Failed Alabama Senate candidate, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama and alleged sexual assailant Roy Moore is suing comedian Sasha Baron Cohen for "defamation" and "intentional infliction of emotional distress and fraud" after Cohen used a fake "pedophile detector" on Moore for a segment in his prank television show, Who is America.
During the segment in question, Cohen interviewed Moore while in disguise as an Israeli anti-terror expert. During the interview, Cohen brought out "the latest Israeli gadget," a wand that acted as a "pedophile detector." When Cohen ran the wand over Moore, it went off. Moore has been accused by nine women of sexual misconduct, two of whom accused him of sexual assault while underage.
"During the segment that featured Judge Moore, Defendant Cohen, – while falsely and fraudulently disguised as the character Erran Morad, a supposed Israeli anti-terrorism expert and former Mossad agent – falsely painted, portrayed, mocked and with malice defamed Judge Moore as a sex offender, which he is not," reads the complaint. "This false and fraudulent portrayal and mocking of Judge Moore as a sex offender, on national and international television, which was widely broadcast in this district...has severely harmed Judge Moore's reputation and caused him, Mrs. Moore, and his entire family severe emotional distress, as well as caused and will cause Plaintiffs financial damage," it continued.
The lawsuit does not mention that allegations of sexual misconduct against Moore were also broadcast on national television when Moore ran for Senate in Alabama late last year.
The lawsuit alleges that Cohen and his production company told Moore that he was to be honored in Washington D.C. "for his strong support of Israel in commemoration of its 70th anniversary as a nation-state," and traveled with his wife from Alabama under false pretenses.
At the end of the suit, under the subtitle "Prayer For Relief" Moore asked for $95,000,000 in damages plus lawyers' fees from Cohen, Showtime and CBS.
In March, Moore wrote a Facebook message asking his supporters for cash, explaining that his "resources" had been "depleted." In the message, he admitted that he had "struggled to make ends meet" since losing the election and becoming embroiled in a number of lawsuits related to his alleged sexual assaults.
He blamed his financial ruin on the "liberal media" and the "Gays, lesbians, and transgenders [who] have joined forces with those who believe in abortion, sodomy, and destruction of all that we hold dear."
Uncommon Knowledge
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About the writer
Nicole Goodkind is a political reporter with a focus on Congress. She previously worked as a reporter for Yahoo Finance, ... Read more
