A US judge fired hardline former judge Roy Moore on Tuesday in a defamation lawsuit he brought against British actor Sacha Baron Cohen, best known for his role in the movie “Borat”.
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Roy Moore is seeking $95 million in compensation for a hoax interview that aired in 2018 on Showtime and CBS, also targeting the proceedings.
In the diagram, Sacha Baron Cohen, disguised as an Israeli counter-terrorism specialist named Iran Murad, interviews Roy Moore.
During their conversation, facing the camera, she invoked a machine supposedly made by the Israeli army to detect pedophiles. Passing in front of Roy Moore, the machine immediately began to beep. Realizing he was trapped, the former judge cut short the interview.
In 2017, during the campaign for the Alabama senator, several women in the press accused Roy Moore of sexually assaulting them when he was in his thirties and they were minors.
The former judge said he was defamed with this drawing, and claimed that he and his wife suffered from it.
A New York court rejected his application, arguing that Roy Moore had signed a consent agreement prior to the interview, thus waiving his rights.
In a 26-page document, the judge said in particular that it was “obviously a joke”.
“It is simply unreasonable for the show’s audience to believe that a sequence with Judge Moore activating a supposed device that detects pedophiles was based on any factual basis,” he added.
“Sorry Roy. Good try,” Sacha Baron Cohen tweeted maliciously, including a link to the interview video and specifying that “it was a good day to enjoy it again.”
Roy Moore’s lawyer said his client plans to appeal the ruling.
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