Who Is America? ends with a whimper
The final episode of Sacha Baron Cohen’s Showtime series Who Is America? aired Sunday night, and it was as notable for what didn’t air as it was for what did. Where was the highly anticipated interview featuring Sarah Palin, the former Republican vice-presidential nominee?
You might remember: She was among the first to come out and publicly admit she had been duped by Cohen. In a July Facebook post, Palin said, “I join a long list of American public personalities who have fallen victim to the evil, exploitive, sick ‘humor’ of the British ‘comedian’ Sacha Baron Cohen, enabled and sponsored by CBS/Showtime.” She said she had been interviewed by Cohen, who “heavily disguised himself as a disabled U.S. Veteran,” as part of a “legit Showtime historical documentary.”
Showtime issued a statement soon after, pushing back, saying, “Baron Cohen never presented himself as a veteran of the U.S. military to former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin during the booking process or during the filming of her interview, and contrary to her claims, he did not appear in a wheelchair.”
The finale Sunday started off being quite underwhelming, when the former Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank wasn’t quite fooled by Baron Cohen’s Dr. Billy Wayne Ruddick Jr., character. Ruddick, a Trump supporter, tried to convince Frank that Hillary Clinton was a ringleader in a fringe conspiracy theory having to do with child trafficking known as “Pizzagate.”
The second segment featured three real Trump supporters, identified only as Glenn, Darren and Cody. In character as Lt. Erran Morad, an Israeli anti-terrorism expert, Cohen trained the three to fight antifa. (The term, a contraction of “anti-fascist,” describes the loose affiliation of radical activists who have openly fought white supremacists, right-wing extremists and, in some cases, ordinary supporters of President Donald Trump.) This involved learning to cook quinoa, memorizing plotlines of HBO’s Girls and taking a mannequin resembling Trump and putting it in sexual positions.
The show ended with a bit with O.J. Simpson. Cohen, this time as Gio Monaldo, an Italian billionaire playboy, repeatedly tried to goad Simpson into admitting that he was guilty of murder.
The season has now ended — and Palin’s interview never aired. When asked about it Monday, Showtime said it had no comment. It’s possible she didn’t sign a release.