Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Sacha Baron Cohen says Joe Biden team were ‘very happy’ with Borat 2’s Rudy Giuliani scandal

‘It was such a close election that everything in those final weeks was crucial,’ actor said

Jacob Stolworthy
Friday 19 February 2021 10:13 EST
Comments
Guiliani Borat clip shows him touching woman and asking for her number before fleeing from Cohen

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Sacha Baron Cohen has revealed how Joe Biden’s administration reacted to Borat 2’s Rudy Giuliani scandal.

In what has become the film’s most famous scene, Giuliani, the personal lawyer of Donald Trump, is shown in what appears to be a compromising position after taking Borat’s daughter, Tutar (Maria Bakalova), to his hotel bedroom “for a drink” after she interviews him. He believes she is a conservative TV host.

At one stage, he is shown lying on the bed with what appears to be his hand down his trousers, which caused a media firestorm around the time of the film’s release in September.

As part of the prank, Borat then bursts into the room shouting: “She’s 15 – she’s too old for you!”

The controversial ‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm’ scene involving Maria Bakalova and Rudy Giuliani
The controversial ‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm’ scene involving Maria Bakalova and Rudy Giuliani (Amazon Prime Video)

Giuliani went on to accuse the Borat star of being a “stone-cold liar” for implying the image from the film showed anything other than him simply “tucking in his shirt”.

The former mayor of New York responded on Twitter after the screenshot went viral. “The Borat video is a complete fabrication," he wrote. "I was tucking in my shirt after taking off the recording equipment.”

READ MORE: Here’s how Sacha Baron Cohen’s prank victims feel about being tricked in Borat 2

According to Baron Cohen, though, the Biden administration were “very happy” with the footage – especially as the fallout occurred a month before the presidential election.

The actor told The Guardian: “Suddenly he was having to try to explain that he wasn’t playing with himself. It was such a close election that everything in those final weeks was crucial.”  

At the time, Trump, who lost the election, stood by Giuliani and called Baron Cohen “a creep”.

The former president now seems to have distanced himself from Giuliani, with his senior adviser and spokesperson Jason Miller telling CNN that Giuliani is “not currently representing [him] in any legal matters”.

READ MORE: Sacha Baron Cohen calls Trump’s Twitter ban ‘most important moment in history of social media’

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in