By

David Morgan /

CBS/ February 11, 2009, 3:41 PM

Borat He Dead, I Kill Him, Gone

Borat and Ali G are heading for comedy heaven.

Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, who created the bumbling Kazakhstan reporter Borat as well as the interviewer Ali G, said his indiscreet personas have become so famous he can longer trick people while in character. So he is "killing" them off.

A London newspaper reported that it was the popularity of his creations that has led to their demise. "The problem with success, although it's fantastic, is that every new person who sees the Borat movie is one less person I 'get' with Borat again, so it's a kind of self-defeating form, really," Baron Cohen told the Daily Telegraph.

"It is like saying goodbye to a loved one," he said.

Sacha Baron Cohen earned a Golden Globe last year for his performance, and an Academy Award nomination as co-writer, for "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," a mockumentary in which a bumbling journalist explores the peculiarities of the United States while demonstrating a few peculiarities of his own.

Ali G was featured in an eponymous talk show that played in the United States on HBO.

"When I was being Ali G and Borat, I was in character sometimes 14 hours a day and I came to love them, so admitting I am never going to play them again is quite a sad thing," he told the paper.

Since "Borat" was released, the controversy of its hit-and-run interviews and fly-on-the-wall scenes featuring unsuspecting people, famous or not, led to several lawsuits and condemnation from the government of Kazakhstan. Some claim they were "tricked" into appearing in the film, where Borat trashes a store, engages in sexist conversations with fraternity brothers, and hands a dinner party guest a bag supposedly containing his own feces.

There was even a collective $38 million lawsuit filed by villagers in Glod, Romania, who claim scenes filmed there depict residents as rapists, abortionists, thieves, prostitutes and fools.

"Some of the letters I get are quite unusual," he told the paper, "like the one where the lawyer informed me I'm about to be sued for $100,000 and at the end says, "P.S. Loved the movie. Can you sign a poster for my son Jeremy?'"

Baron Cohen currently appears in the film adaptation of "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," as Signor Adolfo Pirelli, another charlatan.
Copyright 2009 CBS. All rights reserved.
  • David Morgan

    David Morgan is a senior editor at CBSNews.com and cbssundaymorning.com.

6 Comments Add a Comment
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keithle1 says:
Smart to retire the character. Don''t want to drive them into the ground. Like the comedians who do the "cable guy" & "redneck" schtick.

Borat talking to the "feminists." Priceless.
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tpeks40 says:
Some people need to get a sense of humor. Borat was one of the funniest movies I''ve ever seen. Too bad you can''t see it for what it was.....a comedy. I understand why people with tight a$$es wouldn''t enjoy it, but that''s also what made it so hysterical. RIP Borat.
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hissteps4u says:
Who cares did not watch the Movie or the Man dont care for such junk. the Shorts on TV only showed me how truely Dumb the Movie would have been.

Now if Carey does another Bit I would be more than happy to watch that.

No doubt there is something for everyone in this world and Borat sure was not my taste or alot of folks
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nycprof says:
Yeah, the movie went over the top sometimes, but it was still an insightful critique of American society. I suspect that people who did not like it, saw a bit (or more) of themselves and the darker side of our culture in it and prefer to live a life of willful ignorance.
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kevzgrl says:
Good riddance - I saw the movie at my brother-in-law''s house, and it was without a doubt the stupidest film I have ever seen in my life. The wrestling scene was gross and disgusting, and I hope to NEVER see anything like that again. Not funny, not interesting, not good. I can''t understand how the studios let garbage like that be made, and people pay to watch it.
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scarletphd says:
Yeah, OK, and the world just keeps on spinning anyway.
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