Sacha Baron Cohen took the time to thank a "comedy genius" and Borat 2 co-star in a hilarious speech delivered at the Golden Globes.
But rather than praising the 24-year-old Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova - who played his on-screen daughter - the British actor was actually referring to former Major of New York Rudy Giuliani, whose controversial appearance in the movie raised plenty of eyebrows and provided plenty of free publicity.
Take a look at Sacha Baron Cohen's speech in the video below:Per The Independent, in a typically-irreverent acceptance speech via video link alongside wife Isla Fisher, the 49-year-old satirist and actor joked:
"This movie couldn’t have been possible without my co-star. A fresh new talent who came from nowhere, and turned out to be a comedy genius. I’m talking, of course... about Rudy Giuliani."
Referencing the Trump campaign's infamous post-election press conference, Giuliani seemingly breaking wind at a hearing, and an on-camera gaffe involving his hair dye running, Cohen continued:
Watch the trailer for the Borat sequel in the video below:"Who could get more laughs out of one unzipping? Incredible. Our movie was just the beginning for him.
"Rudy went on to star in a string of comedy films. Hits like Four Seasons Landscaping, Hair Dye Another Day, and the courtroom drama, A Very Public Fart."
The damning scene from Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm involved Bakalova, playing Borat's daughter, posing as a journalist to interview Giuliani.
Giuliani was questioned by Bakalova in a hotel room about the Trump administration's response to the ongoing pandemic, unaware that the room contained a number of concealed cameras.
After the actress removes Giuliani's microphone, the former mayor could be seen lying back on the bed, fiddling with his untucked shirt and reaching into his trousers, before Cohen's Borat bursts into the room and says: "She’s 15. She’s too old for you."
Responding to accusations of impropriety in a later statement on Twitter following the movie's release, Giuliani wrote to his 1 million followers: "At no time before, during, or after the interview was I ever inappropriate.
"If Sacha Baron Cohen implies otherwise he is a stone-cold liar. This is an effort to blunt my relentless exposure of the criminality and depravity of Joe Biden and his entire family."
Giuliani also went on to claim that he contacted the police as soon as he knew that he'd been set-up by Cohen, adding that the scene is "complete fabrication" and that he was simply "tucking in [his] shirt."
Sacha Baron Cohen later addressed the controversy while in-character as Borat:In a tongue-in-cheek "official statement" of his own, Cohen appeared in-character as Borat in a video shared on Twitter, in which the fictional Khazakstani delegate stated: "Jagshemash. I'm here to defend America's mayor Rudolf Giuliani.
"What was an innocent sexy time encounter between a consenting man and my 15-year-old daughter has been turned into something disgusting by fake news media.
"I warn you, anyone else try this and Rudolf will not hesitate to reach out into his legal briefs and whip out his subpoenas."
