Sacha Baron Cohen has said he will not be bringing Borat back again after retiring the character.
The comic actor explained that he only reprised his role as the faux Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev in Amazon Prime’s Borat Subsequent Moviefilm last year because of Donald Trump and the rise of Trumpism.
Following Trump’s defeat in November’s US election, Sacha has said he doesn’t see the point in resurrecting Borat again.
He told Variety magazine he made the sequel as he “felt democracy was in peril”, explaining: “I felt people’s lives were in peril and I felt compelled to finish the movie. The movie was originally about the danger of Trump and Trumpism. What coronavirus demonstrated was that there’s a lethal effect to his spreading of lies and conspiracy theories.
“I don’t want to egotistically imply that people would watch Borat and not vote for Trump, but that was the aim.”
He continued: “I brought Borat out because of Trump. There was a purpose to this movie, and I don’t really see the purpose to doing it again.
“So yeah, he’s locked away in the cupboard.”
In Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Sacha disguised himself by dressing up as the US president to offer his daughter to Vice President Mike Pence.
Scaha, who first appeared as Borat in the 2006 film of the same name, has a long history with Trump after the comic first targeted him as one of his other comedy characters, Ali G, in 2003.
The episode of Da Ali G Show saw Sacha’s character try to pitch him a product called ice cream gloves, but Trump walked out when he realised it was a prank.
Trump also branded Sacha “a moron who should have been pummelled” after a red carpet stunt at the Oscars in 2012.
Following the release of the second Borat film last year, Trump launched a fresh attack, calling Sacha “a creep”.
“You know, years ago, he tried to scam me. And I was the only one that said: ‘No way. This guy is a phoney guy,’” he said.
“I don’t find him funny. To me, he’s a creep.”