Borat Subsequent Moviefilm’s gun rally country concert had a violent ending audiences didn’t see. The world may or may not have needed Borat right now, but Borat is what it got as Sacha Baron Cohen revived his famous racist, sexist, anti-Semitic Kazakh journalist character for the sequel to the 2006 comedy classic that grossed $262 million at the worldwide box office.
Of course things have changed on the cultural landscape since Borat first invaded America back in 2006, so Cohen also introduced a strong female character for Borat 2 in the person of Borat’s daughter Tutar, played by unknown actress Maria Bakalova. What hasn’t changed is Cohen’s approach to comedy, which involves disguising himself in order to rope in unsuspecting real people and expose their bigotry for all the world to see (this time around Cohen had to employ a mixture of disguises as his Borat character has become too well-known). In one particularly memorable sequence from the movie, Borat dresses up as a country singer and performs at a pro-gun rally, encouraging the assembled masses to sing along to a racist song called "The Wuhan Flu."
This time however Cohen’s approach to comedy almost backfired on him, as the comedian found himself involved in very real danger once the pro-gun rally crowd realized they were being pranked. After previously alluding to this life-threatening situation in other interviews, Cohen gave full details in an appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert and even shared previously unseen footage of what happened. The scary deleted scene from Borat 2 can be seen in the space below beginning at around the 6:58 mark:
In the footage Cohen can be seen in his wacky Country Steve disguise singing his song when one of the ralliers, onto the charade, begins screaming at him through a megaphone. Cohen wastes no time in fleeing the scene as several people try to rush the stage and get a piece of him while others chant “USA” for some reason. Further footage shows Cohen inside an ambulance crouching down so as not to be seen, telling his driver to just get out of there.
To underline just how hairy things got at the concert, Cohen also told Colbert that one of the ralliers actually went for a gun but a security guard (the movie’s production actually hired all the security for the rally) grabbed his arm to prevent him from firing. Cohen said he was himself wearing a bulletproof vest as a precaution. Cohen also revealed to Colbert that some undercover Black Lives Matter protestors were in fact responsible for outing him at the event. He says the BLM spotters were coming to the rally and one of them yelled “Oh my God, it’s Sacha Baron Cohen.” Word quickly spread through the crowd that they were being pranked and people “got very angry.”
Judging by the brief bit of footage Cohen shared with Colbert it’s quite lucky that he got out of the rally without something even worse happening. Of course, Cohen’s whole comedic approach guarantees that he will occasionally find himself in situations that are perilous at least legally, but he doesn’t seem to mind putting himself on the line for the sake of laughs. Borat 2 indeed delivered plenty of the risky and risqué comedy Cohen is known for, including a much-discussed bit that put Rudy Giuliani in a compromising situation of his own. Given the success Borat Subsequent Moviefilm has achieved, it seems Cohen’s dangerous antics were worth the risk, though some would argue his routine has actually grown stale over the years.
Source: The Late Show With Stephen Colbert
