In ‘Jimmy Kimmel’ Appearance as Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen Parodies Antisemitic Libels
by Shiryn Ghermezian
Sacha Baron Cohen appeared in character as Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Monday and parodied numerous antisemitic libels.
The British Jewish actor, who was on the show to promote his new movie “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” entered by spraying the set with disinfectant from a canister and announcing that his country’s “intelligence services” had discovered that there was a virus.
“It come from a place called Wuhan, which is in Israel. There is no surprise. They are spreading everything,” Baron Cohen said as Borat. “It spread from the you-know-whos,” he added, indicating a big nose with his hand.
After Kimmel doubted that the coronavirus originated in Israel, the “Borat” star went around the set with a magnifying glass and a frying pan, trying to pound the virus to death. He then asked Kimmel to undergo a coronavirus “examination” and answer a “normal Kazakh plague questionnaire” that started with, “In the last week, have you been in the presence for more than 15 minutes of any Jews?”
Kimmel replied, “Yes. All of our writers and none of our camera guys are Jews.”
“As a member of Hollywood elite, have you recently drunk any unpasteurized children’s blood?” he then asked Kimmel.
Baron Cohen uses Hebrew and some Polish to create the Kazakh language Borat speaks, and while appearing on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” he inserted Hebrew phrases into their conversation.
For example when his daughter in the film, played by Irina Nowak, came on stage and asked to have Kimmel’s pants, Borat told her “Lo yahol” and “Ta’asi et zeh ahar kah,” Hebrew for “He can’t, do it later.” He also told his daughter “Nachon,” which translates to “correct” in Hebrew, and later when Kimmel told Borat he only had one wife, a shocked Baron Cohen cried out in Hebrew to his daughter “He only has one!”
The new film — fully titled, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” — is a sequel to 2006’s “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” and will stream on Amazon Prime Video starting Oct. 23.
Watch Borat’s appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” below: