Two members of a South Carolina fraternity have sued the makers of "Borat," last week's number one movie, over a scene in which the men make insulting comments about women and minorities after drinking heavily with someone they believed was "Borat the hitchhiker." "Borat," of course, is the alter ego of comic Sacha Baron Cohen, who poses as a journalist from Kazakhstan.
In the lawsuit, the men, who are identified only as "John Doe 1" and "John Doe 2," claim that the production crew took them to a bar to drink and "loosen up" before appearing in a foreign documentary that they were told would never be shown in the United States. Certainly there's nothing about that would raise any suspicions. The men got roaring drunk and were filmed in an RV, having "picked up" Borat by the side of the road. They continued to drink and then said things on camera that they now allege have "made plaintiffs the object of ridicule, humiliation, mental anguish and emotional and physical distress, loss of reputation, goodwill and standing in the community."
The men did sign a release form, but say they were drunk and that they were told the form "had something to do with reliability issues with being in the RV." The report did not say whether the men had actually read the form.
Studio spokesman Gregg Brilliant (which, by the way, is a great name for a spokesman) said the lawsuit "has no merit."
Link: FindLaw.com
Link: TMZ.com (copy of complaint)
