World

Actress <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/rebel-wilson">Rebel Wilson</a> has revealed the name of a fellow <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/celebrities">celebrity</a> who she claims tried to block press about the publication of her memoir.
The 44-year-old Australian <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/entertainment">star</a> had previously referenced a “massive a**hole” she worked with in the past. She accused the as-yet-unidentified individual of trying to intimidate her as she worked on her memoir, per <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/rebel-wilson-sacha-baron-cohen-memoir-1235859389/">The Hollywood Reporter</a>.
Wilson previously said in Instagram stories, “Now the a**hole is trying to threaten me. He’s hired a crisis PR manager and lawyers. He’s trying to stop press coming out about my new book. But the book WILL come out and you will all know the truth.”
Now, Wilson is saying that person is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/sacha-baron-cohen">Sacha Baron Cohen</a>. 
The “Pitch Perfect” star shared an update on March 25: &#8220;I will not be bullied or silenced with high priced lawyer or PR crisis managers. The ‘a**hole’ that I am talking about in ONE CHAPTER of my book is Sasha Baron Cohen.”
Wilson has been referencing Cohen for several weeks now. On March 15, she <a href="https://www.instagram.com/rebelwilson/reel/C4ikheULuRA/">said</a> on social media, “When I first came to Hollywood, people were like, yeah, ‘I have a no a**hole policy, means like, yeah, I don’t work with a**holes.’ I was like, ‘Oh yeah. I mean, that sounds sensible or logical. But then it really sunk in because I worked with a massive a**hole and yeah, now I definitely have a no a**holes policy.”
Wilson and Baron Cohen worked together in the 2016 spy action comedy “The Brothers Grimsby.” Wilson played the girlfriend of Baron Cohen’s character Nobby, an English football player who becomes a spy.
The actress discussed her experience working with her colleague in 2014 on the radio show “Kyle and Jackie O.” 
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“Sacha is so outrageous,” the actress said at the time, per THR. “Every single day [Baron Cohen’s] like, ‘Rebel, can you just go naked in this scene?’ And I’m like, ‘No!’ Sacha and I have the same agent in America and I’m like, ‘Sacha, I’m going to call our agent Sharon and tell her how much you are harassing me.”
She added, “Every day he’s like, ‘Just go naked, it will be funny. Remember in ‘Borat’ when I did that naked scene? It was hilarious.’ On the last day I thought I’d obviously won the argument, and he got a body double to do the naked scene.”
“Then in the last scene…he was like, ‘Rebel can you just stick your finger up my butt?’ And I went, ‘What do you mean Sacha? That’s not in the script,’” Wilson said. “And he’s like, ‘Look, I’ll just pull down my pants, you just stick your finger up my butt, it’ll be a really funny bit.&#8217;”
Wilson’s book, “Rebel Rising,” is scheduled for a global release on April 2.

Rebel Wilson Reveals Which ‘A**Hole’ Celeb Tried To ‘Threaten’ Her Over Memoir Release: ‘I Will Not Be Bullied’

Celebrities

Entertainment

Hollywood

Amid the rise of blatant (sometimes violent) anti-Semitism that has erupted across the country, comedic actor Sacha Baron Cohen called out Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey for the promulgation of Jew-hatred on his platform.
In a tweet on Saturday, Cohen shared a recent report from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) showing that a wave in anti-Semitic violence and rhetoric followed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
&#8220;The surge in antisemitism on the streets is fueled by antisemitism on social media,&#8221; tweeted Cohen as he proceeded to call out Jack Dorsey directly. &#8220;Why do you allow #HitlerWasRight ?! Those who celebrate the Holocaust aim to perpetuate another.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The surge in antisemitism on the streets is fueled by antisemitism on social media.<a href="https://twitter.com/jack?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Jack</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/twitter?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Twitter</a> &#8212; Why do you allow <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HitlerWasRight?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HitlerWasRight</a> ?!
Those who celebrate the Holocaust aim to perpetuate another.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/StopHateForProfit?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#StopHateForProfit</a><a href="https://t.co/RMWwBZGFiX">https://t.co/RMWwBZGFiX</a>
&mdash; Sacha Baron Cohen (@SachaBaronCohen) <a href="https://twitter.com/SachaBaronCohen/status/1396207659448156164?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 22, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
According to the ADL report, up to 17,000 posts on Twitter positively referenced Adolf Hitler between May 7 and May 14.
<blockquote>ADL has documented disturbing antisemitism on multiple platforms &#8212; from Facebook and Twitter to TikTok and Instagram – with messages including explicit praise for Hitler, promoting tropes about Jewish control and demonizing all Jews. Extreme antisemitic and anti-Zionist content can be found across a wide variety of channels calling for the destruction of the Jewish state, including posts that state: “GAS THE KIKES RACE WAR NOW.”
An analysis of Twitter in the days following the recent outbreak of violence showed more than 17,000 tweets which used variations of the phrase, “Hitler was right” between May 7 and May 14, 2021. ADL has also seen an increase in on-the-ground activity that demonizes Israel and that has crossed at times into antisemitism.</blockquote>
ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt warned people that anti-Semitic rhetoric has real-world consequences.
“As the violence between Israel and Hamas continues to escalate, we are witnessing a dangerous and drastic surge in anti-Jewish hate right here at home,” said Greenblatt. “We are tracking acts of harassment, vandalism and violence as well as a torrent of online abuse. It’s happening around the world— from London to Los Angeles, from France to Florida, in big cities like New York and in small towns, and across every social media platform.”
“To those who choose to indulge in age-old antisemitic tropes, exaggerated claims and inflammatory rhetoric, it has consequences: attacks in real life on real people targeted for no other reason than they are Jewish,” he continued. “This is antisemitism, plain and simple. And it’s indisputably inexcusable in any context. ADL remains steadfast in its commitment to fight antisemitism and hate with every ounce of energy we have,” Greenblatt continued. “We are working actively with authorities in cities across the country to identify the perpetrators of hate and to protect our community. We call on leaders throughout our country to speak out against antisemitism and stand alongside the Jewish community in the face of this wave of hate before it gets any worse.”
Following the riot on Capitol Hill on January 6, Sacha Baron Cohen publicly backed the blacklisting of President Donald Trump on every major internet platform.
“Virtually every social media company has removed Trump…EXCEPT YouTube. Trump’s YouTube channel is STILL showing videos of his election lies to MILLIONS of people!” Cohen tweeted in January as he tagged YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki as well as Google CEO Sundar Pichai in the post.
YouTube later banned Trump from the platform.
RELATED:<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/auschwitz-survivor-97-wishes-her-followers-a-peaceful-sabbath-then-gets-hit-with-vicious-hate-online"> Auschwitz Survivor, 97, Wishes Her Followers A Peaceful Sabbath, Then Gets Hit With Vicious Hate Online.</a>

US-ENTERTAINMENT-FILM-TELEVISION-GOLDEN-GLOBES-ARRIVALS

Sacha Baron Cohen Rips Twitter, Jack Dorsey For Rise In Anti-Semitism On The Platform

Anti-Defamation League

Anti-Semitism

Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen has admitted the obvious: The &#8220;Borat&#8221; sequel was all about destroying President Donald Trump&#8217;s re-election chances.
Speaking with <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/13824654/borat-star-sacha-baron-cohen-helped-make-biden-president/">The Sun</a>, Cohen said that he meant for the movie to “deliver a message” on the “dangers of voting for Trump.”
“The aim of the movie is to deliver a message. That’s the reason why Borat came out when it did,” he said.
“I thought the thing I can do to warn people is to use my funniest character, my most popular ­character, to show what I thought the dangers of ­voting for Trump were. I felt democracy was at a very dangerous point,” Cohen added.
Now that Trump has exited the White House, Cohen said that he will be taking a break.
“There’s nothing up next. It’s been a busy year. Donald Trump is out and I want a break,” he said.
Cohen r<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/save-democracy-sacha-baron-cohen-urges-youtube-to-ban-trump">ecently spearheaded the effort</a> to have Trump kicked off YouTube shortly after Twitter permanently suspended the former president&#8217;s account.
&#8220;This is the most important moment in the history of social media. The world’s largest platforms have banned the world&#8217;s biggest purveyor of lies, conspiracies and hate,&#8221; Cohen said after Trump&#8217;s Twitter ban. &#8220;To every Facebook and Twitter employee, user and advocate who fought for this&#8211;the entire world thanks you!&#8221;
Speaking with Anti-Defamation League in 2019, Cohen said that social media has a responsibility to stop the spread of disinformation, arguing that Hitler would have been able to reach billions of people in a matter of minutes if social media existed in the 1930s.
&#8220;Think about it. Facebook, YouTube and Google, Twitter and others — they reach billions of people. The algorithms these platforms depend on deliberately amplify the type of content that keeps users engaged — stories that appeal to our baser instincts and that trigger outrage and fear,&#8221; <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/21/sacha-baron-cohen-rips-on-facebook-and-big-tech-for-sowing-hate.html">he said</a>. &#8220;It’s why YouTube recommended videos by the conspiracist Alex Jones billions of times. It’s why fake news outperforms real news, because studies show that lies spread faster than truth. And it’s no surprise that the greatest propaganda machine in history has spread the oldest conspiracy theory in history — the lie that Jews are somehow dangerous.&#8221;
“Under this twisted logic, if Facebook were around in the 1930s, it would have allowed Hitler to post 30-second ads on his ‘solution’ to the ‘Jewish problem.’ So, here’s a good standard and practice: Facebook, start fact-checking political ads before you run them, stop micro-targeted lies immediately, and when the ads are false, give back the money and don’t publish them,&#8221; he added.
Shortly thereafter, when The Guardian reported how Trump used political ads on Facebook, Cohen said that history will judge Mark Zuckerberg &#8220;harshly.&#8221;
“Terrifying. 218,000 political ads on Facebook—many with lies and hate – seen by voters perhaps 1.3 BILLION times. And Facebook profits/ #Mark Zuckerberg, history will judge you harshly – if we still have historians after you help destroy democracy!” he said.

US-ENTERTAINMENT-FILM-HEALTH-VIRUS

Sacha Baron Cohen: ‘Borat’ Sequel Was About ‘The Dangers Of Voting For Trump’

Donald Trump

After actor/comedian Sacha Baron Cohen called upon YouTube to join Twitter and Facebook in banning President Trump, several Hollywood celebrities, from Mark Ruffalo to Mark Hamill, have echoed the call.
&#8220;Virtually every social media company has removed Trump&#8230;EXCEPT YouTube. Trump&#8217;s YouTube channel is STILL showing videos of his election lies to MILLIONS of people!&#8221; Cohen tweeted last Saturday and tagged YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki as well as Google CEO Sundar Pichai in the post.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Virtually every social media company has removed Trump&#8230;EXCEPT YouTube.
Trump&#39;s YouTube channel is STILL showing videos of his election lies to MILLIONS of people!
Retweet and tell <a href="https://twitter.com/Google?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Google</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/sundarpichai?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@sundarpichai</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/YouTube?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@YouTube</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/SusanWojcicki?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SusanWojcicki</a>&#8211;do the right thing! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BanTrumpSaveDemocracy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BanTrumpSaveDemocracy</a> <a href="https://t.co/GHiUJqnTbw">pic.twitter.com/GHiUJqnTbw</a>
&mdash; Sacha Baron Cohen (@SachaBaronCohen) <a href="https://twitter.com/SachaBaronCohen/status/1348645873245417474?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 11, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;[Sundar Pichai] [Susan Wojcicki] <a class="css-4rbku5 css-18t94o4 css-901oao css-16my406 r-1n1174f r-1loqt21 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-1ny4l3l r-1ddef8g r-qvutc0" role="link" href="https://twitter.com/YouTube" data-focusable="true">@YouTube </a>is still showing videos of Donald Trump’s blatant lies. Your platform is still allowing misinformation to spread like wildfire. Do the right thing &amp; <a class="css-4rbku5 css-18t94o4 css-901oao css-16my406 r-1n1174f r-1loqt21 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" role="link" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BanTrumpSaveDemocracy?src=hashtag_click" data-focusable="true">#BanTrumpSaveDemocracy,&#8221; </a>tweeted Mark Ruffalo.
&#8220;This is a public safety issue. Trump and YouTube are radicalizing people to violence,&#8221; he added. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This is a public safety issue. Trump and YouTube are radicalizing people to violence. <a href="https://t.co/smzevI56T4">https://t.co/smzevI56T4</a> It&#39;s real and here is a Pod Cast about how it happens.
&mdash; Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkRuffalo/status/1348719662125629441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 11, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;To stay silent is to be complicit in his madness,&#8221; tweeted Mark Hamill.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
To stay silent is to be complicit in his madness.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BanTrumpSaveDemocracy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BanTrumpSaveDemocracy</a> <a href="https://t.co/T6mKniV1s8">https://t.co/T6mKniV1s8</a>
&mdash; Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkHamill/status/1347368935771947010?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 8, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;The atrocities at the Capitol yesterday were four years in the making. It’s been four years of Trump condoning, justifying and CELEBRATING violent acts. FOUR YEARS. A 12 hour suspension is not enough <a class="css-4rbku5 css-18t94o4 css-901oao css-16my406 r-1n1174f r-1loqt21 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" role="link" href="https://twitter.com/jack" data-focusable="true">@jack</a>. RT to save democracy. <a class="css-4rbku5 css-18t94o4 css-901oao css-16my406 r-1n1174f r-1loqt21 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" role="link" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BanTrumpSaveDemocracy?src=hashtag_click" data-focusable="true">#BanTrumpSaveDemocracy. </a>tweeted Kerry Washington.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The atrocities at the Capitol yesterday were four years in the making. It’s been four years of Trump condoning, justifying and CELEBRATING violent acts. FOUR YEARS. A 12 hour suspension is not enough <a href="https://twitter.com/jack?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jack</a>. RT to save democracy. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BanTrumpSaveDemocracy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BanTrumpSaveDemocracy</a>
&mdash; kerry washington (@kerrywashington) <a href="https://twitter.com/kerrywashington/status/1347291078722899970?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 7, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;It’s time, <a class="css-4rbku5 css-18t94o4 css-901oao css-16my406 r-1n1174f r-1loqt21 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" role="link" href="https://twitter.com/YouTube" data-focusable="true">@youtube</a>. Ban Trump. <a class="css-4rbku5 css-18t94o4 css-901oao css-16my406 r-1n1174f r-1loqt21 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" role="link" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BanTrumpSaveDemocracy?src=hashtag_click" data-focusable="true">#BanTrumpSaveDemocracy.&#8221; </a>tweeted Adam Scott.
https://twitter.com/mradamscott/status/1348836913315258368?s=20
&#8220;You are the only social media company still amplifying <a class="css-4rbku5 css-18t94o4 css-901oao css-16my406 r-1n1174f r-1loqt21 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" role="link" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Trump?src=hashtag_click" data-focusable="true">#Trump</a>&#8216;s lies and Seditious calls to action!&#8221; tweeted Debra Messing. 
https://twitter.com/DebraMessing/status/1348734253408911372?s=20
Over the weekend, after Twitter purged Trump’s personal account from its platform, Cohen praised it as a seismic moment.
“This is the most important moment in the history of social media. The world’s largest platforms have banned the world’s biggest purveyor of lies, conspiracies and hate. To every Facebook and Twitter employee, user and advocate who fought for this–the entire world thanks you!” tweeted Cohen.
After Twitter removed Trump’s personal account from its platform, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) — no friend of Trump — expressed concern about Big Tech’s power to silence people in the future.
“For months, President Trump has been using social media platforms to seed doubt about the results of the election and to undermine the will of voters. We understand the desire to permanently suspend him now, but it should concern everyone when companies like Facebook and Twitter wield the unchecked power to remove people from platforms that have become indispensable for the speech of billions — especially when political realities make those decisions easier. President Trump can turn to his press team or Fox News to communicate with the public, but others — like the many Black, Brown, and LGBTQ activists who have been censored by social media companies – will not have that luxury. It is our hope that these companies will apply their rules transparently to everyone,” the ACLU wrote.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel denounced Twitter’s ban violated a “fundamental right.”
“This fundamental right can be intervened in, but according to the law and within the framework defined by legislators — not according to a decision by the management of social media platforms,” said Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert. “Seen from this angle, the chancellor considers it problematic that the accounts of the U.S. president have now been permanently blocked.”
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador was equally distressed with the purge, saying it crossed a line and sets a dangerous precedent.
“I don’t like anybody being censored or taking away from the right to post a message on Twitter or Face(book). I don’t agree with that, I don’t accept that,” López Obrador said on Thursday.
“How can you censor someone: ‘Let’s see, I, as the judge of the Holy Inquisition, will punish you because I think what you’re saying is harmful,’” he added. “Where is the law, where is the regulation, what are the norms? This is an issue of government, this is not an issue for private companies.”
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/save-democracy-sacha-baron-cohen-urges-youtube-to-ban-trump">‘Save Democracy’: Sacha Baron Cohen Urges YouTube To Ban Trump</a>

ABC’s Coverage Of The 92nd Annual Academy Awards – Show

Celebrities Back Sacha Baron Cohen’s Call For YouTube To Ban Trump

After hailing Twitter&#8217;s ban of President Trump as &#8220;the most important moment in the history of social media,&#8221; actor/comedian Sacha Baron Cohen has called on YouTube to ban the president as well.
&#8220;Virtually every social media company has removed Trump&#8230;EXCEPT YouTube,&#8221; Cohen wrote in a tweet on Monday. &#8220;Trump&#8217;s YouTube channel is STILL showing videos of his election lies to MILLIONS of people!&#8221;
Cohen tagged YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki as well as Google CEO Sundar Pichai and challenged them to &#8220;save democracy&#8221; by banning Presidnet Trump.
As reported by Fox News, President Trump&#8217;s YouTube account now stands at 2.74 million subscribers.
Over the weekend, after Twitter purged Trump&#8217;s personal account from its platform, Cohen praised it as a seismic moment.
&#8220;This is the most important moment in the history of social media. The world’s largest platforms have banned the world&#8217;s biggest purveyor of lies, conspiracies and hate. To every Facebook and Twitter employee, user and advocate who fought for this&#8211;the entire world thanks you!&#8221; tweeted Cohen.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This is the most important moment in the history of social media. 
The world’s largest platforms have banned the world&#39;s biggest purveyor of lies, conspiracies and hate. 
To every Facebook and Twitter employee, user and advocate who fought for this&#8211;the entire world thanks you! <a href="https://t.co/jihFaOA39G">pic.twitter.com/jihFaOA39G</a>
&mdash; Sacha Baron Cohen (@SachaBaronCohen) <a href="https://twitter.com/SachaBaronCohen/status/1347751197566922754?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
After Twitter removed Trump’s personal account from its platform, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) — no friend of Trump — expressed concern about Big Tech’s power to silence people in the future.
“For months, President Trump has been using social media platforms to seed doubt about the results of the election and to undermine the will of voters. We understand the desire to permanently suspend him now, but it should concern everyone when companies like Facebook and Twitter wield the unchecked power to remove people from platforms that have become indispensable for the speech of billions — especially when political realities make those decisions easier. President Trump can turn to his press team or Fox News to communicate with the public, but others — like the many Black, Brown, and LGBTQ activists who have been censored by social media companies – will not have that luxury. It is our hope that these companies will apply their rules transparently to everyone,” the ACLU wrote.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel denounced Twitter&#8217;s ban violated a &#8220;fundamental right.&#8221;
“This fundamental right can be intervened in, but according to the law and within the framework defined by legislators — not according to a decision by the management of social media platforms,” said Merkel&#8217;s spokesman, Steffen Seibert. “Seen from this angle, the chancellor considers it problematic that the accounts of the U.S. president have now been permanently blocked.”
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador was equally distressed with the purge, saying it crossed a line and sets a dangerous precedent.
“I don’t like anybody being censored or taking away from the right to post a message on Twitter or Face(book). I don’t agree with that, I don’t accept that,” López Obrador said on Thursday.
“How can you censor someone: ‘Let’s see, I, as the judge of the Holy Inquisition, will punish you because I think what you’re saying is harmful,’” he added. “Where is the law, where is the regulation, what are the norms? This is an issue of government, this is not an issue for private companies.”
RELATED:<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/angela-merkel-slams-twitters-decision-to-ban-trump"> Angela Merkel Slams Twitter’s Decision To Ban Trump: ‘Problematic’ Violation Of ‘Fundamental Right’</a>

‘Save Democracy’: Sacha Baron Cohen Urges YouTube To Ban Trump

On Friday, after Twitter announced President Trump&#8217;s account was permanently banned and Facebook stated that Trump would be barred from its platforms for an indefinite amount of time, “Borat” star Sacha Baron Cohen <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2021/01/09/sacha-baron-cohen-twitter-facebook-banning-trump-is-the-most-important-moment-in-the-history-of-social-media/">pronounced</a> on Twitter, “This is the most important moment in the history of social media.”
Baron Cohen added, “The world’s largest platforms have banned the world&#8217;s biggest purveyor of lies, conspiracies and hate. To every Facebook and Twitter employee, user and advocate who fought for this&#8211;the entire world thanks you!”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This is the most important moment in the history of social media. 
The world’s largest platforms have banned the world&#39;s biggest purveyor of lies, conspiracies and hate. 
To every Facebook and Twitter employee, user and advocate who fought for this&#8211;the entire world thanks you! <a href="https://t.co/jihFaOA39G">pic.twitter.com/jihFaOA39G</a>
&mdash; Sacha Baron Cohen (@SachaBaronCohen) <a href="https://twitter.com/SachaBaronCohen/status/1347751197566922754?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2021</a></blockquote>
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After the November presidential election, Baron Cohen targeted Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, tweeting a photo of Zuckerberg shaking hands with Trump at the White House and captioning the tweet, “One down. One to go.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
One down. One to go. <a href="https://t.co/eQYi1pBqku">pic.twitter.com/eQYi1pBqku</a>
&mdash; Sacha Baron Cohen (@SachaBaronCohen) <a href="https://twitter.com/SachaBaronCohen/status/1325223702506696704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
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In November 2019, CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/21/sacha-baron-cohen-rips-on-facebook-and-big-tech-for-sowing-hate.html">reported</a> that Baron Cohen told the Anti-Defamation League:
<blockquote>Think about it. Facebook, YouTube and Google, Twitter and others — they reach billions of people. The algorithms these platforms depend on deliberately amplify the type of content that keeps users engaged — stories that appeal to our baser instincts and that trigger outrage and fear. It’s why YouTube recommended videos by the conspiracist Alex Jones billions of times. It’s why fake news outperforms real news, because studies show that lies spread faster than truth. And it’s no surprise that the greatest propaganda machine in history has spread the oldest conspiracy theory in history — the lie that Jews are somehow dangerous.</blockquote>
He <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sacha-baron-cohen-claims-facebook-would-allow-hitler-to-post-30-second-ads-heres-how-media-treated-hitler-back-then/">added</a>, “Under this twisted logic, if Facebook were around in the 1930s, it would have allowed Hitler to post 30-second ads on his ‘solution’ to the ‘Jewish problem.’ So, here’s a good standard and practice: Facebook, start fact-checking political ads before you run them, stop micro-targeted lies immediately, and when the ads are false, give back the money and don’t publish them.”
Two months later, referencing a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/28/donald-trump-facebook-ad-campaign-2020-election">report</a> in The Guardian that examined how the Trump campaign used Facebook, he tweeted, “Terrifying. 218,000 political ads on Facebook—many with lies and hate – seen by voters perhaps 1.3 BILLION times. And Facebook profits/ #Mark Zuckerberg, history will judge you harshly – if we still have historians after you help destroy democracy!”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Terrifying. 218,000 political ads on Facebook—many with lies and hate &#8211; seen by voters perhaps 1.3 BILLION times. And Facebook profits. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MarkZuckerberg?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MarkZuckerberg</a>, history will judge you harshly &#8211; if we still have historians after you help destroy democracy!<a href="https://t.co/6ciFqVBy3E">https://t.co/6ciFqVBy3E</a>
&mdash; Sacha Baron Cohen (@SachaBaronCohen) <a href="https://twitter.com/SachaBaronCohen/status/1222571095905243137?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 29, 2020</a></blockquote>
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In mid-2018, a video <a href="http://www.foxla.com/news/local-news/exclusive-riverside-gun-store-confronts-sacha-baron-cohen-after-he-comes-to-business-in-disguise">obtained by a California Fox affiliate</a> showed a gun store owner exposing Baron Cohen as he tried to deceive the owner, posing as a &#8220;Hungarian immigrant.&#8221; As The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-gun-store-owner-nails-disguised-sacha-baron-emily-zanotti/">reported</a>:
<blockquote>Warrior One Guns &amp; Ammo owner Norris Sweidan <a href="http://www.foxla.com/news/local-news/exclusive-riverside-gun-store-confronts-sacha-baron-cohen-after-he-comes-to-business-in-disguise">told Fox 11</a>that Cohen&#8217;s crew met with him ahead of Cohen&#8217;s &#8220;sting,&#8221; and told him they were filming a documentary about a &#8220;Hungarian immigrant wanting to buy a gun.&#8221; Sweidan picked up on the ruse right away, he says. &#8220;He comes in, off the bat you can see in the video I’m looking like, this guy does not look like a Hungarian immigrant, tight a** leather pants, a beard, it just didn’t fit,” Sweidan told local media. “The moment his words came out of his mouth I was like, &#8216;this guy is full of s***.'&#8221;
Apparently, Cohen, who was in disguise, kept changing his accent, a clue to Sweidan that the &#8220;documentary&#8221; crew might be trying to embarrass him and, by extension, American gun buyers and owners. When Sweidan called Cohen out, he says, Cohen hightailed it out of his shop.
“I’m looking at the producer and I’m just like, &#8216;am I being fooled right here?&#8217;” Sweidan said. “And I just kept looking at the guy and I was like, &#8216;you’re Borat&#8217;; as soon as I said that his eyes just looked at me like, and he did a turn right out the door.” Cohen, Sweidan said, left his crew to clean up the mess.
“We’re talking to the people they don’t wanna give us an answer, we basically told them to get the f*** out, &#8216;you guys are all full of s***, have a great day, get out,&#8217;” Sweidan told Fox 11. “Once I knew it was Borat, we already know his game and his bull*****, so we knew he’s here to make a mockery, and of what? Gun owners? The gun business, gun shops.&#8221;</blockquote>

71st Emmy Awards – Arrivals

‘Most Important Moment In The History Of Social Media’: Sacha Baron Cohen Praises Twitter, Facebook For Banning Trump

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Twitter

Sequels rarely lap the original, a maxim that’s especially true for comedies.
Think “Another 48 Hours,” “Zoolander 2” or, gasp, possibly the <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/caddyshack-ii-worst-sequel-ever/">worst comedy sequel of all time – “Caddyshack II.”</a>
So it’s not a shock that “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” the surprise sequel to Sacha Baron Cohen’s 2006 blockbuster, can’t measure up to the original.
What comedy could?
The “Borat” sequel starts strong but quickly sinks, replacing gut-busting moments with partisan attacks on all things GOP.
What’s striking about the reaction to the second “Borat” is two-fold. The sequel holds an inexplicable 86% “fresh” rating at RottenTomatoes.com, a barometer of the nation’s premier film critics. General audiences gave it a more measured 70 percent “fresh” score.
And, as a semblance of awards season kicks in during our pandemic age, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” is building serious Oscar buzz.
To quote Borat himself, “Whhhhaaaat?”
The first “Borat” nabbed a single Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, a coup in and of itself for that era. Comedies rarely shine during Oscar season, let alone films where naked men wrestle in and out of hotel rooms.
So, any Oscar talk for “Subsequent Moviefilm,” even during a diminished film year, would seem foolish. After all, the positive RottenTomatoes.com reviews admit the film isn’t as fresh, or funny, as the original.
Think again.
<a href="https://variety.com/2020/film/awards/borat-2-oscar-chances-sacha-baron-cohen-maria-bakalova-1234819683/">Variety</a>: “Previous Oscar nominee Baron Cohen could find himself with up to five nominations across multiple categories on nomination morning.”
<a href="https://www.indiewire.com/2020/10/screen-talk-307-mank-borat-2-oscar-race-1234596205/">IndieWire</a>: “When pundits were taking the temperature on awards season earlier this year, nobody expected a ‘Borat’ sequel to be a part of it … But ‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm’ landed on Amazon last week in the midst of an anxious election season with more than just good reviews. The movie has stirred up Oscar talk in a number of categories…”
<a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/10/little-gold-men-podcast-borat-2">Vanity Fair</a>: “It’s not a traditional star-making performance by any means, but it does make [‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm’ co-star Maria] Bakalova an overnight sensation—and Cohen himself has been lobbying the Academy on her behalf, saying ‘If she doesn’t get nominated for an Oscar then that’s a travesty.’”
<a href="https://www.vulture.com/2020/10/could-maria-bakalova-earn-an-oscar-nomination-for-borat.html">Vulture</a>: “…the task of revealing the perverse underbelly of Donald Trump’s America fell to the 24-year-old newcomer — sometimes literally, as in the case of <a href="https://www.vulture.com/2020/10/so-what-does-rudy-giuliani-do-in-the-borat-sequel.html">the film’s most famous sequence</a>. She knocks it out of the park.”
Vulture goes on, though, and in doing so gives the game away:
Ultimately, the thing that will determine Bakalova’s bona fides probably won’t happen at the movies; it’ll happen in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan. In conversations with Oscar strategists this week, one offered up an incredibly plausible and incredibly depressing theory: “If the election goes the wrong way, I think she gets nominated.” The reasoning? If Biden wins, voters won’t have much stomach for reliving the darkest depths of the Trump era. But if the president pulls off reelection by <a href="https://www.thecut.com/2020/10/voters-experience-long-lines-lost-registrations.html">hook</a> or by <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/10/trump-justices-show-how-theyd-aid-him-in-contested-election.html">court-ordered crook</a>, Bakalova’s awards campaign might suddenly become a standard-bearer for anti-Trump sentiment.
There it is.
The Oscars have been officially transformed into a combination of woke signaling and progressive rallying. We’ve known this for some time, but 2020 is making it official in two critical ways.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts &amp; Sciences changed the rules for Best Picture nominees earlier this year to make them more inclusive – by Hollywood’s far-left standards.
Conservatives, ridiculed if not outright blacklisted within the industry, didn’t make the “preferred status” cut, alas.
And, just as disturbing, a film’s artistic worth now takes a back seat to its progressive bona fides. Cohen’s rising Oscar hopes all but scream that reality.
Imagine all the filmmakers hoping their labors of love stand a chance at Oscar glory. Even a nomination can change someone’s career.
All that work and sweat may be meaningless given the new status quo.
The factors that should matter to Oscar voters no longer count like they once did. Think acting, directing, and pure emotion.
They still rank in voters’ minds, but they aren’t the critical factors. Does your film have a robustly diverse cast? Are you arguing on behalf of a progressive cause? Did your film have an impact, even a tiny one, on a local or national election?
Did it at least try to do that?
We’ve seen glimpses of this sad state of affairs before. Consider Oscar winners Michael Moore and Al Gore, both of whom hit the progressive zeitgeist with the documentaries “Bowling for Columbine” and “An Inconvenient Truth,” respectively.
Yet there were always Oscar curveballs – the kind that made watching the increasingly divisive show worth the bother.
Even as recently as two years ago, “Green Book,” a film savaged by the woke Left for depicting racial reconciliation, shocked Hollywood with its Best Picture victory.
Those kind of upsets may no longer be possible in future Oscar races. Mediocrities like “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” could be the new, depressing normal on Oscar night.
The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Borat

‘Borat’ Sequel’s Oscar Buzz Spells Doom For Academy

2020 Election

Oscars

Readers Pass

Actor Sacha Baron Cohen reportedly donated $100,000 to the church of the unemployed Christian grandmother who unwittingly starred in his recent &#8220;Borat&#8221; sequel.
Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church in Oklahoma City received the sizable donation earlier this week, the church&#8217;s Rev. Derrick Scobey said, according to <a href="https://oklahoman.com/article/5675065/update-sacha-baron-cohen-gives-100k-to-okc-church" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Oklahoman</a>. Jeanise Jones, 62, was chosen by the producers of &#8220;Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm&#8221; to play a babysitter after they came to the church seeking &#8220;elderly black women&#8221; who had &#8220;grandmotherly&#8221; qualities.
Jones received only $3,600 for her role in the film, which she had been led to believe was a foreign documentary instead of a mockumentary comedy. The film, which premiered Oct. 23 on Amazon Prime, follows Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha Baron Cohen) as he attempts to sell off his 15-year-old daughter Tutar (Maria Bakalova) to an older man. Jones is hired to babysit Tutar, who is introduced to her wearing a ball-and-chain and using a dog’s water bowl.
Jones, a mother of three and grandmother of six, received kudos from audiences for unintentionally becoming the “moral compass” of the film by showing kindness to Tutar, who she believed was in distress and for whom her church prayed regularly, according to an interview with <a href="https://www.showbiz411.com/2020/10/26/exclusive-borat-star-jeanise-jones-unemployed-grandmother-was-paid-just-3600-to-be-in-documentary-she-thought-would-never-be-seen-in-u-s?fbclid=IwAR1Ot5KNnFLmp4TWBzlOGLU86RHthvIYDv_deh9H45EYDq-KsebilzJ5fLI" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Showbiz 411</a>.
“I totally believed she was 15 and that he had left her there with me,” Jones said regarding Bakalova&#8217;s character. “She told me she was being groomed to be Donald Trump’s mistress if she didn’t find another rich husband. She had to find a rich husband to save her father. I believed her, she was good.”
Jones racked up more than $160,000 herself as of Saturday, after Scobey started a <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/jeanise-jones-borat-movie" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">GoFundMe</a> for her after the film&#8217;s release earlier this week. &#8220;It is amazing. I would never expect nothing like this,&#8221; she said of the windfall. &#8220;It&#8217;s blowing my mind.&#8221; The film&#8217;s producers and Cohen himself called her earlier this week, she said, a phone call she described as &#8220;enlightening.&#8221;
Scobey wrote in part on Jones&#8217; GoFundMe:
<blockquote>She was recruited from our church the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Oklahoma City after Producers spoke to me about needing a “Black Grandmother” for a small role in a “documentary.” Jeanise emerged as that person and she was completely unaware that this was a comedy, and all of this was made up. We have been praying for the young lady in the movie because we all genuinely thought she was in trouble. The joke is on us/Jeanise and that’s no problem. Many of you have reached from around the world to say thank you, so I thought it would be great to give people a vehicle to say thank you in a tangible way, She wasn’t paid much money at all for her role in this movie.
This was not scripted for Jeanise. It all came from the heart. She is one of the most authentic people I’ve ever met. One good thing that has come from this is that Jeanise doesn’t have to worry about “Tutar” anymore. She has WORRIED about this young lady for a year.</blockquote>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/unemployed-christian-grandmother-paid-only-3600-to-unwittingly-star-in-borat-sequel-pastor-sets-up-skyrocketing-gofundme-for-her" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Unemployed Christian Grandmother Paid Only $3,600 To Unwittingly Star In ‘Borat’ Sequel. Pastor Sets Up Skyrocketing GoFundMe For Her.</a>

Borat – Sacha Baron Cohen

Sacha Baron Cohen Donates $100K To Church Of Woman Who Unwittingly Starred In ‘Borat’ Sequel

Religion

The woman who was deceived into being one of the characters in Sacha Baron Cohen&#8217;s latest &#8220;Borat&#8221; film got only $3,600 out of it, after which her pastor set up a GoFundMe to support her.
Jeanise Jones, 62, was chosen by the makers of &#8220;Borat Subsequent Moviefilm&#8221; after they came to her church in Oklahoma City under the pretense of seeking &#8220;elderly black women&#8221; for a documentary, Jones told <a href="https://variety.com/2020/film/news/borat-2-babysitter-sacha-baron-cohen-1234817215/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Variety</a> in an interview published Wednesday.
The film, which premiered Oct. 23 on Amazon Prime, follows Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha Baron Cohen) as he attempts to sell off his 15-year-old daughter Tutar (Maria Bakalova) to an older man. Jones is hired to babysit Tutar, who is introduced to her wearing a ball-and-chain and using a dog&#8217;s water bowl.
Jones, a mother of three and grandmother of six, garnered acclaim from audiences for being the unwitting &#8220;moral compass&#8221; of the film by showing kindness to Tutar, who she believed was being victimized and for whom her church prayed regularly, according to an interview with <a href="https://www.showbiz411.com/2020/10/26/exclusive-borat-star-jeanise-jones-unemployed-grandmother-was-paid-just-3600-to-be-in-documentary-she-thought-would-never-be-seen-in-u-s?fbclid=IwAR1Ot5KNnFLmp4TWBzlOGLU86RHthvIYDv_deh9H45EYDq-KsebilzJ5fLI" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Showbiz 411</a>.
&#8220;I totally believed she was 15 and that he had left her there with me,&#8221; Jones said regarding Bakalova&#8217;s character, who is actually 24. &#8220;She told me she was being groomed to be Donald Trump’s mistress if she didn’t find another rich husband. She had to find a rich husband to save her father. I believed her, she was good.&#8221;
Jones reportedly told the <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/10/26/moral-compass-babysitter-in-borat-movie-feels-betrayed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">New York Post</a> that she felt &#8220;betrayed&#8221; by the experience, though she later disputed that quote to Variety. &#8220;I saw that comment, and I had to let them know that I never felt betrayed,&#8221; she said. &#8220;What I said was that I didn’t know it was a movie or an R-rated movie. &#8216;Betrayed&#8217; never came out of my mouth. I don’t know where they got that from. I’m not ever going to say I was betrayed because it was partially my fault I didn’t read the contracts. I’ll take my responsibility on that.&#8221;
Jones, who finds herself unemployed because of COVID-19, nevertheless wishes she had been paid more than the $3,600 she made for her part in the film, which is being distributed on the platform owned by Jeff Bezos, who himself is worth <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanponciano/2020/08/26/worlds-richest-billionaire-jeff-bezos-first-200-billion/#74da8f9e4db7" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">$200 billion</a>. Jones&#8217; pastor, Rev. Derrick Scobey of Ebenezer Baptist Church, set up a <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/jeanise-jones-borat-movie" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">GoFundMe</a> to support her, which is less than $10,000 short of its $100,000 goal as of Wednesday night.
&#8220;Please consider saying thank you to Jeanise with a tangible gift,&#8221; Scobey wrote in part. &#8220;She’s unemployed right now due to Covid. Previously, she worked on a job for 32 years! She’s faithful! Please consider giving a contribution to simply to say thank you to Jeanise for being &#8216;A moral compass and a light shining in darkness&#8217; in this movie. I would be remiss if I didn&#8217;t thank Sacha Cohen Baron and Monica  Levinson (Producer) for casting Jeanise in this movie.&#8221;
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Borat hires babysitter scene" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VVmCzSPn7bI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/walsh-sacha-baron-cohen-is-a-rich-hollywood-jerk-who-humiliates-middle-class-americans-for-fun" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">WALSH: Sacha Baron Cohen Is A Rich Hollywood Jerk Who Humiliates Middle Class Americans For Fun</a>

Unemployed Christian Grandmother Paid Only $3,600 To Unwittingly Star In ‘Borat’ Sequel. Pastor Sets Up Skyrocketing GoFundMe For Her.

GoFundMe

In 2006, I was 17 when the first Borat movie, known formally as Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, was released. At that point, I’d only traveled to the United States once. Like most British people who “went to America once,” that trip was to Orlando, Florida&#8230;
As a teenager, the first Borat movie was beyond hilarious. For the average British citizen whose knowledge of the United States is provided by such supposed “exposés” of American culture, the movie seemed to align perfectly with what we already “knew” about our trans-Atlantic cousins. While most of the jokes were fairly inoffensive, even the political scenes — such as the implication that overt racism is greeted with casual and enthusiastic cheers during rodeos — didn’t raise any eyebrows.
Last weekend, I watched the second Borat movie, titled Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. In many ways, this movie was just a standard comedic reinvention of a successful predecessor. In many other ways, it was an attempt by Sacha Baron Cohen to profit from reliable anti-Trump “clapter,” an increasingly fruitless tree which comedians continue to shake for their adoring coastal audiences.
The focus of the second Borat movie was obviously to target Trump and the Republican Party, culminating in an underwhelming “gotcha” for Rudy Giuliani. However, while Cohen’s obvious anti-conservative obsession is arguably un-amusing, the core problem is not the movie’s political bias. It’s the fact that Cohen is prostituting the character of average Americans for the amusement of arrogant Europeans who look down their noses at those far less civilized folks across the sea.
I watched Borat Subsequent Moviefilm as a 31-year old who has lived in the United States since 2013, and has enjoyed the pleasure of meeting the “type” of Americans who previously existed only as caricatures in snobbish British and European satire. Now, I know better. Now, I know who Americans are and what Americans are. Now, I see what Borat — and Sacha Baron Cohen — really is.
Sacha Baron Cohen went to a private school before attending Cambridge University (the second-most famous university in a town called Cambridge). After a successful career on screen, he has amassed a personal net worth of $160 million. Through the sporadically-blind eyes of the judgmental Left, he is the very essence of privilege. Yes, much of Cohen’s success is well deserved. His comedic characters are smart and interesting, and his ability to elicit self-deprecating awkwardness from unsuspecting people is truly astonishing. However, there is a vast difference between tricking public figures into embarrassing situations and carefully editing interactions with average private citizens in order to humiliate them on a global scale, as hoards of privileged, arrogant and ignorant audience members guffaw and applaud.
The average Americans Cohen used — and then carelessly discarded — included a delivery driver whom he apparently encourages to help unbox and then re-box his smuggled daughter, a babysitter who is appalled by the faux bigotry of Borat and his culture, and a cake shop owner who is asked to decorate a cake with “Jews will not replace us.” The real-life babysitter said that she felt <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/borat-2-babysitter-jeanise-jones-tutar-real-salary-sacha-baron-cohen-b1367255.html">betrayed</a>, and the Observer <a href="https://observer.com/2020/10/borat-2-subsequent-moviefilm-hypocrisy-american-exceptionalism/">portrayed</a> the “helpful cake designer” as openly bigoted, because she “happily scribbles ‘Jews will not replace us’ on a chocolate cake for Borat without missing a beat. The customer is always right!” Who cares if normal people suffer, as long as it gets a few laughs along the way.
Politicians and other public figures are fair game. Private citizens are not, and certainly not when their humiliation is guaranteed by careful editing and abuse of awkward politeness. If I viewed this movie as the same ignorant 17-year old who enjoyed the first, I would have reached the conclusion Cohen wants to force down our throats: Americans are hypocritical, bigoted, and stupid. If they happen to be — gasp — Republicans, even worse. I am ashamed of my past ignorance, but relieved that I now know different. 
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of those for whom Borat Subsequent Moviefilm was another European attempt at “teaching” viewers about the United States. 
Ian Haworth is host of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkPxdVsNp7k&amp;list=PLhi-aq-5DfuTQRVv1IOVMnA735vEYO0f5">The Ian Haworth Show</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E05t2L69Sks&amp;list=PLhi-aq-5DfuRHu5r0IV5qr4h2rBAV9oBd">The Truth in 60 Seconds</a>. Follow him on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/ighaworth">@ighaworth</a>.
The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Borat Sequel Is An Arrogant And Ignorant European Insult To Average Americans

In general, remakes and sequels of films are rarely ever as good, let alone better than their originals. Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm, newly released to stream on Amazon Prime, is no exception. Sorely lacking in both creativity and imagination, the film is a meandering reinvention of the original “mockumentary” from 2004.
Though the initial Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan from 2006 was brimming with crass, bawdy humor, it was at least original. It was shocking, but it was also new. It blended unscripted improvisation with written scenes. Not only that, but Borat himself was a new character with unseen antics, offering a sardonic insight into the subject of bigotry. Cohen spared little in the making of the original – likely never intending to return to it – and, while portraying the Kazakh reporter, he exhausted the toilet humor world of Borat. 
In its sequel, Cohen reprises his infamous and oft-imitated character as the titular Kazakh journalist. Cohen is joined by a 15-year-old daughter, Tutar (played by Maria Bakalova), replacing his original sidekick — his cameraman from the first film. Together they travel back to America in efforts to curry favor with the Trump administration by delivering a gift (Borat’s daughter) to Vice President Mike Pence. 
Say what you will of the first Borat film, but its central focus was not politics. At the time, there were plenty of outlets one could turn to for anti-Bush and anti-Republican commentary. Borat chose to ignore most of that – while throwing in a joke about Dick Cheney and adding an occasional comment about the Iraq War – and it didn’t feel as though the entire film had been crafted around the intent of hammering Bush. It was a ludicrous plot around filming a documentary about America and, along the way, falling in love with Pamela Anderson. 
This is not the case for Subsequent Movefilm, which feels like a lame, half-baked idea in search of a plot. Trump is bad: that’s why this movie ostensibly needs to exist. Cohen has a clear personal feud with Trump, dating at least as far back as the early 2000s when he was doing the Ali G Show and failed to “punk” the billionaire mogul.
In America, armed with an injected dose of “Gypsy Tears,” Borat and his churlish daughter – whom Borat shipped in a wooden crate – parade the American landscape as they dupe and demean Republican voters, hospitable business owners and religious people, exploiting their rank politeness for cheap laughs.
The usual schtick employed by Sacha Baron Cohen is to hide behind the façade of a dimwitted character and naively approach unassuming store owners, employees and other unaware citizens, only to ridicule them on camera. In one scene, he approaches a hardware store manager and asks him how many tanks of propane would be required to take out a band of gypsies; in another, he’ll ask a cake shop owner to defile a cake with anti-Semitic messages. 
The target of mockery is always the middle-class American, hoodwinked by a multi-millionaire in costume.
But the biggest strike against Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm is that it’s just plain lazy. The second coming of Kazakhstan’s lewd correspondent feels more like a dreary mash of outtakes from the first film, seasoned with an ample serving of glib anti-Trump jokes lifted from Saturday Night Live. All of which is hastily cut together and packaged to peddle as “Resistance Comedy” – Hollywood’s most copious commodity during the Trump administration. 
If you’ve been watching any late-night talk shows (or CNN) for the last five years, more than half the punchlines can be seen from a mile away. In one joke, Borat purchases a cage for his daughter to sleep in, referencing illegal immigration detention centers. Other jokes include references to Stormy Daniels, the 2016 Donald Trump Access Hollywood tape, and the 2017 Charlottesville Unite the Right rally. 
Eventually, Borat crashes CPAC, clad in KKK robes, claiming to be Trump’s senior policy advisor Stephen Miller (again, very original). He changes disguises, donning a costume-store Trump mask and barges in on Mike Pence’s speech to offer him his daughter. There’s no comedic payoff as security ejects him immediately. 
Failing to deliver his daughter to Pence, Borat then swipes through a series of other Trump-affiliated candidates including Michael Flynn, Steve Bannon, and Paul Manafort (in a scene that appeared tailored for the occupants of political Twitter). Finally, Borat decides on a last-ditch effort to salvage his plan, roping Rudy Giuliani into what became a grossly disingenuous scene, attempting to paint Giuliani’s candid interview with his alleged daughter as a scandalous, sexual encounter. 
Stretching out the same handful of jokes over ninety-minutes, Subsequent Moviefilm concludes with a scene caricaturing the St. Louis couple who brandished their firearms at trespassing protestors, donning an “all lives matter” t-shirt. It’s like every bad cliché of Resistance Twitter rolled into one film. 
Perhaps the most frustrating facet of the entire Trump saga of politics is the effect it has had on formerly talented comedians. Despite being more than capable of coming up with meaningful humor, the comedy industry has sealed itself in a bubble of political punditry where it can do little more than bounce around variations of the same jokes, all revolving around Donald Trump. 
Borat’s sequel is comedically aimless. It is a haphazardly stitched political collage, blending a handful of Resistance Twitter jokes with tried formulas from the first film. Like most attempts at political satire aimed at Donald Trump, it comes off as unimaginative, lacking focus, and even worse, just plain forgetful.
Harry Khachatrian is a Canadian computer engineer and a contributor at The Daily Wire. Find him on <a href="https://twitter.com/Harry1T6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=https://twitter.com/Harry1T6&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1513617344022000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHh2pXFSex2266c4GY1YE3A-Q6Ykw">Twitter</a>, commenting on the latest news headlines.

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