As I’ve previously indicated, I’m not here for Sacha Baron Cohen’s Who Is America? That’s his new Showtime show, which debuted a few weeks ago. In the show, he plays a variety of characters and does “interviews” with various Americans, mostly political people. Through the course of those interviews, he gets them to say offensive, racist, outlandish and/or dumb sh-t. In last Sunday’s episode, Cohen played a character who is basically a super-fake Mossad agent who is trying to “train” people what to do when ISIS captures them. He did this bit with a politician from Georgia named Jason Spencer. Spencer already has a history of threatening his African-American colleagues, so is it really so surprising that Cohen was somehow able to get Spencer to say the n-word a bunch of times? Here’s the segment (NSFW):
I couldn’t even get through this, quite honestly. I understand what Cohen’s doing and if it leads to more racists being outed and fired, so be it and good for him, I suppose. But I don’t think that’s what he’s really doing. I think Cohen’s raison d’être is making fun of everybody, trying to prank everybody, trying to get incriminating sh-t on EVERYBODY. It’s just the Republicans who have shown their asses in spectacularly awful ways. I mean, it’s a high-minded concept, I suppose: Cohen is asking “Who Is America?” to shame all Americans that these profoundly stupid and awful people are our neighbors, our representatives, our friends and coworkers. Is it comedy? I don’t know, was the 2016 election hilarious? No, it wasn’t. And that’s when the thin veneer of stability was ripped off America’s face and what was left was this mess. I guess I just feel like Cohen is rubbing it in. We know people are awful. Stop reminding us?
Incidentally, I thought Cohen really was just speaking to political people, but he’s not – he’s also “pranking” regular old celebrities, like The Bachelor’s Corinne Olympios. He got her to claim that she’d saved thousands of lives in Africa. For jokes.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I don’t understand how anyone could ever say that word…no matter the circumstance. Just please NEVER say it !
Same. The word is ugly and the history behind the word is even worse. It offends me and I’m not black. It’s shameful and offensive.
And are just going to pretend like his ‘imitation’ of a Chinese tourist didn’t have him walking around saying ‘konichiwa’, ‘ching chong’ ‘red dragon’ etc? This is vile.
I have a white friend who slips and says it. I haven’t made plans to be around her since. Cant.
@ Clare
What? That’s so disgusting ! I don’t watch his show but that is so OFFENSIVE.
@Clare yeah, this guy is not without racism so him trying to tear off the veneer of others racism is hypocritical to say the least. Between his overall characterisations of Kazakh people as backwards racists and the portrayal of a Palestinian NGO worker as a terrorist, he was cancelled by me a long time ago. I hadn’t even heard about his Chinese tourist impersonation, ugh. Yep, still cancelled.
Only blacks are allowed to say that word, and they use it freely and derogatorily.
Personally, I believe the word should never be used, PERIOD, by anyone of any race.
Gretchen, you haven’t watched the video. It was the Georgia politician who said the ching-chong and red dragon.
@arianna
What? Black PEOPLE. Not blacks. It is offensive.
I think he wants to get good tape, but I do think he realizes that politicians who are more money-greedy and less smart are going to be Conservatives. And I think he’s probably happy to get them.
If he didn’t have to worry about being sued he could offer them bribes to go against their oath of office and some would take them. But that’s risky.
@Arianna BLACKS? What is that?! And you sound a little upset that only THE BLACKS can use the N word “offensively” as you call it. CLEARLY, you know NOTHING about THE BLACKS so stick to whatever is it that you do know.
The segment about the white people in Arizona freaking out over a mosque being built is actually quite scary. Basically they think all Muslims are terrorists and one guy said black people are merely tolerated there. Even if SBC cherry picked the residents, it is still unbelievable that white people can be so racist. It’s obvious why the orange anus won. He really is like a significant number of Americans.
As for Corinne, well she always wants fame so even if she thought it was fake she would like the publicity. I am not shocked she played along. Ted Koppel is the only one who got out of that with his reputation intact.
@ Nic919: Sadly my aunt on the east coast (VA beach) freaked out about 5 yrs ago because we live in a liberal area of Maryland and we have mosques and its not a big deal. She basically said “how the f— can you let them build those here???”. She also claims that all Iranians beat their wives. Needless to say I am not at all surprised to hear this would happen in AZ. And the worst part is she is a Catholic who thinks a church should be on every corner. Never mind that they have abused children for years or that the same violence has existed in Ireland over religion.
We have a mosque. They arrested a guy for making plans to it was either bomb or kill the people in there, I cant remember which. The Muslim phobia is real. I have lots of Muslim customers and they are usually so nice.
Tell her freedom of ALL religion is enshrined in the Constitution, not just Christianity.
Have never liked his ‘comedy’ but he is a good actor – loved him in Les Mis and he would have been a great Freddie Mercury.
I have no respect for him because he ditched the Freddie Mercury role. That’s all you need to know about him as an artist and as a human being–he had the chance to play Freddie Mercury, and instead he’s trying to get rando racists to say the N word for s***s and giggles…
are. you. serious?
Erm no, he walked away from the Queen role as he and the rest of the band disagreed on where they wanted to movie/character to go – it was a case of ‘creative differences’. The band didn’t want to focus on Freddie’s personal life too much, where SBC did – the movie looks like it’s main focus is on Freddie and the band’s road to the infamous Live Aid gig. From the clips we’ve seen it touches briefly on his personal life – Freddie was a very private person and he wouldn’t have wanted his private life to overshadow his music.
I didn’t even know he was up for that role. He seems much too tall to play Mercury!
You’d be well served to research WHY he walked off the Queen movie. It’s because the people making the film sought to downplay what’s being called Mercury’s “personal life” (i.e. they minimized his homosexuality). Cohen wanted to be totally up front about who Mercury was and represented.
Saying you don’t respect SBC for ditching the role makes it sound like you actually supported the move to downplay Mercury’s sexuality to make the movie more commercial.
I heard he ditched the role because it sounded like someone was trying to make it more about the band and how the band recovered than about Freddie (from his description it sounded like he was referring to Brian May)
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/sacha-baron-cohen-explains-departure-from-freddie-mercury-biopic-240616/
I cannot get over the fact, too that he will not be Freddie Mercury. He would have NAILED it. He is an amazing actor and that would have been the role of a lifetime for him. Guaranteed Oscar. Sigh..
This actually doesn’t offend me because he always did these type of things and he truly shows people’s real faces.
This guy is ridiculous, but if he helps remove any remaining veneer from Republican politicians, I’m happy. Especially if they’re running in November. I know that the Republican base has proven they dgas about minorities of any type and they apparently have no shame in dumping the old “family values” schtick they bellowed about in the past. That was always a sham and an obvious (to those of us with the ability to apply reason to circumstances) ploy to pull in the idiots who like to force their “values” on everyone else. Now that sham is gone and those who vote for them are exposed as the racist trash they always were. They can’t pretend anymore. So, yeah, I’m happy this Georgia racist has been publicly exposed. That way his base can’t pretend ignorance when they vote for him again.
HOLY. FKN. SH!T. Never in my life did I expect to see someone I know irl on celebitchy. I got (relatively lame but still bitchy as hell) tea to spill on his obnoxious af wife. I have to go to work but waaaaaait for it. This family; I can’t even.
I’m so here for the tea!! Haha
The politician??
Huh???
It’s a slow day for me. I’m waiting on the tea. Please don’t disappoint.
Where are you? Arrggghhh. We need to know : )
OK sorry, long day yesterday and didn’t get to the tea but I’m here today 😀 OK, this guy and his family lives in my hometown; in fact, his wife gave me advice when I decided to homeschool my son. And she is AWFUL, so fkn annoying with a serious case of ‘white savior syndrome’ and was a FB friend for a while until I just couldn’t stand her shit anymore. He’s racist AF so this was absolutely no surprise – he went crying to the local paper about it trying to explain himself. They’ve got a couple daughters that they spoil the f*** out of and basically walk around town like their sh!t doesn’t stink being annoying af. There are also rumors he cheats on his wife, no clue if that’s true but totally wouldn’t surprise me. He’s an embarrassment as far as I’m concerned. He was before, now even more so.
I came back today for the tea. Basically he’s as bad as the show made him seem. Figures.
Anyone who falls for those prosthetics should be eliminated for public office contention.
They’re obviously too stupid to be elected dog catcher.
No kidding. I can’t believe anyone wouldn’t just run from SBC after seeing his obvious disguise. But as Aud said above, I don’t mind that he’s exposing these pieces of garbage. At least the politicians. If they are dumb enough to fall for his shtick, they are not worthy of elected office.
And I hope the people watching are reminded that it’s voter apathy that is largely to blame for getting some of these nutjobs elected. Russian interference aside, elections have consequences. It’s the smaller scale victories like this guy’s that led to the election of Trump.
I’m so happy I moved away from that state. From the raging racism to the blantant msyogony, I am so happy I’m out.
Georgia native, current resident here. Yes, Georgia has ISSUES. But I have lived in many, many states, in very different parts of the US, and some of the most appalling racist language I have ever heard come out of people’s mouths was in Connecticut. Rich white people in Connecticut are some of the worst people I have every met. Just saying, the southeast doesn’t have a monopoly on being terrible.
First time viewing SBC production, but the silliness of his disguises that fool these idiots does speak volumes about our country. Ignorance and thirst for validation and fame and just plain derangement and cruelty is apparent in so many of our leaders. The gun rights activists were so bizarre I thought they must be in on the joke, but no. This Spencer guy, a politician, is just being himself and if that makes us cringe, then we need to accept that these people are everywhere.
I won’t be watching it. But I think Cohen isn’t the problem, the racists are the problem. Any exposure of them is fine with me. Plus, how stupid are they to fall for such a ruse?
Ugh I don’t know what to think about SBC. The schtick is old, the characters aren’t funny, and I cringe when I watch him. But he seems good at getting people to unmask their real selves. If we have more idiots like this guy unmask themselves and get the public shame they deserve does that make his show justifiable and worth watching? He is definitely good at showing how ridiculous and extreme some Americans are. The clips with the guns and NRA supporters are so over the top you think the guests on the show have to be in on the joke because there is no way any human being would legit be that stupid.
I can’t decide if he is some kind of social crusader genius or a 10 year old boy with behavioral problems in the body of a middle aged man. The truth is probably my somewhere in the middle though I don’t k ow what side of the scale he tips more toward.
Water rises to its highest level, these people show who they really are..
I am done. I have had it with Sacha Baron Cohen’s pranks and antics. He has gone overboard with them already. I just wish he could go back to voice acting.
If you think Cohen is the problem in this scenario, then bye-bye and don’t let the door hit you.
Really? You are not making sense. I think his antics are not funny.
yes, won’t he just leave these poor bigots and gun nuts alone?!
do you also blame the media for 45’s problems?
exactly. BUT HIS ANTICS, you know. How very tasteless of him to put the utter stupidity and the deep-ingrained depravity of the likes of Cheney and Spencer on the spot. Let’s just go back to voice acting, y’all.
Now both of you are not making sense. I never said anything about bigots and gun nuts alone? I think that they have more hassle with the ordinary people than ever before and I am completely satisfied. What I am saying is that Sasha Baron Cohen’s antics are childish, obnoxious and crude. They are not proper pranks. They are dangerous and terrible.
@Kiki-how exactly is exposing someone who is a racist horrible human dangerous and terrible? I think you are missing the point. SBC, from what I understand, is exposing what used to be the underbelly-now is somehow the “normal” fears of a large percentage of white, ignorant, racist Americans. If he has to use gimmicks to show how vile sectors of this society are-more power to him. You can dislike his antics, but that puts into questions WHY you are so bothered by them. Exposure and dialogues are the greatest weapons against racist a$$holes. Your comment doesn’t make any sense to me.
As far as I’m concerned he is doing a service by exposing these people for who they are
@What The poor dears do suffer so. *sniffle*
Kiki, you got the response you did because you called out SBC for his “pranks and antics” and said that he’s gone overboard, but did not utter a single word about the folks who wanted to arm first graders for school shootings, or this guy who used racial slurs, repeatedly.
you refer to SBC’s antics as “childish, obnoxious and crude”. and yet, again, no comment on the people he’s exposing (who are very obnoxious and crude). you say his pranks are “dangerous and terrible” (not sure how?) but yet the people who want to arm first graders get a pass from you? are they not also “dangerous and terrible”? what makes a prank “proper”, in your opinion?
@magnolia 😉
Now let me get this straight, even with SBC’s terrible disguise, and the obviously crazy not to mention criminal idea of identifying a terrorist by upskirting them, this beyond clueless politician doesn’t realize it’s a setup. Then goes on to say some really crass things a southern white boy should really never say, and all unprompted by SBC. This guy is a flaming idiot, along with other things.
I agree SBC isn’t that funny, especially in this. This piece is hard to watch, but the concept is kind of clever if it was done for something not so serious. Not sure how anyone though could be more angry with SBC than the really awful politician guy who obviously thought this was real. Seriously, once I come to grips with the fact a large portion of Americans are dumber than a box of nails and just awful human beings, I see something where we go lower. Thanks Donald Trump, I preferred my oblivious nature before. Now I am clinically depressed.
I’m not a fan and I don’t have cable but whatever he is doing to expose those phonies is good for the country.
It’s been amusing watching GA Republicans react to this video. They are all condemning it and calling for him to resign now. They’ve known he was an idiot, racist, Islamophobe, misogynist for a long time. No condemnation for his numerous proposals that have been roundly criticized by everyone for years.
I mean, calling for his resignation only means so much because this guy already lost his primary back in the spring, so he’s out in December no matter what. But yes, lots of posturing when they knew full well what he was. That said, I’m not sure he was terribly liked by his own constituency, because from what I heard from people in that district, the guy who beat him in the primary was basically begged to run by a bunch of powers that be who hated Spencer.
I can’t get over this man pulling down his pants and running backwards, bare-assed, at another man while screaming “AMERICA”.
Kinda says it all, doesn’t it?
I can’t watch any stuff like this, even if I it outs racists and phobes. I have to turn off Impractical Jokers immediately. I’ve just never found any of it funny.
Wow, Sacha Baron Cohen is getting A LOT of hate from celebitches, Incredible actor and I think he is doing us a favor by exposing these prejudice worms within out government. I hope that GA politician’s career is ruined, racist people should have ZERO power in our government, they are proven to be unfit in making decisions based on reality. And I think the longer lasting consequence of SBC’s antics will feel less comfortable openly being prejudice .
yeah, I’m with you. he’s not my favorite, but he’s doing a good service here.
Agreed.
He’s trying to expose the ugly in the only way he specifically can. Using his specific talents to wake people from their walking comas.
It’s not like anyone is listening to all the millions of other ways we’ve tried to expose these charlatan faux Christian policy pimps for the lying scum bags they are.
He was already unpopular in the GOP here, and he lost his primary to a total newbie earlier this year, so he’s done no matter what. People in his district apparently hated him.
Agreed. I think the stuff he gets these people to say on camera, on purpose, really exposes HOW awful so many of our politicians are. That skit on gun control, and teaching TODDLERS how to shoot back? These grown men, in power, who one would otherwise expect to be at least semi-sane were falling for that hook, line and sinker. That was terrifying to witness. But it sure explains a lot.
I have liked a lot of SBC’s work. The one aspect I have a little trouble with is when he picks on people who are perhaps gullible, but not evil. Like the woman who ran the art gallery? He convinced her that he was an artist that used feces as a medium, and left the room to go do a portrait of her. She went on and on about how great it was. I did think she was a complete idiot, but also felt a little bad for her as she is just some *extremely open minded* woman trying to run her gallery. So she came across as an idiot, and perhaps she earned that, but it isn’t like she is a racist, or advocating putting guns in the hands of children.
I agree Pamela
I read the art gallery owner’s response to SBC and she challenges him to come back to her gallery to discuss art in an intellectual way. She seems to have taken the prank really well. I read an interview with her on ArtNews (or ArtNet one of the art world online newspapers) and she was very gracious about the whole thing.
I’m not a fan of SBC. Never watched Borat, Bruno, and I doubt I’ll watch this. I understand the premise of the show–he barely has to do anything to get people to do really outrageous things and say offensive statements. He is exposing that the United States of America is not as united as we think it is (though that isn’t a revelation) and it doesn’t take much for a person to show his or her true colors. But I don’t need SBC to remind me that the US is full of racist, misogynistic, homophobic etc. people. Also the fact many people have felt duped by his intentions (and I’m not just talking about the people who make complete fools of themselves like this politician guy) does not make me want to watch it. I live in NYC–I see people doing crazy stuff almost on a daily basis. I don’t need to see it on TV. The news will recap the craziness of his TV show for me.
I don’t dislike SBC. I don’t have a strong feeling about him at all but I do like that he makes politicians look like fools and that he has exposed people.
I’m all for exposing racists
I’ll stick with my kdramas and Endeavour.
Endeavor fan here!! I’m with you!
This shows how compliant certain males are in response to someone they think is “macho”–they want to be tough guys too. Hmmmm. . . . does this provide at least a partial explanation for Helsinki?
Good for SBC. Yeah, his methods are unorthodox, but I am all for the outing of these bigots and exposing their swelling ignorance all across social media. You have to utterly embarrass and shame these people back into their gun-filled bunkers. And this isn’t bullying. If the logical end to your viewpoint means the complete elimination of others viewpoints and ways of being, then you derserve to be marginalized.
If he can expose these people for what they are, more power to him.
It should be our main stream media out there taking these people down, but they are not doing their job.
So if SBC can put the spotlight on, I’m all for it
I don’t understand how these people in his interviews(he also talked to Bernie Sanders) fell for his pranks because he says very crazy things. Didn’t they do their research before sitting down with SBC fake persona? In the interview with the Dotard fan and her husband, one of the first things out of their mouths when SBC was talking to them(he said that he makes his son sit and daughter stand when they are using the bathroom) was that they don’t judge people for their beliefs. Shouldn’t the first thought have been are we being pranked? I tried to watch the first episode, but couldn’t get through it.
That video of Spencer. I am left speechless.
The thing is, though, real life feels like a giant prank already. Dump and his supporters all seem like parody characters on an over-the-top daytime tv drama. I can believe they fell for it, because look at what is happening in the White House.
I feel like your comment sums up the whole premise to his show.
“Hey America, look at how stupid so many of your citizens are!”
The more awful stuff happens with Trump, the more I hear, “how can this really be happening?” And *I* also ask how it can be happening. Each day brings a fresh new shocking item to make me cringe or cower in fear. But then I see this show and say “Oh! While I personally know mostly ALL smart, reasonable non-bigoted people, looks like that is NOT the norm and there are many complete asshats roaming the USA, and THAT is how this happened.”
My problem with him has always been that if people he pranks “play along” with the joke they look like morons, and if they don’t they still look like morons. The way he sets it up is just so mean spirited.
Then again I’m happy when idiots like Palin get tangled in his web.
About 5 years ago, my 14 year old stepdaughter came home and kept using the N word. Her dad and I were apaulled and explained to her why it was never OK. She said her BFF at the time, who is black, said it was OK. Luckily, this new habit was short lived.
I find it hypocritical that SBC has made a career on ignorant, racially stereotypical characters (Ali G, Borat, Chinese Tourist etc) yet is now working to expose racism and ignorance in others. I don’t get it.