NY businessman sues Borat
2007-06-08 11:52
New York - A businessman seen fleeing down Manhattan's Fifth Avenue in the hit movie Borat with British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen chasing after him has sued filmmaker 20th Century Fox, saying his civil rights were violated.
The lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Manhattan, seeks unspecified damages on behalf of the businessman, who listed himself as John Doe.
The New York Post reported on Thursday that the businessman was Jeffrey Lemerond.
Lemerond, a Dartmouth College graduate and financial analyst, was shown running and yelling "Go away!" as Cohen's Borat character, a phony Kazakhstan journalist, chased him in an attempt to hug strangers.
His lawyer did not immediately return a telephone message for comment on Thursday.
Freedom of speech
Twentieth Century Fox said that Lemerond's claim was "completely without merit" and that it would "aggressively defend this lawsuit" and anticipated it would prevail.
"Consistent with the First Amendment, New York law does not recognise this kind of claim in connection with the Borat movie or other literary works and films that are matters of interest to the public," spokesperson Chris Petrikin said.
The First Amendment of the US Constitution guarantees free speech.
Cohen's 2006 film, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, has led to several lawsuits and criticism that he depicts the Central Asian nation as bigoted and backward.
'Public ridicule'
Lemerond's June 1 lawsuit said the businessman suffered "public ridicule, degradation and humiliation" as a result of his appearance in the film.
It said 20th Century Fox knew it was unlawful to use Lemerond's likeness without his consent because the company scrambled his face in a trailer but did not scramble his face in the movie.
- AP