- Another ‘Borat’ lawsuit
This one comes from the "stars" of the Alabama dinner party scene, who, according to the complaint, were led to believe that the Borat filmmakers had been working on a documentary for Belarus Television. Plaintiff Cindy Streit (she's the one who operated an etiquette training business) asked one of the producers whether Belarus Television was similar to Alabama Public Television and he replied that it was very similar. Apparently reassured, Streit then arranged the dinner party. At that point you might recall things got really weird (as they say, you can’t make this stuff up). From the complaint:
32. During the dinner later that evening, Defendant [Sacha Baron] Cohen performed numerous offensive and outrageous acts, several of which, identified below, became part of the final, edited version of the Borat movie, its trailers and promotional material.
33. The scenes in the Borat movie leading up to the dinner include Cohen driving to the house where the dinner is scheduled to take place. At this point, the Borat movie flashes to the following road name: "Secession, Private Drive." the road on which the dinner facility was located does not bear this name, nor do any of the Plaintiffs live or know of such a road. Upon information belief, Defendants scripted the "Secession Drive" scene to set the stage for Cohen's portrayal of Plaintiffs as being racially intolerant.
34. During the dinner, Cohen referred to Plaintiff Michael Jared as "retarded" and then complimented the other guests on their willingness to let "retarded" persons dine with them.
35. He asked the dinner guests whether they owned slaves.
36. He made several derogatory and (sic) sexists remarks to the women who were present.
37. At one point, Cohen excused himself to the bathroom only to come back to the dinner table holding a plastic bag purportedly containing his own feces...
If you're looking for a hilarious read – not as funny as the movie, but still pretty good - check out the entire complaint on The Smoking Gun. The lawsuit, which does not specify monetary damages, seeks an injunction barring further use of the embarrassing "dinner scene" from "Borat." As you might know, several other suits have been filed by folks who appeared in the movie and claim they had been duped by the producers. "Borat" has earned over $220 million worldwide on a production budget of $18 million.
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| 02:16 PM Oct 30, 2007 | Email the Daily Dragon | Email this Article | Post Comments |
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