Sacha Baron Cohen must know the law better than some lawyers. The performer is no stranger to being sued, fearlessly putting himself in the law of not only potential lawsuits but, sometimes, potential death. (Surely you’ll never be brave enough to perform a song mocking far-right COVID skeptics to their faces, while they’re armed..) But these legal actions tend to die on the vine, just as one particularly big one did on Tuesday.
As per The Wrap, a judge has sided with Baron Cohen in a $95 million lawsuit filed by Roy Moore, the infamous former senate candidate who has been accused of pursuing relationships with underage girls. Moore appeared on This is America, Baron Cohen’s Showtime show, in which the host posed as an Israeli anti-terrorism expert named Erran Morad. He told Moore that he had a device that could detect sex offenders, at which point the politico wannabe put the kibosh on the interview.
Moore accused Baron Cohen of intentional emotional distress and fraud, making the claim that the interview left him defamed. But one Judge John P. Cronan argued his claims were “barred by both a waiver clause in the agreement that Judge Moore signed prior to the interview and also by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.” Judge Cronan added, “The court agrees that Judge Moore’s claims are barred by the unambiguous contractual language, which precludes the very causes of action he now brings.”
The majority of the many lawsuits filed against Baron Cohen tend to die in similar ways, partly thanks to the good ol’ First Amendment, as well as plaintiffs’ inability to prove that they’ve suffered financial hardships from not coming off great in his various shows and movies. (No doubt any company wanting to do business with him also knows to lawyer the hell out of his stuff before it’s made public.)
The news arrives on a big day for Baron Cohen-related lawsuits. Earlier in the day, he himself filed one against a cannabis company for using the likeness of Borat in a billboard.
(Via The Wrap)
