NEW YORK (AP) — Showtime and Sacha Baron Cohen are pushing back against allegations the comedian duped guests on his new show by posing as a disabled veteran.
The network says in a statement Monday that Baron Cohen “did not present himself as a disabled veteran” or wear any military apparel when he met with Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
Palin last week on Facebook complained that Baron Cohen “heavily disguised himself” as a disabled U.S. veteran in a wheelchair when she was “duped” into an interview. She challenged Baron Cohen and Showtime to donate proceeds from the show to a veterans’ charity.
In the new show “Who Is America?,” Baron Cohen dons various prosthetics and accents in an attempt to embarrass those on the right and left.
Suppose he did pose as a vet? I don’t see how that forces people to agree that 4 year olds should be armed with automatic weapons.
That’s ok, Palin posed as a qualified politician and duped her supporters once upon a time. And she continues to pose as relevant these days.
So how is Sacha Baron Cohen helping anything, and when I say anything I mean the country’s mood, confirmation bias, or just he’s bank account. Is he funnier than James O’Keefe, probably, but this shtick is as old and tired as Palin.
It wasn’t Cohen falsely claiming to be a disabled vet. It was the character who is falsely claiming to be both a vet and disabled as an over the top satire of the kind of people who actually do the stolen valor thing. The idea is that anyone with a lick of sense, decency, and/or scrutiny will be able to see right through the obvious BS, but the likes of Palin and all the idiots who happily endorse a plan to arm four year olds for the chance at attention and a fake trophy will be fooled no matter the obvious warning signs that are just being laid before them one after the other. No one made them tie a noose around their necks, just handed them rope and let their natural narcissism and disgusting opinions handle the rest.
I heard Cohen claimed to be a veteran of the UPS. If Palin’s too ignorant and heedless to listen and understand she deserves what she gets. You don’t hear Bernie Sanders whining.