Roy Moore Sues Sacha Baron Cohen For $95M Over ‘Pedophile Beeper’ Skit
Image by Getty Images
Roy Moore, the failed Senate candidate from Alabama, on Wednesday filed a $95 million lawsuit accusing Sacha Baron Cohen of defamation for duping him into appearing on the actor’s Showtime television series “Who Is America?”
Moore, a Republican and former chief justice of Alabama’s Supreme Court, also brought defamation claims against Showtime and its parent, CBS Corp, over a sketch broadcast on July 29 that appeared to portray him as a sex offender.
Moore lost his Senate race in Republican-dominated Alabama to Democrat Doug Jones last December after being accused of sexual misconduct toward women when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s. One woman said he tried to initiate sexual contact with her when she was 14.
The lawsuit said Baron Cohen’s show mocked him with a “false and fraudulent portrayal” that harmed Moore’s reputation and caused “severe emotional distress” to his family.
In the disputed sketch, Baron Cohen, disguised as a purported Israeli anti-terrorism expert Erran Morad, demonstrated what he said was a device for detecting pedophiles, which beeped when it came into Moore’s range.
Moore said he had been tricked into meeting Baron Cohen by being told he was receiving an award for his strong support of Israel, and that he never would have agreed to the interview in Washington, D.C., had he known that Morad was Baron Cohen.
Kayla Moore also made headlines by pushing back against anti-Semitism charges by claiming the couple had a “Jewish attorney.”—Reuters
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
