Rudy Giuliani – former New York City mayor and current attorney to President Donald Trump – is facing questions on his behavior in Sacha Baron Cohen’s upcoming “Borat” sequel. (Warning: spoilers ahead.)
In a scene from the film (out this Friday on Amazon), Giuliani is tricked into entering the bedroom of a hotel suite by Maria Bakalova, portraying Borat’s daughter. Posing as a TV journalist, the 24-year old actor invites Giuliani for a fawning interview for a made-up conservative news program. During their encounter, the attorney drinks Scotch, coughs and ignores social distancing measures. At one point, he even tells Bakalova that the president’s speedy responses in the spring saved the lives of a million Americans from dying from coronavirus outbreaks. “I’d say he saved a million lives,” Giuliani responds before coughing.
Under the guise of a mic operator, Borat comes in and adjusts Giuliani’s mic and asks, “Is she asking too many questions?”
The pair retreat, at her suggestion, for a drink to a bedroom that is equipped with concealed cameras capturing the attorney’s every move. After she removes his microphone, Giuliani says, “You can give me your phone number and address.” He is then seen lying back on the bed, fiddling with his shirt before reaching into his trousers. He is interrupted by Borat who runs into the room and says: “She’s 15. She’s too old for you.”
Giuliani tweeted Wednesday that he was tucking in his shirt and that the video is “a complete fabrication.”
(1) The Borat video is a complete fabrication. I was tucking in my shirt after taking off the recording equipment.
At no time before, during, or after the interview was I ever inappropriate. If Sacha Baron Cohen implies otherwise he is a stone-cold liar.
— Rudy W. Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) October 21, 2020
Josh Gad responded to the controversial scene via Twitter, saying it is “worse than you think.” “Having seen ‘Borat 2,’ I can now safely tell you #RudyGiuliani is over in a very big way,” he wrote. “It’s worse than you think and more uncomfortable than anything I’ve seen in a recent film, documentary or otherwise.”
Well, looks like the cat’s out of the pants. Having seen #Borat2 I can now safely tell you #RudyGiuliani is over in a very big way. It’s worse than you think and more uncomfortable than anything I’ve seen in a recent film, documentary or otherwise.
— Josh Gad (@joshgad) October 21, 2020
“Borat Subsequent Movie Film,” which concludes with an encouragement to viewers to vote, will be released on Friday on Amazon Prime Video, with a preview watch party Thursday night at the same time as the Presidential debate.