Sacha Baron Cohen claims FBI went after him while filming Borat
'[The FBI] got so many complaints there was a terrorist traveling in an ice cream van'
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.While Sacha Baron Cohen has played numerous risqué, from Brüno to Ali G, none will likely ever cause quite as much controversy as Borat, the Kazakh journalist.
The 2006 film saw the character head to the US and cause quite a commission among locals by doing increasingly bizarre stunts.
When speaking to WTF with Marc Maron, Cohen revealed that his stunts attracted not only attention from the average citizen, but also from the FBI.
“[The FBI] got so many complaints there was a terrorist traveling in an ice cream van,” Cohen explained (via EW). “So the FBI got so many complaints that they started compiling a little file on us and eventually they came to visit us at the hotel. I obviously went missing when I heard because they were like ‘FBI’s downstairs. Sacha, disappear.’”
The comedian/actor added that they had to hire a man to protect him, the crew and even his wife, Isla Fisher.
“We hire a guy and his job is, he’s a bit like [Grimsby’s] Nobby, actually… his job is to prevent me from being arrested,” he added after saying that Kansas police issued a warning saying if anything else happened they would be arrested.
When filming continued, the police were called, and Cohen jumped out of a window under the advice of his bodyguard, in the process breaking his heal and shutting down production for a while.
Cohen is currently promoting his film Grimsby.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments