How dare these fratboys sue Borat.

[shadowgrin]

http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/news/ap/20061111/116324724000.html

Two fraternity members from a South Carolina university are suing over their appearance in the hit movie "Borat," saying they were duped into making racist and sexist remarks.

The legal action filed Thursday on their behalf claims they were tricked into appearing in the spoof documentary "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan."

The young men "engaged in behavior that they otherwise would not have engaged in," the lawsuit said.

"Borat" follows the adventures of comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's Kazakh journalist character in a blend of fiction and improvised comic encounters as he travels across the United States and mocks Americans.

The plaintiffs were not named in the lawsuit "to protect themselves from any additional and unnecessary embarrassment." They were identified in the movie as fraternity members from a South Carolina university, and appeared drunk as they made insulting comments about women and minorities to Cohen's character.

The lawsuit claims that in October 2005, a production crew took the students to a bar to drink and "loosen up" before participating in what they were told would be a documentary to be shown outside of the United States.

"They were induced to agree to participate and were told the name of the fraternity and the name of their school wouldn't be used," said the plaintiffs' attorney, Olivier Taillieu. "They were put into an RV and were made to believe they were picking up Borat the hitchhiker."

After a bout of heavy drinking, the plaintiffs signed a release form they were told "had something to do with liability issues with being in the RV," Taillieu said.

The film "made plaintiffs the object of ridicule, humiliation, mental anguish and emotional and physical distress, loss of reputation, goodwill and standing in the community," the lawsuit said.

It names 20th Century Fox, a unit of News Corp., and three production companies as defendants.

Studio spokesman Gregg Brilliant said the lawsuit "has no merit."

The plaintiffs were seeking an injunction to stop the studio from displaying their image and likeness, along with unspecified monetary damages.

"Borat" debuted as the top movie last weekend with $26.5 million.

Todd Bailey, president of the University of South Carolina chapter of Chi Psi, told The (Columbia) State newspaper that one of the two plaintiffs was a member of Chi Psi, while the other had left the university.

A woman who identified herself Friday as the house mother for the South Carolina Chi Psi chapter referred all comment on the lawsuit to the fraternity's national headquarters in Hendersonville, Tenn.

In a statement, Brad Beskin, national director of operations for Chi Psi, said the fraternity "condemned" the statements made by the students in the film.

[Matt]

free publicity, gotta love that.

[Oznogrd]

ok those guys are idiots to claim they wouldnt've made those comments usually. There is no worse kind of person than a southern drunken frat boy when it comes to prejudice....

[Christopherson]

Illini, it sounds like you are full of prejudice my freind. You are all over these boards labeling people with viewpoints just beacuse of a single characteristic of a person that you know about.

[cyanide]

The boys were lied to by the production crew, which isn't cool, but it's not like they were handed a script to say ethnist and sexist comments.

[Indy]

The boys were lied to by the production crew, which isn't cool, but it's not like they were handed a script to say ethnist and sexist comments.

I'm not even sure I buy that. When I see a contract that says it I'll believe it. They see a movie making a ton of money that they happen to be in and think maybe they have a shot at cashing out from it.

[Oznogrd]

Christopherson, i am originally from SC and know the kind of people who are there. They are for the most part idiot racists, especially the upper class white kids. so when i saw "University of South Carolina Fraternity brothers" i'm sure the entire theatre heard me go "OH FUCK"...if people want me to not label them, they need to not act like their label. These guys acted like typical stereotypes of frat boys. Yes i know the movie was probly edited to jab at them more than to show them in a good light, but that doesnt change anything they said or the way they acted.

[dada]

I pity the fools. (this has gradually turned into my smiley of choice)

[Zoom]

The thing is a few people who 'appeared' in the movie claim they have lost their jobs due to the the movie so they wnat Borat to appologise... also, the fratboys wont get any type of case anyways... 'no merit' said some judge.

[RSox]

Nobody really cares what these people think. Maybe 1 person might not see it. It's just their opinion. My friend said he love the movie though.

[Jeffx]

ok those guys are idiots to claim they wouldnt've made those comments usually. There is no worse kind of person than a southern drunken frat boy when it comes to prejudice....

..or some phony Upper East Side NY liberal. Believe me, they're no different. I love how folks get upset when their racism is exposed. Instead of looking at themselves, they're angry at Borat. All the movie does is expose the dark, ugly side of people while being laugh-out-loud funny

[Oznogrd]

guess thats true. I'm from the area where those guys were from (1/3 of my high school goes to college at USC) so maybe i'm just disillusioned to thinking prejudice is predominantly southern thing. But i understand fully it applies to anyone and everyone and i forget that sometimes. These guys have no case they were what 26 years old? they should hold their own responsibility for their own actions. So what Sacha egged them on to make mysoginistic and racist comments? they still made them.