Sacha Baron Cohen, most popular for his portrayal in the comedy film Borat, made headlines this weekend after crashing a far-right rally in Olympia, Washington disguised as a singer. Acting as a sponsor of the event, he climbed onto stage and proceeded to belt out racially-charged lyrics and led a sing-a-long with a few members from the crowd. Supposedly, Baron Cohen’s hired security who blocked the event organizers from yanking him from the stage or pulling the power from the generator.
In Olympia, Washington, Matt Marshall organized a Washington Three Percenters rally dubbed the “March for Our Rights Rally.” The Washington Three Percenters, founded by Marshall, is an offshoot of the Patriot movement. The group is steepled in charitable work but known for their gun rights demonstrations. They are regarded as a right-wing militia in Washington, despite the group’s rejection of this label.
A California-Based PAC group called “Back to Work USA” reached out to Marshall suddenly a week before the event, and offered to fund everything. This group contributed $50,000 to the rally, providing a stage, red, white and blue balloons, a security team and Country music star Larry Gatlin of the Gatlin Brothers.
Baron Cohen posed as a surprise musical guest appearance, according to Marshall, he was clearly in disguise. He told NPR that he was suspicious as soon as the surprise musical act stepped on stage.
“A guy that’s like wearing almost a clown suit of red, white and blue gets up there,” Marshall claimed. “Obvious disguise. Like a fake nose and chin. And he starts playing and the first thought when you hear his voice is, ‘Dude, is this like a bad impression of Borat?'”
Videos that surfaced from the rally showed Baron Cohen in disguise, singing a racist song with references to the “Wuhan Flu,” “Saudis,” Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Dr. Fauci, and more. Baron Cohen is known for his outrageous stunts, pranks, and acting roles. His family is also used to the death threats, suing allegations and negative press that accompany his demonstrations.
Watch the shocking video below:
Marshall claims that he’s spent years trying to convince people that his group is not racist. It was shocking when several people joined in, singing the racist lyrics, but he says that half of the people were shocked and disbanded when the problematic lyrics began.
While Baron Cohen has not commented publicly on the incident, but Matt Marshall believes this was a stunt for Baron Cohen’s satire show, “Who Is America?”
He called the musical number an attempt to “manufacture racism,” and an attempt to make “conservatives look bad.”
“I think he was successful infiltrating us and pranking us,” Marshall said. “But my message to Sacha Cohen is, ‘Nice try. We stopped you and we have all the evidence on our side now that we did chase you off stage and the crowd was not happy.’”
What do you think of Sacha Baron Cohen’s demonstration? Do you think it was effective or uncalled for? While pondering this, read here to see U.S. resident’s photograph of “Wighte Lives Matter” graffiti on a fence.
