Sacha Baron Cohen calls out ‘danger of lies, hate and conspiracies’ in Golden Globes speech

Sacha Baron Cohen took a dig at the Golden Globes’ lack of diversity and noted the “danger of lies, hate and conspiracies” in the current political climate while accepting the “Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy” award at Sunday’s ceremony.

“Thank you to the all-white Hollywood Foreign Press,” the comedic actor said after winning for his film, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.”

The reference was a dig at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which has faced criticism for a lack of any Black member in its nearly 90-person voting body.

“I’ve got to say, this movie couldn’t have been possible without my co-star: a fresh, new talent who came from nowhere and turned out to be a comedy genius. I’m talking, of course, about Rudy Giuliani,” Cohen said.

Footage from the 2020 film shows Giuliani, former President Trump’s personal attorney, in a mock interview with actress Maria Bakalova posing as a young journalist. Giuliani compliments Bakalova and is then seen reaching into his pants.

“I mean, who could get more laughs out of one unzipping? Incredible,” Cohen said during the Globes, as his wife Isla Fisher sat beside him.

“Our movie was just the beginning for him,” Cohen, 49, continued as he mocked Giuliani. “Rudy went on to star in a string of comedy films: hits like ‘Four Seasons Landscaping,’ ‘Hair Dye Another Day,’ and the court drama, ‘A Very Public Fart.'”

Praising his castmates and the crew on the movie, Cohen — a prominent critic of Trump — said they worked through the coronavirus pandemic and sometimes-dangerous conditions because “we all believe so deeply in releasing this movie before the election to show the danger of lies, hate, conspiracies and the power of truth, empathy and democracy.”