Sacha Baron Cohen has expressed regret to the Kazakh people for the infamous Borat, admitting that the character he created — a fictional journalist — does not reflect the essence of Kazakhstan or its people. The character’s nationality would shift depending on the sponsoring broadcaster, he added.
«I want to apologise to the people of Kazakhstan,» Cohen said during his Happy Sad Confused interview with American entertainment journalist and podcaster Josh Horowitz, describing it as his first apology. The episode was released on 26 October.
Cohen mixed the apology with a joke, asking any Kazakhs in the audience dispatched on a mission against him to abandon it.
«I respect your people, your culture. Please do not take it personally,» he maintained, adding that his character has nothing to do with modern-day Kazakhstan.
Read more: Belgian football fans detained in Kazakhstan over Borat-style mankinis
Why Borat became ‘Kazakh’
Borat’s perceived nationality began as a broadcasting workaround. Cohen explained that earlier versions were Albanian or Moldovan, with names and backgrounds altered as he developed material for different channels.
He also recalled a complaint from Kazakhstan’s embassy, which acknowledged that it had objected ‘quite rightly.’ Cohen admitted he did not know the country’s accents and that Kazakhs looked nothing like Borat.
The interview forms part of the promotion for Ali G: Who Iz I?, Cohen’s return to another character whose comedy plays on stereotypes and unsuspecting interviewees.
Read more: Is Ali G racist? It depends on whether you can laugh at that one joke by Sacha Baron Cohen
Borat’s association with Kazakhstan continues to provoke incidents. In January, Astana police detained three Belgian football supporters who wore the character’s distinctive mankinis during a Champions League match against Kairat.
