A New York businessman who became the unwitting butt of a “Borat” joke when he fled down Fifth Avenue with touchy-feely comedian Sacha Baron Cohen in hot pursuit has filed a federal lawsuit, claiming his appearance in the hit movie violated his civil rights.
A spooked Jeffrey Lemerond, 31, was depicted running and screaming, “Go away!” as Cohen chased him down in an attempt to hug strangers – a scene that was such a hit, it appeared in “Borat” previews as well as in the film itself.
“He saw some guy he didn’t want anything to do with approaching him and reacted instinctively,” said attorney Richard Emery. “He was depicted as a fool, which he’s the furthest thing from.”
Lemerond, who is identified as “John Doe” in court papers, is seeking unspecified damages from 20th Century Fox for stealing his likeness for commercial gain and cashing in on his humiliation.
“It’s an attempt, in humor of course, to mischaracterize his personality. He was made fun of. His friends and family recognized him, of course,” Emery said. “He supported [the movie distributor’s] profit and they’re not paying him anything.”
According to the lawsuit, Lemerond was captured on film running in “apparent terror” from Cohen, who was playing the phony Kazakh reporter, near the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street.
The lawsuit claims 20th Century Fox knew it was breaking the law by using the scene without Lemerond’s permission and pixilated his face in the trailer promoting the film so he could not be recognized.
The movie distributor “did not, however, scramble [Lemerond’s] face in the film itself,” court papers state.
Lemerond, a Dartmouth College graduate and financial analyst, previously filed a similar lawsuit in state court in January, naming Cohen, director Larry Charles and producer Jay Roach as additional defendants, according to a report on the Web site of The Smoking Gun.
The lawsuit was subsequently withdrawn and the new federal complaint lists only 20th Century Fox as a defendant.