Roy Moore, former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, is suing Sacha Baron Cohen, as well as CBS and Showtime for $95 million. He is claiming extreme emotional distress, according to the Washington Post. Sacha Baron Cohen’s series, ‘Who is America’, revolves around Cohen who disguises himself to interview people, trying to get them to do or say outrageous things. The episode on July 29 targeted Moore, which implied he was a pedophile.
This isn’t the first time the show has hit major nerves. Back in late July, he disguised himself as his fake anti-terror expert character Captain Erran Morad. In which he interviewed Georgia lawmaker and Republican state representative, Jason Spencer. In the episode, he was able to convince Spencer to do multiple ridiculous actions, such as snap upskirt pictures of people in burkas, shout racist slurs, and drop his pants and moon people to scare off terrorists. In early August, he interviewed former Arizona Sheriff, Joe Arpaio. Arpaio told Cohen (who was in character) that he would accept a golden shower from Donald Trump, as well as a blow job.
In the lasted news, Cohen interviewed Moore as “Erran Morad,” an Israeli anti-terrorism expert. Moore had been accused by several women of having pursued them sexually when he was in his 30s (they were teenagers). The accusations came to light during his Senate campaign, which contributed to his loss in the election last December to Doug Jones. During the interview, Cohen brought out a device similar to that of a metal detector wand, but which he claimed was an Israeli invention that could detect pedophiles. The device only beeped when waved over Moore, who in turn became upset and ended the interview. You can check out the video below.
As Cohen generally does with those he interviews, Moore signed a release before the taping took place. The suit filed alleges that the release was obtained on fraudulent grounds. Moore is being represented by Larry Klayman, the founder of Judicial Watch and Freedom Watch. Klayman told the Associated Press, “Sacha Baron Cohen, who is not only low class but also a fraudster, will now, along with Showtime and CBS, be held accountable for his outrageous and false, fraudulent and defamatory conduct which callously did great emotional and other damage to this great man and his wife and family.”
Showtime issued a statement on their behalf as well: “The press has been sent copies of an alleged complaint, yet to our knowledge, SHOWTIME has not been served. With that said, we do not comment on pending litigation.”
There have been no further comments on the lawsuit from either side.