Tiscali Celebrity

Judge throws borat lawsuit out of court

A man who sued the producers of BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN for the illegal use of his image in the 2006 comedy has had his case thrown out of a New York court.

Jeffrey Lemerond filed suit against producers at film studio 20th Century Fox last June (07), after seeing his likeness in the trailer and a 13-second clip of funnyman Sacha Baron Cohen's hit movie.

He was filmed running and shouting "go away" to Cohen's character Borat as he tried to hug strangers in downtown New York.

Lemerond claimed he never gave producers permission to feature him in the movie, and suffered "public ridicule, degradation and humiliation" as a result of his appearance.

However, in court on Wednesday (02Apr08), U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska ruled the clip could be deemed "newsworthy", and thus his image was not used illegally.

Preska added that although the film appealed "to the most childish and vulgar in its viewers", it was an attempt at "an ironic commentary of 'modern' American culture".

Lemerond is now planning to appeal the ruling.

His attorney Eric Hecker says, "We think New York law is clear that a corporation like 20th Century Fox is not entitled to pluck an otherwise anonymous citizen out of a crowd and subject him to public humiliation in order to make a buck."

Lemerond is not the only person from the Borat movie to sue over their unexpected appearances in the film - two students from South Carolina, a driving instructor from Maryland and a group of Romanian villagers are also among those who have filed suit. (MT/WNWCCB/TN)

Page: 1 | 2