Post by bingbong on Oct 27, 2007 17:03:59 GMT 12
Friday October 26, 10:59 AM
The Borat lawsuits continue
By Splash
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Five etiquette experts who became a central scene in Borat are suing the filmmakers for making humiliating them. - and demanding their scene be cut.
And another etiquette coach is also suing over her role in the film in which Borat shows her nude pictures of his apparently teenage son.
The five famously had dinner with comedian Sacha Baron Cohen to teach him good manners - and are left speechless by his rude behaviour.
At one point Borat refers to one man as a "retard", wonders whether his hosts own slaves - and comes back from the bathroom with what appeared to be a bag full of feaces.
When one of the women then took him to the bathroom, he made it clear he expected her to "wipe him".
And at the end of the dinner he tried to bring-in a black prostitute as an extra guest - leading the other diners to storm out in disgust.
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The lawsuit, filed by all five, states that they believed they were helping with "an educational documentary for Belarus Television."
But it ended with them suffering "extreme humiliation, embarrassment and ridicule" after being made "involuntary participants in a film celebrating the racism, child pornography, sexism, nudity, anti-Semitism and vulgarity."
Tey also insisted they were "defrauded" by being used on the cheap to save the filmmakers paying actors for the movie that made many millions.
"The dinner scenes are frequently depicted in trailers for the Borat movie and are among the most critical components to the popularity and financial success of the movie," their lawsuit claims.
It says filmmakers approached Cindy Streit, "the owner of CTS, an etiquette training business", saying a "foreign dignitary needed etiquette and dining skills training".
She then arranged for the other defendants to join her - Sarah Moseley, Ben McKinnon, Michael Jared and Lynn Jared - to help "portray a Southern, in-home style dining experience".
"Defendants purposely edited the scenes to give the impression that plaintiffs were intolerant of dining with members of another race and left as a result of her presence", the lawsuit says, insisting: "Whereas in fact "Plaintiffs at all times acted in goodwill" towards the woman they believed was a prostitute.
The lawsuit, which does not specify monetary damages, seeks an injunction barring further use of the embarrassing "dinner scene" from Borat.
I is unclear why they are filing their lawsuit now.
And it comes as another etiquette coach, Kathie Martin, is also suing for unspecified damages for her role in the film.
Martin is suing for "commercial misappropriation, fraud, unjust enrichment, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress" from the movie's producers for her unwitting role.
Martin was featured giving etiquette advice to the make-believe journalist and he shows her nude pictures of his apparently teenage son and boasts about the boy's penile growth spurt.
"Unless you can figure it out for yourself, you have no way of knowing you have been tricked into being part of a childish prank with an R rating attached," she said in an earlier interview.
"And even if you figure it out, you've signed a release that Mr. Cohen's people say relinquishes any rights on your part to take action against them."
She added: "I would've liked my 15 minutes of fame in this life to have been for something more worthwhile than an R-rated movie."
The Borat lawsuits continue
By Splash
Enlarge image
Five etiquette experts who became a central scene in Borat are suing the filmmakers for making humiliating them. - and demanding their scene be cut.
And another etiquette coach is also suing over her role in the film in which Borat shows her nude pictures of his apparently teenage son.
The five famously had dinner with comedian Sacha Baron Cohen to teach him good manners - and are left speechless by his rude behaviour.
At one point Borat refers to one man as a "retard", wonders whether his hosts own slaves - and comes back from the bathroom with what appeared to be a bag full of feaces.
When one of the women then took him to the bathroom, he made it clear he expected her to "wipe him".
And at the end of the dinner he tried to bring-in a black prostitute as an extra guest - leading the other diners to storm out in disgust.
ADVERTISEMENT
The lawsuit, filed by all five, states that they believed they were helping with "an educational documentary for Belarus Television."
But it ended with them suffering "extreme humiliation, embarrassment and ridicule" after being made "involuntary participants in a film celebrating the racism, child pornography, sexism, nudity, anti-Semitism and vulgarity."
Tey also insisted they were "defrauded" by being used on the cheap to save the filmmakers paying actors for the movie that made many millions.
"The dinner scenes are frequently depicted in trailers for the Borat movie and are among the most critical components to the popularity and financial success of the movie," their lawsuit claims.
It says filmmakers approached Cindy Streit, "the owner of CTS, an etiquette training business", saying a "foreign dignitary needed etiquette and dining skills training".
She then arranged for the other defendants to join her - Sarah Moseley, Ben McKinnon, Michael Jared and Lynn Jared - to help "portray a Southern, in-home style dining experience".
"Defendants purposely edited the scenes to give the impression that plaintiffs were intolerant of dining with members of another race and left as a result of her presence", the lawsuit says, insisting: "Whereas in fact "Plaintiffs at all times acted in goodwill" towards the woman they believed was a prostitute.
The lawsuit, which does not specify monetary damages, seeks an injunction barring further use of the embarrassing "dinner scene" from Borat.
I is unclear why they are filing their lawsuit now.
And it comes as another etiquette coach, Kathie Martin, is also suing for unspecified damages for her role in the film.
Martin is suing for "commercial misappropriation, fraud, unjust enrichment, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress" from the movie's producers for her unwitting role.
Martin was featured giving etiquette advice to the make-believe journalist and he shows her nude pictures of his apparently teenage son and boasts about the boy's penile growth spurt.
"Unless you can figure it out for yourself, you have no way of knowing you have been tricked into being part of a childish prank with an R rating attached," she said in an earlier interview.
"And even if you figure it out, you've signed a release that Mr. Cohen's people say relinquishes any rights on your part to take action against them."
She added: "I would've liked my 15 minutes of fame in this life to have been for something more worthwhile than an R-rated movie."