British prankster Sacha Baron Cohen targeted former Vice President Dick Cheney and journalist Ted Koppel among others on the latest episode of his Showtime comedy series Who Is America.
In one scene, Baron-Cohen poses as an Israeli anti-terror expert, Colonel Erran Morad, who meets with Dick Cheney and asks that the former vice president sign a “waterboarding kit.” Morad also asks Cheney which of the wars he started was his favorite.
Elsewhere, former Nightline anchor Ted Koppel sat down with Cohen persona ‘Billy Wayne Ruddick Jr., Ph.D.,’ a conspiracy theorist character. The interview ended swiftly after Ruddick refused to accept basic concepts, such as the setting of the sun.
However, Koppel has admitted he enjoyed watching the pranks.
“Everybody loves seeing well-known people get duped,” Koppel told the Hollywood Reporter. “I relish it too, when it’s done well.”
In another segment, Cohen again poses as Morad who has enlisted Georgia’s Republican state representative Jason Spencer for a tutorial on self-defense. In the video, Spencer is taught a number of “techniques” that include dropping his pants to scare Islamic State terrorists and even screaming the N-word as a form of intimidation.
In a statement to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution before the segment aired, Spencer claimed that Cohen had “fraudulently induced me in participating in bogus self-defense and anti-terrorism training,” and that he “was told the video was intended to be an educational aid to train elected officials who may be targeted by terrorists.”
He continued:
They exploited my state of mind for profit and notoriety. This media company’s deceptive and fraudulent behavior is exactly why President Donald Trump was elected. Furthermore, there are sensitive parts of this training that took place under a kidnapping scenario where I was repeatedly asked to shout provocative language which I requested be removed, but I was not afforded that opportunity to have final approval over footage used that was initially extended to me by the filmmakers. It is clear the makers of this film intended to deceive me in an attempt to undermine the American conservative political movement; therefore, I have sought legal counsel to challenge this illegal and unethical behavior and plan on taking action if and when any of this fraudulently obtained footage of me is used by these Hollywood liberals to line their own pockets.
The show has sharply divided opinion since its premiere earlier this month, with other prominent victims including Bernie Sanders and Sarah Palin. The show’s premiere attracted a disappointing audience of just 327,000 viewers, with many critics pointing to its repetitive and predictable humor.
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