Palin says she was ‘duped’ by Cohen for his new Showtime program
GOP ex-vice presidential candidate says comedian was disguised as veteran
Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen has been called many things during his years of embarrassing celebrities on camera — and he can now add “evil,” “exploitative” and “truly sick” to the list.
Sarah Palin, the former vice presidential candidate, said Tuesday in a lengthy Facebook post that she and one of her daughters were “duped” into apparently appearing on the British comedian’s new TV series.
“Yup — we were duped. Ya got me, Sacha. Feel better now?” Palin wrote, saying she was a “victim” of the comedian for the Showtime series Who Is America? which debuts Sunday.
Palin said she was invited to appear on a “legit Showtime historical documentary.”
She was interviewed by what appeared to be a disabled veteran in a wheelchair, who she assumes was Cohen in disguise. He peppered her with questions, she added, that were “full of Hollywoodism’s disrespect and sarcasm.”
Palin “finally had enough and literally, physically removed my mic and walked out,” she wrote.
“The disrespect of our U.S. military and middle-class Americans via Cohen’s foreign commentaries under the guise of interview questions was perverse,” she added, before saying she was “purposefully” taken to the wrong airport after the interview and missed her flight home.
Showtime declined to comment, and Cohen’s representatives did not immediately respond to a request.
Palin did not threaten legal action in her Facebook post but called on Cohen, Showtime and its parent company, CBS, to donate any profits from the series to veterans’ charities.
Joe Walsh, the former Republican congressman turned TV and radio personality, said in a series of Twitter posts late Tuesday and early Wednesday that he, too, had been deceived by Cohen’s show.
He described being invited to a supposed pro-Israel event and interviewed on camera until “producers rushed me out of the studio as an apparent fight broke out.”
“Strangest interview of my life,” Walsh added.
Cohen has been sued in the past by people who have complained about his work after appearing in his films, such as 2006’s Borat and 2009’s Brüno, but several cases were dismissed.
Dick Cheney, the former vice president, is among the other political figures interviewed for Who Is America? One clip from the series features Cheney signing what was described as a “waterboard kit.”
President Donald Trump also might be a target of the series.
A teaser released July 4 showed Trump calling Cohen “a third-rate character.”
“I only wish he’d been punched in the face so many times right now he’d be in a hospital,” he added.
Trump appeared in a segment of Cohen’s breakthrough Da Ali G Show in 2003.
Cohen’s character pitched a clearly disgruntled Trump a business idea involving gloves to stop drips while eating ice cream. Trump has said he “immediately walked out” of the encounter, but Cohen said he was there for “about seven minutes.”