Exclusive: Third Frat Boy Says 'Borat' Tricked Us ... and It Was 'Fun'
Nov. 10, 2006 -- Two fraternity brothers have taken legal action against the comic known as "Borat" -- and a third tells ABC News Radio in an exclusive interview that they were tricked into appearing in the film, but it was "fun."
"They definitely told us a lie," David Corcoran said.
He told ABC's Daniela Bilotta that he was paid $200 to drink with "Borat" for a sequence in the film in which he and students at a South Carolina university appeared drunk and made racist and misogynistic comments.
"They fibbed a little bit. They went so far as to say that he ['Borat' comic Sacha Baron Cohen] was a real reporter from Kazakhstan. … I think they said it would be broken up into six television specials, and that it would never be shown in the United States," Corcoran said.
Two other people who were depicted in the film as South Carolina students announced Thursday that they were suing 20th Century Fox, the studio that produced "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan."
The film, which opened on Nov. 3, was No. 1 at the weekend box office and has grossed more than $35 million in ticket sales.
'I Was One of the Lucky. … Or the Unlucky'
In a largely unscripted film, Cohen plays a journalist from the Central Asian country traveling across America. Along the way, he mocks racism, sexism, misplaced patriotism and pop culture.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are remaining anonymous "to protect themselves from any additional and unnecessary embarrassment," their lawyers say.
The lawsuit says 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.
Corcoran's recollection largely coincides with the plaintiffs' account.
"I got a call from one of my buddies asking me if I wanted to get paid $200 to get drunk, and I said, 'Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.' So I went down and I went though an interview process and I was one of the lucky, I guess -- or the unlucky -- that I got chosen," he said.
"He brought us to a bar, and he told us. … 'Yeah guys, I hope you have really good stories. … Don't let me down, just typical frat-guy talk,'" Corcoran said. "He kind of challenged us to shock him."
Unlike the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, however, Corcoran was not upset with the results.
"I don't normally like getting lied to, but am I pissed off? No, not really," he said. "It is what it is. I had a fun time."
Studio spokesman Gregg Brilliant told The Associated Press that the lawsuit "has no merit."
Cohen did not address either issue when he appeared on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" Thursday night as Borat.