Driving instructor takes legal action against the makers of Borat
A US driving instructor who appeared in the Borat movie has taken legal action against the film’s makers, claiming he thought he was taking part in a documentary.
Michael Psenicska wants more than $400,000 USD in damages from actor Sacha Baron Cohen, 20th Century Fox and other parties.
Distributor Fox said Mr Psenicska, from Baltimore, had been paid for his involvement and had given his consent to be filmed.
He claims he thought the film was “a documentary about the integration of foreign people into the American way of life,” according to the lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court.
Instead, Mr Psenicska, a high school mathematics teacher who owns his own driving school, encountered bogus Kazakh reporter Cohen’s “kissie huggie” routine, the suit says. Then, Cohen “attempted to engage the seatbelt on by wrapping it between his legs, and twisting it all different ways, and struggling like a child,” the suit says.
The film shows Mr Psenicska struggling to control his pupil who drives erratically, drinks alcohol and yells at a pedestrian.
When Psenicska protested, the suit states, Cohen rolled down the window and offered a female pedestrian $10 for “sexy time” and hollered “Chocolate man!” to a black pedestrian. Psenicska says he told Cohen as he exited the car “that he needed a lot of practice, but not to call [him].” Psenicska claims he was paid just $500 and signed paperwork without reading it after he was told it was “standard.”
The legal action is just one of several that have been brought against the 2006 comedy. Several unwitting cast members, among them two college fraternity members and residents of a Romanian village, have sued over how they were depicted.
Mr Psenicska said he was entitled to damages because the defendants used images of him to advertise the film. A Fox spokesman said the action had been prompted by the film’s financial success.
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan has made more than $260m worldwide, before DVD sales.
Sacha Baron Cohen will shortly be seen alongside Johnny Depp in Tim Burton’s movie musical Sweeney Todd.
