Dan Roberts branded Baron Cohen’s behaviour “malicious”
Gun activist Dan Roberts has said he is hoping to take legal action against comedian Sacha Baron Cohen after he was tricked into putting a sex toy in his mouth during an appearance on Who Is America?.
Roberts branded Baron Cohen’s behaviour “malicious”, after an episode of the comedy series saw the pro-gun group leader being convinced the object could be used as a strategy to survive beheadings.
The leader of Youth Shooters of America told the New York Times he was “actively exploring what legal remedies may be available” and that he was unaware he was being pranked when he met Baron Cohen.
Roberts claimed that he was “baffled” and felt “extraordinarily uncomfortable” during the filming of the scene, which saw the 46-year-old comic pose as Israeli terror expert Erran Morad.
“But at the same time, if you believe yourself to be in the presence of what anyone would rightly describe as experts in their field, and they are telling you that these are techniques or tactics that they themselves have used, and you’re just a rank amateur, would you question it?” he added.
“Think about what they’re claiming: a last resort. You have one chance to do something, or you’re certain you’re going to die. That’s the scenario they’ve laid out. I don’t know many people, if they were completely honest, that they would say they wouldn’t take that opportunity to maybe, hopefully, grab one thing to maybe save their lives.”
He added that his appearance was: “A malicious, willful and deliberate act on the part of Sacha Baron Cohen, the production company and Showtime, who blatantly lied to me about the purpose of the entire thing, in a deliberate effort to humiliate me.”
Sacha Baron Cohen’s pranks on the Channel 4 show have included using a “paedophile detector” on an American politician and fooling Republicans into filming ad about arming toddlers.
