Sacha Baron Cohen has donated $100,000 to the community church of one of his prank victims from the recent Borat film.
The British actor made the sizeable donation to the church attended by Jeanise Jones, one of the unlikely and unwitting stars of his latest Borat outing, as per BBC.
Cohen, in character as the idiotic Kazakh journalist, plays pranks on U.S. citizens, often clueless right-wing nut jobs.
However, viewers found far more sympathy for Ms. Jones as they watched the film. After being asked to babysit Borat’s fictional 15-year-old daughter Tutar (played by breakout star Maria Bakalova), the 62-year-old grandmother displayed true emotion, being kind and generally caring towards the teenager.
She told Tutar to “be happy” and to “use your brain, because your daddy is a liar.” Ms. Jones had been led to believe that she was taking part in a documentary about child brides, meaning her reactions were genuine.
Pastor Derrick Scobey of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Oklahoma City said he was “blown away” by the donation by Sacha Baron Cohen.
He told People the money would help the community, which is currently struggling with ice storms and power outages, rather than going to the church itself.
“I was blown away but not surprised because I was told about what type of heart this man has,” Mr Scobey told the magazine.
“Maybe it’s a little risqué, some of the things in the movie, but he has a good heart.”
He explained that Ms Jones and the church had been housing local citizens and others affected by the ice storm in Oklahoma earlier this week, as hospitals in the area have been overrun.
Following the film’s release last week, Mr Scobey set up a crowdfunding page to allow fans “to say thank you” to Ms Jones.
On the page, which has raised more than $140,000 (£107,000), Mr Scobey said the movie’s producers had asked him to help them find a “black grandmother for a small role in a documentary”.
He said Ms. Jones had recently lost her job of 32 years as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The raised money will be of great help to her.
At least it looks like Borat is capable of change and growth! The same can’t be said for his new nemesis, Donald Trump.
Check out the trailer for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm:
