Former Republican Senate candidate for Alabama Roy Moore threatened legal action against Sacha Baron Cohen on Thursday after apparently falling for one of the British comedian’s pranks at an event purporting to commemorate Moore’s support of Israel for its 70th anniversary.
Moore is the latest target of Baron Cohen’s upcoming CBS/Showtime series, “Who is America?”, which so far include former Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin and former vice president Dick Cheney.
“I am involved in several court cases presently to defend my honor and character against vicious false political attacks by liberals like Cohen,” Moore wrote in a statement. “If Showtime airs a defamatory attack on my character, I may very well be involved in another.”
“As for Mr. Cohen, whose art is trickery, deception, and dishonesty, Alabama does not respect cowards who exhibit such traits!” he continued. “It’s been a long time since I fought for my country in Vietnam. I’m ready to defend her again!”
Roy Moore says he was duped by Sacha Baron Cohen for his new CBS/Showtime series & threatens legal action “If Showtime airs a defamatory attack on my character…” pic.twitter.com/ovQjdXGyjw
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) July 12, 2018
Moore added he was invited to the supposed Washington awards ceremony in February 2018, had all his expenses paid for, but received no remuneration for his time or participation. He did not detail particulars about Baron Cohen’s stunt.
After a string of sexual misconduct allegations, Moore lost to Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., in a 2017 special election to replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions in the upper chamber.
Baron Cohen made a name for himself in comedy by interacting with unsuspecting people while portraying the characters Borat Sagdiyev, a Kazakh journalist, and Ali G, a British rapper.
“Who Is America?,” which is sponsored by CBS, will premiere on Showtime on July 15.
