A Cut of $26.5 Million? "I Liiiike!"
This "news" broke earlier in the week. But we were distracted by more important developments. Like the Britney Spears-Kevin Federline divorce. And that whole "midterm elections" thing.
Anyway, here it is:
A Turkish Internet celebrity is so convinced he was the inspiration for Sacha Baron Cohen's "Borat" character, he's traveling to London seeking an apology and a way to get paid from the film's surprise success.Mahir Cagri, 44, became a cyber celebrity after posting a personal Web site in 1999, featuring unintentionally amusing photos of himself playing pingpong or the accordion and sunbathing in a skimpy bathing suit. Fans were captivated by his broken English and hilarious invitation to women: "Who is want to come TURKEY I can invitate ... She can stay my home."
No lawsuit yet from Cagri, but given the financial success of Borat -- it earned $26.5 million domestically in its opening weekend -- one can't be far behind. And, of course, look for other purported "Borats" to emerge from the woodwork.
In the interests of judicial economy, let's make this a Rule 23 class action. The plaintiff class: every horny, buffoonish Near Eastern male, who speaks English with an awful accent.
Very niiiice.
Internet celebrity claims to be the real-life 'Borat' [Associated Press]
Comments
Too bad Cohen made up this character years before Cagri was an internet sensation.
http://celebs.electronicnewsnetwork.com/sacha-cohen/
Posted by: Chris | November 9, 2006 04:10 PM
Yes, yet another example of main stream news merely repeating what the Associated Press puts out, without taking a few minutes to investigate the story a little bit on their own (although that ENN online news site linked above did).
And just to fill in the blanks for anyone not aware - Mahir made this allegation (that Borat is impersonating him) and implied he may sue him in the November issue of Wired Magazine.
That interview and his statement were repeated in a lot of major blogs, forums and websites.. and a few days or so later the AP released the news to all their traditional media customers.
I think the Britney / K-Fed divorce case will be much more interesting. :)
Posted by: Walter | November 9, 2006 05:46 PM
I remember Mahir. He got famous the summer before I entered college. If I recall correctly, his hobbies included, "making sex with womens of the world." His site was famous for having a huge banner that said "I KISS YOU I KISS YOU I KISS YOU!!!!!!!"
Borat has nothing on the real thing.
Posted by: Megan | November 10, 2006 05:41 PM
I think mahir should be sued and be forced to apologise to sacha for stealing his character
Posted by: danny | March 7, 2007 04:13 AM