Roy Moore files defamation lawsuit against Sacha Baron Cohen, CBS, Showtime
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Roy Moore, the former U.S. Senate candidate from Alabama, on Wednesday filed a $95 million defamation lawsuit against Sacha Baron Cohen, claiming he was duped into appearing on the British comedian's Showtime series "Who Is America?" and falsely portrayed as a sex offender.
Moore, a Republican and former chief justice of Alabama's Supreme Court, also sued Showtime and its parent CBS Corp for defamation, and accused all three defendants of fraud and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Baron Cohen's representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment. CBS and Showtime did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The lawsuit arose from a July 29 broadcast where Baron Cohen, disguised as fictional Israeli anti-terrorism expert Erran Morad, interviewed Moore and demonstrated a supposed "pedophile detector" that beeped when waved near him. Moore, 71, whose wife Kayla is also a plaintiff, said he had been lured to Washington, D.C. on the pretense he would receive an award for his support of Israel, and would not have met Baron Cohen had he known what was planned. After the beep, he told Baron Cohen: "I support Israel. I don't support this kind of stuff," and walked out.
"This false and fraudulent portrayal and mocking of Judge Moore as a sex offender ... has severely harmed Judge Moore's reputation and caused him, Mrs. Moore, and his entire family severe emotional distress, as well as caused and will cause plaintiffs financial damage," the complaint said. Running in heavily Republican Alabama, Moore lost his Senate race last December to Democrat Doug Jones after being accused of sexual misconduct toward female teenagers while in his 30s. He has denied wrongdoing.
The lawsuit was filed in the Washington, D.C. federal court. Larry Klayman, a conservative lawyer representing Moore, in a statement called his client "a man of great faith, morality and intellect," and said the defendants will be held legally accountable for Baron Cohen's conduct. Baron Cohen, 46, is known for portraying characters like Ali G, Bruno and Borat Sagdiyev whose interactions with people, who do not realize they are serving as foils, often result in their revealing more of themselves than they realize. His sketches have gotten him in legal hot water before, including when two former college fraternity students claimed they were duped while drunk into appearing in his 2006 film "Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." That case was dismissed in 2007.
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I laughed at this part: "has severely harmed Judge Moore's reputation...."
Judge Moore's reputation was severely damaged long before this. I get the impression this lawsuit has more to do with wounded pride than actual emotional distress.
I hope they release the tapes of his deposition. I'll make popcorn...
It would be quite entertaining.
Moore's Senate campaign was enough to destroy any reputation that he might have ever had, after his tenure impersonating a judge on the Alabama state supreme court.
I'd say it was some of his actions as a judge that thoroughly destroyed his reputation. So there is no reputation left to be lost. And he only himself to blame.
Maybe he'll pray about it tonight, while he's sitting on a bench at a mall?
Or he'll probably just blame the democrats/liberals.
He could alternatively claim that LGBT are the pawns of Satan and/or secular progressives.
I would not be surprised one bit if he actually believes that. he clearly doesn't think LGBT deserve equal rights.
Or people of non-Christian beliefs.
Indeed. Screw the Constitution, right?
Moore believes that the Bible supersedes the US Constitution,
He actually thinks that gay folks should be treated as criminals.
All of that certainly explains the lack of a positive reputation.
And that "homosexual activity" or sodomy should still be illegal. What an archaic mindset.
Someone protests too much.
reminds me of a few constant seeders/commenters on NT
i'm not sure why he should, he should just really contact a few members of NT who claim to speak to God regularly and get what he needs faster.
I wonder if their god ever gets annoyed with them clogging up his voicemail?
Roy Moore is probably looking for a payday. He is banking that Showtime will give him a settlement.
I saw that segment. Cohen looked ridiculous and I guess most intelligent people would have seen through the ruse. That appears to leave Moore out though.
Probably.
Not surprising. Moore doesn't even seem to understand constitutional law.
Neither does his attorney. Larry Klayman has actually been prohibited for life from appearing in certain courts because he's such an unethical moron, and other courts are fining him for filing these frivolous law suits. I think he was also disbarred in DC or is about to be disbarred.
I saw that episode, too.
If Moore is such a moron that he couldn't see thru Cohen's disguise then he deserved whatever humiliation Cohen dished out
It's amazing that they still fall for it, but I really loved Moore's statement that "Alabama has always been a state which valued freedom, valued liberty" and that "It's part of our heritage" that Alabama has always been a place for equality no matter your religion, race, or sexuality.
I'll bet the bigoted idiot really believes that too despite the fact that he hosts meetings for white supremacist groups, opposes equal rights for LGBT folks, and thinks the sharia laws of his Southern Baptist sect should be enforced by the government.
Except for those Civil War years. but that's ancient history, right?
See previous statement.
As long as you're a white, heterosexual, christian male.
Didn't pedophile Moore sign some kind of waiver before being on the show? Lots of luck Moore - SUCKER
Moore is so eager for publicity of any kind that I doubt he even read it. Apparently his $135K annual pension isn't enough to live on so he's returned to grifting.
Who would agree with an interview with Sasha Baron Cohen and not expect it to be comedy? Sasha Cohen isn't a member of the White House press corps or an employee of NPR/BBC.
OMG I just saw this.
I don't watch tv and for the most part only watch vids and documentaries of things in which I have strong interest.
I had never heard of this Sasha Cohen guy until reading some article here a little while ago. He was pretending to some sort of Israeli commando. He was dressed up in some 3 Stooges or Pink Panther grade of disguise and walked like some kind of mutant. People on camera believed him and his story line.
They looked sober. How could they fall for it?
I can only assume that these vain fools are so desperate for media exposure that they ignored any warning signs that this was not a sincere media interview.
Cohen also duped the Tundra Barbie into appearing,
I highly recommend the movie "Borat" and the series "Ali G".
at least the pedophile detector was real
Ooh, zing! lol
That was hilarious!
Hahahahaha!!!!!!!
False and fraudulent portrayal? Dog do! Roy Moore is the one who went trolling for tots at the mall when he was a grown-ass man in his 30's. The fact that he doesn't see anything wrong with it ups the slime-ball factor.