Borat 2: Sacha Baron Cohen Reveals Dangerous Deleted Scene
Sacha Baron Cohen continues to unspool footage not used in Borat 2, including the actor apparently being in danger during an alt-right rally.
Sacha Baron Cohen says Borat 2—also known as Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan—wasn’t the easiest picture to make. That is likely an understatement since almost the entire movie was filmed during the height of the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. And now he’s revealing footage on social media that offers a different context to events which appear in the finished film.
Taking to Twitter late Tuesday evening, Baron Cohen revealed the below deleted scene, which offers a seemingly more dangerous chain of events than what appeared in Borat 2. The sequence in question involves Baron Cohen’s Borat impersonating a Western singer (who likely doesn’t exist) called Country Steve. Taking the stage as “Steve,” Borat attempts to win over the crowd by singing about how “Corona is a liberal hoax,” yet also singing how they should inject former President Barack Obama “with the Wuhan flu.”
The alt-right crowd, filled with people waving “Trump 2020” signs, as well as QAnon shirts, laugh in the finished film. They also sing along about how they should inject Dr. Anthony Fauci with the “Wuhan flu” and take journalists and “chop ‘em up like the Saudis do.” One blurred out gentleman even appears to offer a Nazi salute when Baron Cohen says they should “gas” scientists like the Germans.
It’s an unflattering look at the far right in this country, but as per the deleted footage, it seems “Country Steve” failed to win over the whole crowd. In the new footage, as Borat is singing some members of the crowd shout him down with a bullhorn. It is not clear if their anger is out of rejection at what he’s singing about or whether they do not like him making a farce of their event. Either way, several end up storming the stage, and Baron Cohen, breaking character, jumps into a van and asks, “Should we go?” to the off-screen driver. An apparently angry crowd member then tries to enter the van before Baron Cohen pulls the door shut once more.
Why they stormed the stage is unclear, but if they really followed him to the parking lot and tried to get into Baron Cohen’s vehicle, there is something chilling about this sequence. It also offers new insight into the information the filmmaker revealed alongside Amazon when the film was officially confirmed as headed to the streaming service. In those earlier reports, it was said Baron Cohen wore a bulletproof vest on two separate shooting days and “risked his life multiple times.”
This appears to be one of those days. The full context of the danger is unknown, but it certainly doesn’t look safe.
This is the second bit of footage Baron Cohen has released outside of the movie. The other is of Maria Bakalova, who has won raves and even award buzz for her performance as Borat’s daughter Tutar, entering Donald Trump’s White House with apparent ease. Despite portraying a fictional character, who is in turn impersonating a right wing journalist who doesn’t exist, Bakalova was able to stroll into the White House by parroting far-right talking points and even meet the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., in a press line.
“Trump very careful who he let into his events and house. No Covid test necessary – High 5!” Baron Cohen tweeted.
Borat 2 is streaming now.