Another in the LONG line of lawsuits resulting from the pseudo-documentary "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America to Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" was dismissed this week.
According to the Associated Press, a
New York City judge has tossed out the suits brought against comedian Sascha Baron Cohen and 20th Century Fox by three of the films "participants." The plaintiffs include two of Borat's Southern etiquette instructors and the Baltimore teacher who gave the hapless journalist driving lessons. All three, the judge noted, had agreed to participate in a "documentary-style" film and had accepted money and signed waivers – releasing the film's producers from liability.
This is at least the fourth similar case to be dismissed since "Borat" began to make serious money back in 2006. The residents of a town in Romania (depicted as Kazakhstan in the film) were rebuffed by a US judge who said that their angst over being portrayed as incestuous imbeciles was "too vague." The fraternity boys from South Carolina saw their suits dismissed in February 2007.
Now that they've got the driving instructor and the etiquette ladies out of the way, Baron Cohen and the "Borat" folks only have to deal with the dude from the subway who wants 2 million dollars for his unlicensed image and like, all of the people in that rodeo scene – man, they looked like assholes.
Here's hoping they can get the rest of the pending cases dismissed by the time "Bruno" comes out – I can only write so many more of these lawsuit stories.
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