Wa wa wee wa! Sacha Baron Cohen, the comedic genius behind Ali G, Borat and Bruno, is coming back with another mockumentary TV show. After taking a break to flex his muscles as an actor in the movies, he's returning his roots: pretending to be an obnoxious character, tricking real people into interviews, and testing their patience in the best possible way.
Details are slim on the new series, but it debuts on Sunday, July 15th at midnight, and it appears to be called "Who is America?" There has been no official word on what character, or characters, he will be portraying. It's safe to assume that he won't be playing Ali G, Borat or Bruno, though, since those characters are so famous.
On the Fourth of July, Sacha released a cryptic trailer for his new project. It features a reference to Trump University, and real clips of Donald Trump insulting him. "I only wish that you would have been punched in the face so many times right now you'd be in a hospital," says our current president. "Sacha Baron Cohen, go to school. Learn about being funny. You don't know [BLEEP]."
In case you don't remember, Ali G tricked Donald Trump into an interview in 2003 to pitch a business idea (ice cream gloves). Is it possible Sacha tricked The Donald into an interview again? It seems unlikely, but who knows? We'll have to wait to find out what the video message means.
In a second teaser for the show, Sacha revealed that he tricked former vice president Dick Cheney. In the all-too-short clip, he asks Dick Cheney to sign his "waterboarding kit."
Now we've learned that Sacha Baron Cohen tricked former U.S. presidential candidate, Sarah Palin. In 2008, Senator John McCain picked Sarah as his running mate, and the folksy Alaskan Governor was widely mocked. Since then, Gov. Yah Sure You Betcha left the political world to become a "public personality." In a lengthy Facebook post, Sarah explains how "evil" Sacha "duped" her for his show:
"Yup — we were duped. Ya’ got me, Sacha. Feel better now? 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...
"For my interview, my daughter and I were asked to travel across the country where Cohen (I presume) had heavily disguised himself as a disabled US Veteran, fake wheelchair and all. Out of respect for what I was led to believe would be a thoughtful discussion with someone who had served in uniform, I sat through a long ‘interview’ full of Hollywoodism’s disrespect and sarcasm — but finally had enough and literally, physically removed my mic and walked out, much to Cohen’s chagrin. The disrespect of our U.S. military and middle-class Americans via Cohen’s foreign commentaries under the guise of interview questions was perverse."
"Mock politicians and innocent public personalities all you want, if that lets you sleep at night, but HOW DARE YOU mock those who have fought and served our country. Truly sick. ... By the way, my daughter thinks you’re a piece of ****, Sacha."
Ouch! Sarah also accuses Sacha's crew of intentionally dropping her and her daughter off at the wrong airport in Washington D.C. (But, as someone who traveled to Washington D.C. last year, there are three major airports, so it could have just been an innocent mistake.) Anyway, we'll see if this interview was very sick or "very nice" on July 15th.
