As the hype around Sacha Baron Cohen's new Showtime series, Who Is America?, builds, more conservative politicians and talking heads are coming forward and admitting they were lured into parody interviews by the British comedian. One of the most vocal since coming forward about her experience is former Alaska governor and vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, who admitted in a Facebook post that she was "duped" by Baron Cohen and called his series and approach "perverse" and "truly sick."
Related | Sacha Baron Cohen Tricked Sarah Palin As Part of New Project
In a recent interview with Good Morning America's Robin Roberts, Palin went into more detail about her experience with the Borat actor and his production team. When asked by Roberts when she realized that something was amiss, Palin explained that she was shown "graphs and statistics that had, like, typos in them" and that at one point "he [Baron Cohen] brought up Chelsea Clinton and said she was the recipient of a government-funded sex change."
\u201cFormer Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin speaks out exclusively to @GMA about being "duped" into a spoof interview with British actor Sacha Baron Cohen. https://t.co/5DDYuSVsRk\u201d— ABC News (@ABC News) 1531484389
To anyone familiar with the types of wild and bizarre conspiracy theories that proliferate in the deepest rightwing corners of the internet, thanks to people like Alex Jones, this question is an obvious parody of something one might hear on any given InfoWars broadcast. Baron Cohen even responded to Palin's outcry about his show in-character, as Dr. Billy Wayne Ruddick Jr.
"I am Dr. Billy Wayne Ruddick, founder/ceo/accountant of Truthbary.org and it was I that interviewed you. I did NOT say I was a War Vet. I was in the service - not military, but United Parcel, and I only fought for my country once - when I shot a Mexican who came onto my property," he writes. "(Coincidentally, just like our Great President, I was sadly prevented from joining the regular army on account of bone spurs bein discovered in my testies.)"
\u201cHere's the truth @SarahPalinUSA \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 \n#MAGA #buildthewall #boycottsashacohen\u201d— Billy Wayne Ruddick Jr., PhD (@Billy Wayne Ruddick Jr., PhD) 1531418367
Very little has been released about Who Is America? ahead of its Sunday premiere on Showtime, but other big names in conservative politics like former Vice President Dick Cheney are also involved.
