A Texas Republican Party leader is threatening to sue comedian Sacha Baron Cohen after he discovered he fell for a humiliating prank in what he thought was an immigration documentary.
Michael Aboud, chairman of the El Paso County Republican Party, appears in Baron Cohen's new movie, Ali G: Who Iz I?, alongside supporters of President Donald Trump, according to a Thursday report by The Guardian.
The footage shows Aboud taking part in a bizarre training exercise led by Baron Cohen’s character Col. Erran Morad, who is a fictional former Israeli intelligence operative who previously appeared in Cohen’s 2018 show Who is America?
The Texas Republican and other MAGA folk are taught supposed self-defense techniques, including wearing a protective plastic buttock. He also teaches them how to fire bullets from the middle of these buttocks by stroking a rubber penis.
In a hilarious twist, Aboud and other gullible participants are recruited for what they are told is a mission to prevent a South American drug kingpin's child from being born in the United States.
The supposed mission involves kidnapping a heavily pregnant woman, who is played by actress Morgana Robinson, and taking her to an abandoned medical facility.
After a staged birth with a prosthetic baby, the participants are seen driving the infant toward Mexico. In another scene, Aboud chooses to drop the supposed baby from a drone rather than allow it to come to America
Despite the ridiculous task asked of him, Aboud said he had no idea he had been duped when asked by the publication.
He said he was fooled into believing the prank was a documentary about illegal crossings at the southern border.
Aboud blasted Cohen and his team and said he plans to sue them for the deception.
“No one should spend one penny watching anything he produces or appears in," he said. "I plan to sue him.”
The film states that the participants were not aware they were involved in a prank.
However, Joshua Loudermilk, a MAGA fan seen participating with Aboud, gushed a bout his participation in the movie on social media.
“I got to spend 12 hours one on one with Sasha [sic] and he taught me soooo much about the fun of making others laugh” as well as a link to a video promo for the film, saying, “I am in the trailer.” On 10 January, he also posted a headshot of himself, saying: “Howdy. Done with Sasha Cohen movie and ready for more.”
However, producers on the film state that he also did not know he was pranked.
The movie also features former Republican Rep. George Santos. In 2020, Rudy Giuliani was pranked by Cohen in his “Who Is America?" Series.