As part of his continued fight against Holocaust deniers and anti-Semitism, Sacha Baron Cohen reportedly broke tradition during the making of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm and (through representatives) revealed his Borat gag (and true identity) to Judith Dim Evans shortly after filming a scene with her. Evans was a Holocaust survivor, and out of reverence to her experience, Cohen wanted to make it clear to the woman what his intentions are with the film. Via Deadline’s Mike Fleming:
Baron Cohen dedicates the movie to Evans, who died after filming. I’m told that he for the first time while making one of his movies — where most everyone but him is an unwitting participant — out of respect he had someone tell Evans and the friend who shares the scene with her that Baron Cohen himself is Jewish and playing an ignorant character as a means of Holocaust education, by featuring a Holocaust survivor who ends up challenging the anti-Semite by charmingly telling her own story. The filmmakers separately helped other family members of Dim Evans to create a website in her honor, and I’ve heard that Baron Cohen and Amazon Prime created a way through its X-Ray bonus content for viewers of the film to hear Evans tell the story of what happened to her family during WWII.
However, Evans’ estate has filed a lawsuit in Georgia against Cohen and the makers of the Borat sequel. The suit alleges that Evans scene was filmed to “mock the Holocaust and Jewish culture.” Further, Deadline reports that there is actually footage of Cohen breaking character and revealing the artifice of Borat to Evans, who was well aware of the gag after they talked. The actor has also been praised by the Anti Defamation League for his “evangelism” and “follow through” on holding social media platforms for allowing Holocaust deniers to spread their propaganda.
(Via Deadline)
