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'Borat' DVD Could Be Held Up Over Racism Lawsuit
By The Associated Press
December 08, 2006
A
judge is weighing whether to halt the DVD release of "Borat" at the request of
two fraternity members from a South
Carolina
university who say they were duped into making racist and sexist remarks in the
hit movie.
Los
Angeles Superior Court Judge Joseph Biderman viewed the scene in question on
Thursday but did not indicate when he might issue a
ruling.
The
fraternity members filed a lawsuit Nov. 9, alleging they were tricked into
appearing in the spoof documentary "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for
Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan."
The
men, who were not named in the lawsuit, allege the film's producers took them to
a bar and, after a bout of heavy drinking, persuaded them to sign release forms
agreeing to appear in what they were told would be a documentary shown outside
the United
States.
The
lawsuit claims the film brought them "ridicule, humiliation, mental anguish and
emotional and physical distress, loss of reputation, goodwill and standing in
the community."
Attorney
Olivier Taillieu, who represents the plaintiffs, said the DVD should not be
released because "further dissemination of the film is going to cause some
injury to my clients."
He
said one of the men was forced to resign from his prominent position at the
University of
South
Carolina
chapter of Chi Psi.
Besides
wanting to bar the DVD release, the plaintiffs are seeking unspecified monetary
damages.
An
attorney representing 20th Century Fox, a unit of News Corp., questioned the
plaintiffs' claim that they were too drunk to understand the release
forms.
"We're
confident that we're going to prevail," attorney Louis Petrich said. "We don't
think the lawsuit has any merit. We don't even agree with them on the
facts."
The
movie, which follows the adventures of comedian Sacha
Baron Cohen's Kazakh journalist character, has been a surprise
hit at the box office, earning more than $100 million in the
United
States.
(AP)
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