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Borat 2: Sacha Baron Cohen says Rudy Giuliani security guard didn’t find him during sweep

Baron Cohen says he was concealed in a hideaway throughout the sequence

Clémence Michallon
New York City
Wednesday 28 October 2020 15:21 GMT
Sacha Baron Cohen explains how the Rudy Giuliani scene almost went wrong

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Sacha Baron Cohen says Rudy Giuliani’s security team didn’t find him during a security sweep before an infamous scene involving the New York City mayor in the new Borat sequel.

The comedian told Stephen Colbert in a recent episode of his late show that he was concealed in a specially built hideaway during the scene, in which Giuliani interacts with Borat’s fictional daughter Tutar – portrayed by actor Maria Bakalova.

“Rudy thought he was alone with her,” Baron Cohen told Colbert.

“He brought a cop with him – an ex-policeman. And the policeman does a sweep of the entire hotel suite. And I’m obviously running to get in there, jumping the hideaway, pulling this thing shut, and I’ve got a little internal lock. And it’s pitch-black in there.”

Baron Cohen continued: “[He] does a sweep and then leaves the room and the security guard/ex cop sits outside the room, ensuring no one could come in and out – which is actually even more scary, when you think about it, for [Bakalova].

“We’d built this hideaway, we were all fully prepared, I get in, his security guard does the sweep, looks in the wardrobe, there’s nothing untoward.”

He then revealed that the sequence was almost ruined because a phone that was needed for its completion turned out to be almost out of battery.

Baron Cohen has previously said he was “quite concerned” for Bakalova during the scene. The actor has said she felt safe thanks to the Borat team.

During the scene in question, Giuliani is under the impression that Tutar is a young journalist interviewing him. At one point during the sequence, he is seen seemingly putting a hand down his trousers.

Giuliani has called the sequence a “complete fabrication”. In a statement released on Twitter, he said in part: “I was tucking in my shirt after taking off the recording equipment. At no time before, during, or after the interview was I ever inappropriate.”

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is out now on Amazon Prime.

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