Sacha Baron Cohen could be in a bit of hot water, with a US congressman filing a $95 million lawsuit against the British entertainer.
Over the last couple of months, fans of political satire have been watching in wide-eyed wonder as Sacha Baron Cohen interviews a number of big names for his newest project, Who Is America?
The highly-recognisable comedian donned a number of disguises to confront some high-profile names in American politics while attempting to trick them into rather embarrassing stunts. Such stunts included reportedly duping Sarah Palin, getting Don Cheny to sign a waterboarding kit, and getting Georgia politician Jason Spencer to shout a racial slur, which led to his resignation from public office.
However, US Senate candidate Roy Moore has now accused Cohen of defamation.
As the BBC reports, Roy Moore is suing Sacha Baron Cohen for falsely painting him as a sex offender in a recent episode of the program.
Back in late July, Who Is America? aired its third episode, which featured Cohen disguised as an Israeli anti-terrorism expert. The episode shows Cohen showing off a device which supposedly detects pedophiles, which Cohen demonstrates by waving it in front of Moore, which causes it to beep.
“I support Israel. I don’t support this kind of stuff,” explained Roy Moore before walking out of the interview.
According to the lawsuit, Roy Moore claims that he was tricked into appearing on what was ostensibly an Israeli TV show in order to receive an award for his pro-Israel stance.
“Defendant Cohen’s character falsely and fraudulently introduced a false and fraudulent ‘device’ supposedly invented by the Israeli Army to detect paedophiles,” the lawsuit claims.
“During the segment, Defendant Cohen’s ‘device’ – as part of the false and fraudulent routine – purports to detect Judge Moore as a sex offender, thus defaming him.”
The complaint goes on to note that Roy Moore, his wife, and family suffered “severe emotional distress and pain” from the incident, explaining that it was especially traumatic “given his status as a prominent conservative and God fearing person of faith”.
Neither Sacha Baron Cohen or Showtime have responded to, or commented publicly on the lawsuit at the current time.
Check out a segment from Sacha Baron Cohen’s Who Is America?:
