A gun store in California caught British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen last February entering the store in disguise and under false pretenses, newly released surveillance footage shows.
“The moment his words came out of his mouth, I was like ‘this guys is full of shit,” Norris Sweidan, the owner of Warrior One Gun and Ammo, told the local Fox News affiliate.
On the surveillance video, Sweidan could be seen shaking the hand of a man with a long beard and dressed in leather, accompanied by a camera crew.
Sweidan claimed he was told under false pretenses the bearded man and his crew were filming a documentary on a Hungarian immigrant looking to buy a gun.
“This guy does not look like a Hungarian immigrant,” Sweidan said when recounting the events. “It just didn’t fit … I just kept looking at the guys, and I’m like, ‘You’re Borat.’”
Borat was a character Cohen portrayed in the 2006 mockumentary film by the same name, where a reporter from Kazakhstan filmed a documentary in the U.S. about what makes America a great nation.
Sweidan said the accent and way Cohen said, “I want to buy a gun,” was what gave him away.
The gun store owner said it was clear Cohen’s intentions were to make a mockery of gun stores, gun owners, and the gun business for his new program on Showtime “Who is America.”
He also believes his store could have been targeted by Cohen because it is popular and currently launching a pilot show called “Down the Barrel.”
“He was fake, the producers were fake, the show is fake, and Showtime is fake,” Sweidan said. “They want a real story? Come talk to us, we’ll give you a real story.”
