BORAT DONATION
Actor Sacha Baron Cohen gives $100K to OKC church
It was the sort of ruse that Sacha Baron Cohen is known for.
The actor finds unsuspecting people across America and uses film footage of them in his movies chronicling t he adventures of the fictional “Borat.”
That's the trick that somehow landed Jeanise Jones a role in Cohen' s new movie“Bo rat Subsequent Moviefilm.” Now the Oklahoma City woman and her church are in for a treat.
Cohen, the actor who portrays “Borat,” made a sizable donation to Jones' church, Ebenezer Missionary Baptist.
The Rev. Derrick Scobey, the church's senior pastor, said Cohen donated $100,000 to the church on Wednesday. Scobey said the church has earmarked the money to be used for the community.
Cohen's donation is the latest development in an unlikely chain of events in which Jones became the breakout star of Cohen's new film, even though she had never heard of the actor or his alter ego Borat.
Jones ,62, believed she was recruited f rom Ebenezer Baptist to mentor a teenager named “Tut ar” who traveled with her father from a Third World country to America. Jones was surprised to learn — after the movie' s release—that the teen she worried and prayed about was actually an actress playing a role and that the man she believed was the girl' s father was actually the actor Cohen.
Jones, Sc obey and others at the church believed she was taking par tina documentary instead of a feature-length R-rated movie that premiered on Oct .23 on the streaming platform Amazon Prime.
The movie follows Cohen's Borat Sagdiyev as he returns to America from Kazakhstan, on a mission to offer a “bribe” to American leaders. He brings with him Tutar, his stowaway daughter portrayed by Maria Bakalova. The film, which includes crude scenes, chronicles their trip throughout the U.S.
Jones and her role as Tut ar' s“babysitter” began trending on Twitter after the film's premiere, wit h numerous people describing her as the movie's hero, moral compass and breakout star.
Sc obey setup a GoFundMe account f or
Jones, explaining that his faithful church member thought the scenario presented by Cohen was “real life .” He said she had worked in the insurance industry for more than 30 years and lost her most recent job as a counseling service receptionist several months ago due to COVID-19.
Thursday, Jones said she was shocked to learn that the GoFundMe account had raised $128,000 at that time. Friday, the account had surpassed $148,000. Jones had received about $3,600 for participating in what she thought was a documentary about Tutar and Borat.
“It is amazing. I would never expect nothing like this,” she said. “It's blowing my mind.”
Jones said one of the producers of “Borat 2” called her to see how she was doing now that the movie had made its debut. Cohen also called her on Wednesday.
“It was enlightening. I felt good for him to call me,” she said.
Jones had at least two scenes with Cohen in the movie, including a particularly memorable one towards the film's end. She said she's just happy that her young charge “Tutar” was never really in trouble under the domineering control of her father “Borat.”
And she said she has yet to see the movie.
Meanwhile, Sc obey wasn' t surprised that Cohen made a donation to the church ,3600 N Kelley, but he was shocked at the donation amount.
Scobey said Cohen knew that Ebenezer Baptist is a community hub where people around the community come for both tangible and spiritual hope and help.