Because that six minute "Don't Vote" ad wasn't annoying enough the first time around, now these asshats (Borat? Seriously? Can Sasha Baron Cohen even legally vote in this country?) are going all meta on everyone's asses.
The biggest names, from Scientologist Will Smith to Scientologist Tom Cruise, don't "get" why Steven Spielberg wants them to sarcastically tell America not to vote. Shia LaBeouf looks like he doesn't even know what the word "sarcastic" means, despite being part the most eye-rolling generation since, um, the Gen-X'ers. Speaking of which, there's Ben Stiller. What's wrong with his face?
Having moved on from Milan Fashion Week, where the Italian police tackled him when he stormed a runway show, Sacha Baron Cohen's fashionista character Bruno has moved on to Paris, where Carine Roitfeld assumes her Anna Wintour role on home turf. It was in the City of Lights where, yesterday, Bruno decided his attendance would be welcome at Stella McCartney's runway show. Sitting there in the second row, perhaps he was an invited guest. Or, you know, not. Because he did gross, disgusting things. But leave it to British Vogue to write so eloquently about his stunts while noting his fashion choices: CONTINUED »
Sacha Baron Cohen was arrested during a Milan fashion show this week while in character as the gay Austrian Bruno. Cohen was filming segments for his new film, Bruno: Delicious Journeys Through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Male. Apparently the Italian policia just don't "get" performance art of the Cohen caliber. You know, like the naked fat guys wrestling caliber.
Here's the footage of Cohen getting tackled and wearing a bag on his head like an Abu Ghraib refugee, although Guantanamo Bay references were more appropriate for Cohen's Borat's persona:
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Thanks to the "newsworthy" value of Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen is off the hook in a defamation lawsuit filed by financial analyst Jeffrey Lemerond, who can be seen in the movie being chased down the street after refusing to give Borat a hug. GIVE BORAT A HUG, MAN.
Just when America was finally embracing its baser comedic inklings (see: Frank TV), Borat is back to remind us that satire’s true purpose is to make you feel stupid for being offended. The driving instructor, Michael Psenicska, in Borat did not enjoy being silently ridiculed by Sacha Baron Cohen and is suing the producers for $100,000 in compensatory damages and unspecified amount for punitive damages. The lawsuit will remind Americans about Borat, and that it's offensive,which will be worth whatever 20th Century Fox ends up paying Psenicska.
Just a reminder: Sacha Baron Cohen is not really anti-Semitic; he’s Jewish. He’s probably really is anti-Kazakhstani, but those people have like no lobbying presence in D.C. or Hollywood.
Bad news bears for that fraternity twosome looking to collect some cash from Sacha Baron Cohen and stop Borat from hitting DVD: The judge running the proceedings has dumped the lawsuit with a 2-page decision, claiming the college boys didn't meet the standards required for an injunction. All along the frat types claimed producers got them wasted before having them sign release forms, where their comments about wishing we still had slaves followed.
Following the judge's decision, producers for the Real World could be seen celebrating, knowing it's A-OK to let bystanders get wasted before asking them to mark an X on paperwork signing away their rights to privacy in perpetuity.
The judge overseeing the Borat lawsuit brought by two frat guys ain't having this shit.
In one of the half dozen lawsuits filed against Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat and 20th Century Fox, proceedings are underway to determine whether a court will side with the two frat types – who appeared in the film, likely drunk, wishing that slavery would one day return – and stop Fox from releasing a DVD of the movie without cutting the fellas' scenes or blurring their faces. Or laugh along with Cohen and the rest of America at a pair of naive college boys who stupidly got involved in a mockumentary.
The twosome's legal counsel is arguing the waiver they signed was invalid and contradicted what producers told them (i.e. that the film would only be seen in Kazakhstan). To which the judge, playing Devil's Advocate, asks:
"Who in their right mind would agree for $200 to be in a film that shows them this way?" asked Biderman.
To which we ask: Aren't the Girls Gone Wild ladies not people too?
(Havne't seen the movie? Watch the clip of the incident in question after the jump.)
CONTINUED »
• For banking $21 million in her jewelry auction, Ellen Barkin could've at least afforded a martini to throw in ex-husband Ron Perelman's face.
• Madonna's children's book effort began with 350,000 copies sold of her first book. Post-African adoption scandal, her latest in the series has yet to move even five-figures worth.
• Paris Hilton's wonky eye and Nicole Richie's wrists hit the Victoria's Secret fashion show.
• Sacha Baron Cohen faces another lawsuit from a movie subject who claims she was lied to. This, from a woman who won't wipe Borat's ass for him.
• That Jann Wenner has a son should put to rest the notion that gays in media can't have kids.
• Lady models aren't the only ones with drug problems.
• Jessica Biel is Derek Jeter's new beard.
• The Devil Wears Prada TV producers shadowing Marie Claire editor Joanna Coles might need to find a new personality to follow.
• Michael Jackson indeed showed at the World Music Awards, but he didn't fail not to disappoint. Meanwhile, his rider demands put sister Janet's to shame.
• People magazine names George Clooney the sexiest man alive. Isaiah Washington has one more reason to laugh at Patrick Dempsey.
• Rachael Ray faces her first sex scandal, adds EVOO.
• Sacha Baron Cohen sits for an interview that doesn't involve the words "sexy time" or "vagine."
• Borat had it coming.
• Jude Law and Sienna Miller end things, once again. An insider says the last straw was a debate over Pittsburgh.
• Tobey Maguire is a new dad, and Us claims the exclusive. People and Star weigh in with "confirmations."
• Page Six spots Beyonce and Jay-Z in South Africa. Rush & Molloy finds them in Atlantic City.
• TomKat hits Conde Nast's Black Ball, mingles with Tom Freston, skims 10 percent off donations for Scientology.
• Meanwhile, Brooke Shields is said to have been invited to the couple's Nov. 18 nuptials.
• Alan Iverson: Good lay.
• Not much faith in Michael Jackson actually making it to the World Music Awards. Though some 200 tickets he'd set aside have been stolen by hackers.
• Italian fashion heiress Margherita Missoni's costume lauded by all; Page Six calls her a "stripper." And is sorry. [P6]
• Madonna's latest incarnation: Jew for Jesus. [Scoop]
• Make death threats about Hilary Duff's music career, not her life. [TMZ]
• Borat wins at the box office, offering a case study to Democrats at how to make fun of the Midwest while still getting their vote. [M&C]
• Foxy Brown is about to be: dumped by Def Jam's Jay-Z; placed on same level with Christina Milian. [P6]
• If Moby has kids, he hopes they're faggalas. [Scoop]
Who else thinks its cute that the Post and Daily News aren't the only dailies whose innovation begins and ends at the same place?
• CBS just renewed Dave Price weatherman gig on The Early Show, and now might be lookin to him for replace Bob Barker on The Price Is Right. Hopefully there's room in the budget, since it's rumored Les Moonves had to pay Barker to retire and get him out of his contract, which required the show go dark for a year after his departure. [P6]
• With no Kitson or D&G at rehab, what's Nicole Richie to do but check out for the day and get a Centurion card workout? [Scoop]
• The Mississippi news producer who booked Borat for an on-air segment is regretting not using a news professional's first line of defense: Google. [Fox 411]
• Jay Leno will leave the Oscar hosting duties to the lesbian. [Planet Gossip]
• Will & Grace creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick are teaming up for a new sitcom loosely based on their lives: two best friends, both writers, one gay, one straight. And their hot young assistants. Oh, the power to produce a show based on the life you wish you had. [THR]
• When young Hollywood and young socialites pair up, they can't get past the doorman. [P6]
The December issue of Vanity Fair features Brad Pitt. In white boxer shorts. Getting drenched. You can put your Lance-Jake-Matthew fantasies on hold for just a minute, can't you? The December issue – heretofor known as "The Issue Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat Was Supposed To Have, But Got Pulled Because Graydon Carter Needed a Smash-Selling Cover" – is also the center of a feud between the magazine and Pitt's camp, who were the most surprised to find Angelina Jolie's plaything appearing on the rag's cover, reports TMZ. That's because the photos of Pitt were taken from a video project by artist Robert Wilson, who filmed Pitt in September 2005, where the Babel star signed a waiver allowing Wilson to use Pitt for any publicity pertaining to the art project.
It just so happens that Vanity Fair was just dying to profile Wilson for their just-slapped-together first-ever Art issue (though VF will tell you they've been planning it all year). And what's the added bonus of giving Wilson some glossy page play? Oh, yeah, scoring Brad Pitt on the cover without that obnoxious process of having his publicist, manager, and agent all agree on something. Now Pitt's camp is furious, says they're weighing their legal options, and is expressing their deep disappointment in Graydon Carter's book.
So why'd they'd need to dump Cohen for Pitt? From what we understand, VF wised up to the fact that Borat might not be such a hot seller on the newsstand, whlie Pitt – like ex-wife Jennifer Aniston – always moves copies. And right about now, Carter could use a best-selling issue.
• For $100k, you can have Paris Hilton host your New Year's Eve party. For half that, Carmen Electra. For half that, we're guessing you can have two Kevin Federlines. [Page Six]
• Britney Spears won't reveal second baby's actual name, angering more fans than her barefoot trips to the port-a-potty. [Scoop]
• Grey's Anatomy scrapped a girl fight scene following Patrick Dempsey and Isaiah Washington's spat after producers thought fans might confuse pretty young things in a row with homophobic slurs. [Planet Gossip]
• Wesley Snipes will remain in Namibia until December to finish shooting his movie and give the feds plenty of time to orchestrate a press-heavy encounter when he lands stateside. [R&M]
• Like a Men's Vogue cover, AskMen.com names George Clooney its No. 1 fella. [AskMen]
• Prosecutors consider filing charges against Snoop Dogg following his little "concealed weapon at the airport" incident. [AP]
• Borat, who? Sacha Baron Cohen is done with the controversy and moving on to his next role. [Variety]
• The hype over Vogue Living? Totally uncalled for, reports the hype machine. [Gawker]
• Kazakhstan finds a way to get in the headlines without the help of Borat. [Reuters]
• Record labels more douchey than previously assumed. [WSJ]
• Calvin Klein leaks all over Jean-Georges Vongerichten, loses choice tables throughout city. [NYDN]
• Surprise! Boston Globe staffers don't want their salaries tied to the sinking ship of newspaper revenue. [E&P]
• It's about time Kurt Andersen understands he's now part of the very bastion of media elite that Spy would've harped on. [Ocean Drive]
• Leonardo DiCaprio tries the same "green TV" stunt Cameron Diaz already attempted to force us to watch. [THR]
• In Connecticut, when local CBS affiliate WFSB hosts the senate debates, don't expect other media to be allowed in to cover. [Hartford Courant]
• Metro sees more fallout from the top. [FBNY]
• Nicky Hilton and Entourage boyfriend Kevin Connolly split after rumors of cheating and two years of pretending he wasn't two feet shorter. [Us]
• Conde Nast and Rockefeller Center team up for a marriage gimmick usually reserved for the Today show. [NYO]
• Even tidal waves of criticism and hype may not keep Borat ahead of, ahem, Santa Claus 3. [Deadline Hollywood]
• At 47, it's about damn time Barbie got a makeover and started paying attention to breast cancer. [NYP]
• With all those budget cuts at the Times, it only seems fair to let reporters use their chlidren as photo subjects. And sources. [Gawker]
Let it never be said that the New York Times doesn't explain itself in full at all times. One specific incident comes to mind in which the Times felt it necessary to describe an iPod as a handheld device used for playing MP3s. This is sort of similar.
In an article about how badly Sacha Baron Cohen is pissing off the government officials of Kazakhstan with his new movie Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan the Times wants to make one thing clear.
Mr. Cohen, who is Jewish, responded, as Borat, in a video posted on his Web site, citing Mr. Ashykbayev by name and declaring that he “fully supported my government’s decision to sue this Jew.”
In case the fact that he referred to himself as "this Jew" or the name Sacha Baron Cohen didn't lead you to that conclusion on your own.
Kazakhs Shrug at ‘Borat’ While the State Fumes [Steven Lee Myers]
Radar breaks the news of Vanity Fair's next cover subject. (Sometimes you have to wonder if the magazine actually really wants this news to come out.) It's reportedly none other than Sacha Baron Cohen, also known as Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, and Bruno, his characters on Da Ali G Show. (Yes, that show is still on.)
Graydon Carter didn't pick Cohen because of his television stardom, however. It is in preparation for his new film, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. But Radar's right. It's kind of an odd choice.
But while putting Cohen on the cover would earn Carter a big thumbs-up at Radar and other places where sister-fucking-jokes are appreciated, will it sell? One consumer magazine expert who knows the market has doubts: "I can't imagine the typical person in Omaha whom Vanity Fair needs to reach in order to have a big-selling issue is going to know about Borat. But maybe I'm wrong."
Ah, yes. God forbid we discuss media without dissing the complete degenerates in Omaha. What kind of idiot doesn't know who Borat is? It's really such a high culture East Coast concept. People in Omaha probably don't even watch TV or have cable. They would probably only Vanity Fair if some really broad-reaching figure like Tinsley Mortimer or Jay McInerney.
Borat on Vanity Fair? It's nice! [Jeff Bercovici, Radar]
We really only have aspirations to be sued – or at least threatened to be sued – by David Hans Schmidt, but a frickin' country? Now we're just jealous.
Sacha Baron Cohen, who's succeeded in offending nearly every ethnic and social group on Ali G, is now under fire from the Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan, which isn't too pleased with his character Borat.
"We view Mr. Cohen's behavior at the MTV Europe Music Awards as utterly unacceptable, being a concoction of bad taste and ill manners which is completely incompatible with ethics and civilized behavior," Ashykbayev said.
Uh, yeah, hence the funny. And besides, if we started banning every "concoction of bad taste and ill manners which is completely incompatible with ethics and civilized behavior," where would we put Rick Kaplan?
Editorial Director
