Borat finally weighs in on Kanye West, Donald Trump, and American antisemitism
Sacha Baron Cohen and Howard Stern are among those celebrities commenting on the recent wave of antisemitism in pop culture
Aux News Kanye west
The advent of social media has allowed the public to have a voice in conversations that affect us all. Unfortunately, it can also drown out the voices of important cultural leaders at critical moments. Luckily for all of us, Hollywood’s moral North Star Borat made an appearance at the Kennedy Center Honors to weigh in on current events, including Ye (otherwise known as Kanye West), former President Donald Trump, and American antisemitism.
Sacha Baron Cohen’s iconic character was on the scene as part of the tribute to U2, for some reason, but given the venue, it was inevitable he turn to political humor. “I know the president of US and A is here. Where are you, Mr. Trump?” Looking at current president Joe Biden, he continued (per The Guardian), “Where has your blown-ass big belly gone? And your pretty orange skin has become pale.” Borat also acknowledged Dr. Jill Biden with the joke: “I see you have a new wife. Wawawoooah! She is very erotic. I must look away before I get a Bono.”
“Before I proceed, I will say I am very upset about the antisemitism in US and A. It not fair. Kazakhstan is No 1 Jew-crushing nation. Stop stealing our hobby. Stop the steal! Stop the steal!” The comedian went on to add, “Your Kanye. He tried to move to Kazakhstan and even tried to change his name to Kazakhstan-ye West. But we said no. He’s too antisemitic even for us.”
Baron Cohen, who is of Jewish descent, went on to perform a rendition of a U2 hit in character, swapping the words to sing “With Or Without Jews.” Per The Guardian, Borat interrupted himself to ask “What’s the problem? They loved this at Mar-a-Lago. They chose ‘Without Jews.’”
Borat wasn’t the only cultural leader to speak up about Ye in the wake of his controversial Alex Jones interview. On the latest episode of his Sirius XM show (per Variety), Howard Stern said, “This guy is so ill.” Reflecting on some of Ye’s antisemitic remarks, the host added, “Alex Jones kept trying to throw him a life preserver and Kanye would just slap it away. It was pretty fucking crazy. All this stuff I was reading and hearing about.”
Outlining the ways Adolf Hitler’s beliefs also targeted Black people, Stern went on to say, “I could give you a psychological theory that I’m sure I’m not the only one that thinks, that maybe he hates being Black so much. He’s so self-hating. He wants to wear a hood and pretend he’s a white man. A white man in the Nazi party. In a weird way [he] despises being Black and wants to be accepted by Nazis.”
120 Comments
Do you guys get paid extra every time you put “finally” in the headline?
Same.
Like…were we collectively awaiting Cohen’s take, with bated breath?Qualification: he’s a cool guy, and seemingly an intelligent & moral one, as well. But…he did not spring to mind any time this Kanye thing got brought up. /shrugs
pretty sure that’s the joke. The “finally” is sarcastic; no one expected or was waiting for Borat to weigh in on this
I think taking the headline as serious and not sarcastic says more about your sense of humor than it does about this website.I think the title is hilarious.
It’s irony.
(“The title/article is sarcastic/ironic…”)Ah.It is (genuinely) tough to tell, some days here.
About as much as they get paid to put “uneven” in their reviews.
Those goofy clickbait tricks. They use “Finally” in headlines like Looper uses “Confirms What We Suspected”, as in ‘Celebrity A confirms what we suspected about Celebrity B’.
Imagine spending hours a day on a website you only complain about and use to troll people.
You’re not people.
Seriously… what percentage of your life do you spend on this website, you fucking loser. I bet it’s close to 10%.
seriously.
No but they have to pay CeCe Peniston royalties.
Finally is the new actually.
Keira Knightley
Hugh Grant
Annie Hathaway
Which ever handsome Chris isn’t too busy
Florence Pugh
Matthew Perry
Keanu fucking Reeves
and of course
Aubrey Plaza
in
Finally, Actually
Coming this Christmas to exactly 4 theaters for exactly 2 days.
Is American anti-Semitism different from the continental kind?
Antisemitism is pretty stupid to begin with, but Americans make it stupider. Also higher average BMI, more beards.
Don’t we tend to make everything stupider?
Well, yeah, but that’s because Americans are a mongrel race. Best thing to do with mongrels is neuter them.
Larger portions and extra cheese.
And they look at you weird if you ask for ice in your beverage?
Continental, you say?
Oui!
I only wish I can achieve a state of delight like this gentleman’s reaction towards yoplait cups and packaged cheese danishes!
That’s “The Continental”, thank you very much.
American anti-semitism isn’t as reliable, and you’ll be trading it in for a foreign model before long.
Their antisemitism is more refined. After all, they were hating Jews before we were even a country.
Mostly true, especially when you account for the fact that nazi-ism was gaining ground as a legit ideology in the US until Pearl Harbor.
In Europe most antisemitism comes from muslim immigrants and their descendants and the far left. Far right antisemitism is less a problem and at least there has been no violence from them against Jews in decades. Also you have “funny” things like the leader of the far right anti muslim party “Reconquete”in France being a proud North African Jew.
Continental anti-Semitism is just anti-semitism with only fruit juice and with cereal.
We don’t extend our pinkies.
You get espresso with the continental.
I think it adds an extra layer of stupid when antisemitism comes from a country that fought in a war to end it. It’s like asking for something for Christmas, getting it, and returning it. But instead of a refund you’re calling for the death of a marginalized group of people.
Just like that, yes.
Yes. It is fatter and doesn’t perform as well on reading and math tests.
Which side of the road does it drive on?
It comes with a much better breakfast than the continental kind.
American Anti-Semitism is very different from the European versions. First, it is drizzled in a thick layer of processed yellow cheese. Second, it is about 120% larger, just like American portions of everything. Finally, it contains a semi-toxic level of added sodium.
At least in England, definitely. Look at Jeremy Corbyn, you can get away with being blatantly antisemitic a lot longer in England than here. Say what you will, we have tons of it, but it is now becoming more overt and normalized again here, already was there. And for France, Dreyfus Affair.
I expect Kanye to do a cover of Throw the Jews Down the Well by next week.
Eric Clapton volunteered to come in and contribute a solo.
Um, waitasecond… did Clapton actually do/say something *antisemitic* recently, or is “scandalous views” enough of an umbrella to use to wedge him into the situation? (Genuine question)
It wasn’t that big a crowbar.
Not recently and not anti semitic (at least not publically). His infamous racist rant in the 70s was against black African and Caribbean immigrants. But, you know, when someone says shit like, “Keep Britain white” or supported politicians like Enoch Powell who advocated for replacement theory, it’s maybe fair to assume antisemitism isn’t too far off. Recently his bullshit has just been anti-vax nonsense.
So low we can’t hear him?
Internet winner!!! Don’t give him any ideas.
Better than his recent track: “No one man should have all that power/except hitler”
“Your Kanye. He tried to move to Kazakhstan and even tried to change his name to Kazakhstan-ye West. But we said no. He’s too antisemitic even for us.”Baron Cohen, who is of Jewish descent, went on to perform a rendition of a U2 hit in character, swapping the words to sing “With Or Without Jews.” I’m not sure what the stupidest Borat joke is, but it’s one of those two.
I laughed.
I didn’t.
That’s bc humor is subjective, you stupid asshole.
Agreed, you worthless piece of dog shit 🙂
me too.
Stupid is funny.
I’ll grant you the song title joke isn’t anything profound, but I laughed out loud on the payoff about what Mar-A-Lago chose.
Ok, “Kazakhstan-ye West” made me chuckle.
My (ex) wife!
Fair enough, I just hope you don’t belong to the “Dave Chappelle is no longer funny” crowd if you think *this* is funny.
Blast Hardcheese
Glad you agree Dave is still funny!
Bolt BigFlank
It depends on the joke. The funny ones or the ones that aren’t funny. He has both up his sleeves.
His act was a lot funnier 17 yrs ago, just like Dave Chappelle’s.
He’s not. He’s mostly hacky or preachy these days.Note: I didn’t even talk about trans stuff, which is a bummer. But has nothing to do with whether he’s been funny. Not all comics stay funny forever. Even Carlin who had a solid, what… 4 decades… lost it in the last few years.
Why? Dave Chappelle stopped being funny when his stand-up just became rants about why he’s right about trans folks or whether or not Jews can be made fun of. He’s given up on jokes and opted for commentary as if he’s on the op/ed section of the New York Times.Cohen is doing actual comedy via a character sketch that is meant to both make us laugh and understand why anti-semitism is bad. That’s how comedy works. If it doesn’t make you laugh, then fine, it’s not for everyone. But don’t tell me what Dave does is comedy anymore.
Translation: Dave Chappelle stopped being funny when he correctly came out and said men can’t be women.That is it, it’s pure politics. I’ve watched all his netflix specials, there is not a single one that is entirely or even mostly dedicated to trans jokes. So you just needed to flat out lie to justify your opinion and that tells me all I need to know.
Yes, Dave does comedy. The game of thrones SNL sketch was hilarious. His juicy smolliet comments were funny and spot on. And get the fuck out of here with “Cohen does actual comedy”, you the fucking comedy police? Hell no. It’s like some pompous little weasel who thinks they get to decide what is and is not art.I find Cohen god damn fucking obnoxious as Borat, but just because I dont find him funny doesn’t mean he isn’t doing comedy. He is, it’s just not my cup of tea. Dave is doing comedy too, and it’s cool if you dont like it but stop with the gaslighting about his trans jokes. And christ almighty if the jokes really are harmful to trans people stop giving them more attention via whining.
“Waahh waaah waaah Durr Durr Durr.”-transphobic assholes who claim it’s all political.And it totally tracks you don’t like Cohen. It’s easy to go from transphobia to Anti-Semitism. Not saying you’re an anti-Semite on top of being a legit transphobe, but it’d track if you were.
Correctly saying men cant be women isn’t transphobic.I mentioned ONE character of his that I don’t find funny and you immediately jumped to “well it’s cuz you hate jews”. Fucking clown. The people saying Dave isn’t funny must hate black people right?
“I must look away before I get a Bono” made me chuckle. Imagining that voice, a completely innocent photo of Dr. Jill Biden and the U2 of it all paints a funny picture.
He’s funny. Gotta give him that.
Don’t encourage them
“Baron Cohen, who is of Jewish descent…”“Baron Cohen, who is Jewish”…would have been a much simpler and less confusing sentence.
They need to specify he didn’t convert for the jokes.
Don’t tell me he’s an anti-dentite
I think the point is that he doesn’t practice Judaism. It’s confusing for me and I’m also of “Jewish descent.” I’ve settled on referring to myself as Ashkenazi, but that too is tied to specific religious practices. How do we maintain our ethnic identity without the supernatural aspects of it?
He does practice Judaism but even if you don’t you are still a Jew.
I thought he was a devout Jew?
I think he IS practicing. I believe his wife converted to Judaism before the wedding.
Except he does practice Judaism, and his wife converted. He may not be Orthodox, but you don’t require your partner to convert if you’re not practicing.
maintain it for what purpose?
I think the point is that he doesn’t practice Judaism.Yes he does. Isla Fisher also converted for him. He’s definitely observant.
“Baron Cohen, a Jew”
“Baron ‘The Jew’ Cohen”
“Noted Jew”
“Jewish descent.” and “Jewish” are not the same thing.
When you are ‘modern Orthodox’, as is SBC, it is truly a distinction without a difference.
He’s Conservative, actually. At least, his claimed practices are compatible with Conservative Judaism, and he got married with a Conservative rabbi.(To the non-Jews out there: despite its name, Conservative Judaism is actually on the liberal side of Jewish thought – not as liberal as the Reforms, but much more than the Orthodox. They’re the Clinton Democrats of Judaism).
You know that not all Jews go to synagogue every week right? Some are even atheists… wild!
…speaking as both a person of Jewish descent and a Jew, this is a can of worms you don’t want to open. Opinions (and their justifications) of whether being Jewish is a religious identity, an ethnic identity, a combination, etc. vary wildly and are frequently contradictory. However Baron Cohen wants to identify is fine, as far as I’m concerned.
If only his father is Jewish and his mother isn’t, then he would not be considered Jewish.
“Person experiencing Jewdom” is the preferred nomenclature
Kanye gets the Uncle Ruckus seal of approval.
Who?
The band on stage…
Yes.
Google it, you stupid asshole.
I googled it, ha, I remember this unfunny asshole! Ali G right? That was him? Lol good stuff.
Stern went on to say, “I could give you a psychological theory that I’m sure I’m not the only one that thinks, that maybe he hates being Black so much. He’s so self-hating. He wants to wear a hood and pretend he’s a white man. A white man in the Nazi party. In a weird way [he] despises being Black and wants to be accepted by Nazis.”I keep seeing people expressing this Deep Thought™, and it’s like… after “slavery was a choice”, after the MAGA hats, after the White Lives Matter shirt, now y’all are getting it?
I am wondering when the shift was there, because it doesn’t seem like he always had that self-loathing quality.
if you go back to his earliest stuff it’s very self conscious and (at the time, what we thought was) self aware. seems he lost the introspection and replaced it with aggression. the ego was always there, but it wasn’t so vicious.i’ve also heard people say part of this is also the long term effects of the head trauma he suffered in the car accident 20 years ago.
It was when his mom died.
Why would Stern exist if not to say things people were already saying years ago as though they were novel insights?
“I keep seeing people expressing this Deep Thought™, and it’s like… after “slavery was a choice”, after the MAGA hats, after the White Lives Matter shirt, now y’all are getting it?”
Yeah! You do it! You take down noted intellectual *checks notes* HOWARD STERN.
What’s your big beef with the Nazis?
i fucking miss glick so much
Liberals just salivating over all of this. They love oppression.
Why does it say “finally” in the headline? I wasn’t personally waiting on baited breathe for Sacha Baron Cohen’s take on all this but sure.
Sarcasm.
Because it’s funny. For the exact reason you outlined.Like if my comment were: I finally know what comicghostrider thought about this headline!!!Also… bated breath. Since we’re apparently choosing to be overly picky about word choice.
Was Cohen reluctantly not commenting on this or something? Why “finally”?
Are you really confused by this? Why multiple comments asking the same thing?
Jews are immensely privileged people, Antisemitism is about as much a problem of as racism against white people. The sudden “rise” in antisemitism is nothing more than white people seizing an opportunity to push back against marginalized people of color calling out white supremacy.
So Kanye is the real life Uncle Ruckus? Makes sense.
Note for the editors: “Baron Cohen, who is of Jewish descent” – this should be “Baron Cohen, who is Jewish”. How religiously observant you are has nothing to do with whether you identify as Jewish, which Baron Cohen does
wave of antisemitism in pop culture.Recent examples? We are distressingly seeing it in the real world, and in politics, but pop culture seems to be behaving themselves.
probably had in mind Kyrie Irving and the attendant nonsense in the NBA
oh my god this guy needs to hang it up