Prankster, social critic and slapstick clown, Sacha Baron Cohen has no shame. He drums up controversy as each of the three alter egos he perfected on HBO’s “Da Ali G Show”–whether it’s the show’s eponymous hip-hop naif, the flamboyant Austrian fashion reporter Bruno or Kazakh TV personality Borat Sagdiyev. Here are some moments from Cohen’s career as an all-purpose offender.
ALI G
– The designated “youth correspondent” for England’s Channel 4, Ali G asks former U.S. Secretary of State Alexander Haig, “Is it true that Reagan and Thatcher was doin’ it?”
– On “Da Ali G Show,” Ali convenes a panel to talk about religion, including a rabbi and an atheist. He asks, “Ain’t God just like an overhyped David Blaine?” Then he wonders to the priest why so many nuns are strippers.
BRUNO
– During New York Fashion Week (on “Da Ali G Show”), Bruno asks a designer whether he’s considered using the mentally ill to model clothes and later asks whether Osama bin Laden is fashionable.
– Bruno visits a Christian pastor who converts homosexuals. “So tell me, why is gay out this season?” he asks, then proceeds to offer the pastor a lap dance.
BORAT
– During door-to-door canvassing for Mississippi Republican congressional candidate James Broadwater (on “Da Ali G Show”), Borat tells one potential supporter, a woman, that women aren’t equal to men. In his country, he says, the hierarchy goes “God, man, horse, dog, woman, rat.”
– After the government of Kazakhstan threatens Cohen with legal action over the “Borat” movie, Borat responds on his Web site: “I’d like to state I have no connection with Mr. Cohen and fully support my government’s decision to sue this Jew.”
