Celebrity Justice
Borat Lawsuit -- High Five!!!

How's this for the beginning of a lawsuit filed today in Los Angeles County Superior Court? -- "Sacha Baron Cohen is a prankster."Click to view documents

Two anonymous plaintiffs are suing 20th Century Fox and One America Productions, claiming members of their college fraternity were interviewed to become part of the smash "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" film.

The plaintiffs -- listed as John Doe 1 and John Doe 2 -- were allegedly assured the film would not be shown in the U.S. and their identities would not be revealed.

They were both selected to appear in the movie and, according to the suit, taken "to a drinking establishment 'to loosen up' and provided alcoholic beverages." They claim they signed the movie releases after "heavy drinking."

The suit claims both men were then taken to a motor home where they were filmed, all the while "encouraged to continue drinking."

The movie features a scene in a motor home where Cohen gets drunk with three frat boys who go on a racist rant about how they wished they had slaves and how minorities in the United States "have all the power."

According to the lawsuit, the frat boys only received $200 for the controversial appearance.

The plaintiffs claim they suffered "humiliation, mental anguish, and emotional and physical distress, loss of reputation, goodwill and standing in the community..." because the movie was indeed released in the U.S.

The suit asks for unspecified damages.

Calls to 20th Century Fox were not immediately returned.



Tags: Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen, SachaBaronCohen

Reader Comments

(Page 5 of 16) Previous 15 Comments | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Most Recent | Next 15 Comments

61. their rights were violated, they were lied to. even if they were dispicable, the production and sasha led them, lied to them and broke the law. they grossly violated the privacy of these guys by lying.

Posted at 1:33AM on Nov 10th 2006 by tanya

62. As an experienced (16 yr plus) Civil Litigation Paralegal (my brief on my largest civil case was published at Allen v. Allen (2002) 275 F.3rd 1160) I find these guys ("Plaintiffs"), and their lawsuit, to be "Cartoonish" at best. FIRST: The Complaint is VERY poorly written (notice the high CA Bar Numbers of the inexperienced attorneys at the top left of the Complaint). It contains very casual, almost "juvenile" language and verbage that makes me wonder where/when these "attorneys" learned to draft pleadings (I would be most ashamed to show that work product to an attorney I worked for). SECOND: They have NO claim. They are suing because the film is allegedly making money, and now they have "buyers" remorse. Drunk'n slobs--get a job, or an education, or, preferrably BOTH and do something with their own job. THIRD. This action will Summary J out for the defendants I'm sure. True Litigation is like a knife fight in a phone booth and only one of you gets to walk away--these guys forgot to bring their knives.

Posted at 2:35AM on Nov 10th 2006 by Scott (TheNightMaven)

63. These guys deserve to be humilated for believing that Slavery should still exist in America, and that it would be a better country because of it. I am a college student, who drinks heavily, and have many friends in frats. I do not care how drunk you are, or whether u think that what you are saying will never be heard in America. They said it. They believe it. They are wrong. They were not joking. They were serious. It's disturbing. They are idiots. And I am ashamed of them myself. THEY DESERVE TO BE HUMILATED!

Posted at 10:49AM on Nov 11th 2006 by Chase

64. the idiots!

i thought for sure that scene had to be staged because of their stupidity. but if they didn't want to expose themselves for really being the nimrods that they looked like they would have kept quiet and played it off like they were in on the joke.

Posted at 3:27AM on Nov 10th 2006 by blimey rot

65. 9th : you are a real delight

It's obvious you are anti semetic as these frat pussies are -

what's the betting they're the 'ol USofA culture cringing throwback, in-bred WASPs how have just finished sucking mummies tits and have found the real world doesn't discriminate when it comes to finding suckers outside mommy and pops protective net.

Posted at 4:42AM on Jan 19th 2007 by growup

66. So, the boys are upset that they expressed their true opinions on film while drunk? Now they are suing because they are embarrassed about what they said and how they acted?
I think their case should be thrown out of court. Frat guys get drunk and act like idiots all the time. So what if they didn't know what they were signing because they were stupid. They were probably just excited to get to be in a movie and get free booze and didn't think about what they were doing. They probably weren't upset until they saw themselves in the film and got to witness the things they said. I'm sure many people they knew were embarrassed that they know them.
It is the same thing as the stupid drunk girls who agree to be on "Girls Gone Wild" and then get mad about it later.
Maybe they will learn a lesson and not do stupid shit to try and be cool or for a quick buck.

Posted at 8:37PM on Nov 12th 2006 by Shuree

67. Um, while this could be a prank, at the minimum this lawsuit it was not written by a lawyer. A lawyer would not write "isles" instead of "aisle," "Kazak" instead of "Kazakh." Silly.

Posted at 10:11AM on Nov 10th 2006 by Jason P.

68. I'd also like to add....

The actor, Sasha Baron Cohen, who plays Borat is just joking when he interacts with people. Those who get all worked up about his skits obviously have no sense of humor. People who get "interviewed" by Borat when they think he is a real journalist and then proceed to speak their true racist or bad thoughts about different types of people or things in society deserve the humility they created for themselves.
We cannot get mad at Sasha Baron Cohen for his comedy. Yeah, it makes fun of people.....so what. All comedians make fun of people. Jerry Seinfeld made fun of people for 10 years and everyone loved it.
Why are so many people upset about Borat?

Posted at 8:37PM on Nov 12th 2006 by Shuree

69. Suing the people behind the movie will only make it more popular. I just admire Sascha Cohen's ability to "interview" people. LOL. ALI G is hilarious as well!

Posted at 5:35AM on Nov 10th 2006 by Ivy Research

70. Did these idiot frat boys write those papers up themselves? It's laced with misspellings. He should counter sue, their bit wasn't all that funny...

Posted at 6:09PM on Nov 10th 2006 by Ana

71. Unspecified damages: They want a role in the next movie!

Posted at 6:49AM on Nov 10th 2006 by frat boy 1983

72. If they were stupid enough to have signed a movie releases without asking for a share of the profit, then they should get nothing.

Why would you sit around with other men and watch a sex tape ? Not to mention a stranger.. in a motor home.

Posted at 7:13AM on Nov 10th 2006 by sourapples

73. Considering the poor grammar and spelling, I doubt that many of the posters here ever attended college. Let alone belonged to a frat. Perhaps they should stick to comments on subjects they know. Hear say, like the movies, seldom reflects reality. Breaking a contract is serious business. The kids deserve their day in court. To those few posters; Learning a few words with more than four letters can be rewarding!

Posted at 7:46AM on Nov 10th 2006 by James Taylor

74. These guys should have thought ahead before drinking on film. The judge must resist the urge to censor Borat. Censorship is becoming America's favorite past-time. The US gov't (and their corporate friends), already detain protestors, ban books like "America Deceived" from Amazon and Wikipedia, and fire 21-year tenured, BYU physics professor Steven Jones because he proved explosives, thermite in particular, took down the WTC buildings. Don't touch Borat.

Posted at 8:00AM on Nov 10th 2006 by John Q. Public

75. TOO MANY F***ING LAWYERS IN THE FREE WORLD - HIGH FIVE!

Posted at 8:19AM on Nov 10th 2006 by JR

Previous 15 Comments | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Most Recent | Next 15 Comments