Kazakhstan invites Borat to see country for himself

News in pictures
News in pictures
On Facebook
From the blogs

Disclosure: We’d never even been to a club when we made our first single

For most of us, reaching eighteen years of age opens up a new world for exploration, spontaneity and...

Top of the posts: Drunken rants, the Western Fail and misogyny pushers

The most read blogs this week, as determined by stats.

Sepp Blatter: Penalty shoot-outs must remain, they’re football’s great leveller

As England supporters, we should scorn at any such deciding factor within football. On so many occas...

Why do some men consider the street as a female meat market?

Pronouncements on sexual inequality in the UK are normally met with an eye roll by my generation. As...

Few people can have done more to publicise a hitherto obscure country whose delights had remained hidden from an incurious outside world. But unfortunately for Kazakhstan, the man who chose to put it on the map was Sacha Baron Cohen, and the British comedian's Jew-baiting, women-hating character Borat has become a serious thorn in the side for the authorities of the central Asian republic.

After trying various methods of deterrence including threatening legal action and banning his website, the country's deputy foreign minister has invited Baron Cohen to see the country first hand. Rakhat Aliyev, the powerful son-in-law of the oil-rich country's president, told the Kazakhstan news agency: "He can discover a lot of things. Women drive cars, wine is made of grapes, and Jews are free to go to synagogue."

To underline the policy of rapprochement, Mr Aliyev added: "We must have a sense of humour and respect other people's freedom of creativity. It's useless to offend an artist and threaten to sue him. It will only further damage the country's reputation and make Borat even more popular." There was no comment from Baron Cohen who is in Los Angeles.

The former Ali G star first earned the opprobrium of the Kazakh nation when he presented last year's MTV Europe Music Awards in character as the fictional state TV journalist. Borat's repertoire includes describing the pecking order in his homeland as a chain that starts with God and continues down through "man, horse, dog, woman, then rat". Among the traditional folk songs, he tells audiences, is a ditty entitled "Throw the Jew Down the Well", which is best enjoyed after a few glasses of the local wine - made from horse urine.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman, Yerzhan Ashykbayev, hit back immediately after the MTV appearance, describing Baron Cohen's act as "utterly unacceptable, being a concoction of bad taste and ill manners which is completely incompatible with the ethics and civilised behaviour of Kazakhstan's people".

The government hired two public relations firms to counter the bad publicity and ran a four-page advertisement in The New York Times. The comedian lampooned the fracas on his website, returning to character and singing the praises of the country. "Women can now travel on inside of bus, homosexuals no longer have to wear blue hats, and age of consent has been raised to eight years old.

"Please, captain of industry; I invite you to come to Kazakhstan where we have incredible natural resources, hardworking labour, and some of the cleanest prostitutes in whole of central Asia. Goodbye!" he said.

But it is not just the Kazakhs that the Cambridge graduate has offended. Americans were infuriated when - as Ali G - he pretended to mistake 9/11 for the convenience store 7-11. He was practically lynched while filming a documentary at a rodeo in Arizona by mocking US policy in Iraq. He also managed to upset Jewish groups with his jokes.

Baron Cohen's latest film, Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan is being premiered at the London Film Festival. The plot revolves around "Kazkhstan's sixth most famous man" being dispatched to the US, where he becomes obsessed with tracking down the Baywatch star Pamela Anderson.

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Career Services

Day In a Page

Patrick Cockburn: I fear this terrible massacre will be the beginning of a long civil war in Syria

Patrick Cockburn

I fear this terrible massacre will be the beginning of a long civil war in Syria
Hardeep Singh Kohli: For me, it is all about 'Gregory's Girl', a record of first love

Hardeep Singh Kohli

For me, it is all about 'Gregory's Girl', a record of first love
Christian Louboutin: 'I don't think comfort equals happiness'

Christian Louboutin interview

'I don't think comfort equals happiness'
Happy birthday, Hotel Babylon!

Happy birthday, Hotel Babylon!

Hollywood's home to the A-list celebrates 100 years of discreet luxury
Rupert Cornwell: Low-rise capital could finally reach for the sky

Rupert Cornwell: Out of America

Low-rise capital could finally reach for the sky
The secret life of the red carpet

The secret life of the red carpet

As Cannes reaches its climax with the Palme d'Or and the celebrities gather in London for the Baftas tonight, Kate Youde and Jack Dean investigate the real star of the show
It's not easy being Professor Green: The rapper, the heiress and a drama made in Chelsea...

It's not easy being Professor Green

The rapper, the heiress and a drama made in Chelsea...
Hardcore, hard-wired: How the prevalence of porn is changing our everyday lives

How porn is changing our lives

It's everywhere - from pop videos to fashion magazines to the theatrical stage.
River Phoenix: the final reel

River Phoenix: the final reel

Twenty years after the actor's death, his last film is to be released
Facebook: The shares shenanigans

Facebook: The shares shenanigans

Investors are crying foul over the huge losses they incurred when the social network site floated on the stock market last week
Up and away – how '7 Up' went global

Up and away – how '7 Up' went global

As the last episode of Britain's '56 Up' airs, the first episode of '28 Up', from the former USSR, starts. Then there's the US, Japan, Germany...
You'll soon pick this up: Tuck into Bill Granger's fresh street food

Tuck into Bill Granger's fresh street food

It provides perfect party fare for some fun in the sun...
All to play for: How is Ukraine shaping up ahead of Euro 2012?

How is Ukraine shaping up ahead of Euro 2012?

Peter Popham casts his eye over the state of the Euro 2012 co-host ahead of the tournament.
Red or not, here they come: Artists reimagine the iconic telephone booth

BT ArtBoxes: Red or not, here they come

Artists reimagine the iconic telephone booth...
The Last Word: Premier bullies devise youth system bound to end in tears

The Last Word

Premier bullies devise youth system bound to end in tears