[imagesource: Flickr / Eddie Codel]

Jagshemash, Bono!

During a three-hour ceremony as part of the Kennedy Center Honors, where the likes of George Clooney, singer Gladys Knight, and U2 were honoured with lifetime achievement awards, Sacha Baron Cohen’s iconic character made an unexpected appearance.

As part of the tribute to U2, Borat rocked up and didn’t hold back, focusing on a few high-profile figures in the crowd.

Here’s The A.V. Club:

“I know the president of US and A is here. Where are you, Mr. Trump?” Looking at current president Joe Biden, he continued, “Where has your blown-ass big belly gone? And your pretty orange skin has become pale.”

Borat also acknowledged Dr. Jill Biden with the joke: “I see you have a new wife. Wawawoooah! She is very erotic. I must look away before I get a Bono.”

I have no idea how he says that sort of thing and keeps a straight face.

Naturally, Baron Cohen, who is of Jewish descent, couldn’t help but get a few chirps in about Kanye West’s recent rants:

“Before I proceed, I will say I am very upset about the antisemitism in US and A. It not fair. Kazakhstan is No 1 Jew-crushing nation. Stop stealing our hobby. Stop the steal! Stop the steal!”

The comedian went on to add, “Your Kanye. He tried to move to Kazakhstan and even tried to change his name to Kazakhstan-ye West. But we said no. He’s too antisemitic even for us.”

Let’s briefly break to watch a clip from Kanye’s appearance on Alex Jones’ show:

Alex Jones desperately tries to get Kanye West to clarify that he doesn’t actually love Hitler … but nope.

Ye: “There’s a lot of things that I love about Hitler. A lot of things.” pic.twitter.com/QI87RNcx8A

— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) December 1, 2022

It gets worse.

Kanye ‘Ye’ West: “I like Hitler. … I’m not trying to be shocking, I like Hitler. The Holocaust is not what happened, let’s look at the facts of that and Hitler has a lot of redeeming qualities.” pic.twitter.com/UwCu2ZJfid

— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) December 1, 2022

Even those who cry out about ‘cancel culture’ can’t defend Kanye with a straight face.

Back to Borat, who then performed one of U2’s biggest hits in character, changing the words to sing ‘With Or Without Jews’. He went on to say that when he sang the song at Mar-a-Lago, they chose ‘Without Jews’.

According to Deadline, U2 itself wasn’t spared:

Borat then paid tribute to U2 by referring to the group as “Me Too.” After reading a message from his parents in the Kazakh language, Borat explained, “It translates to mean ‘Please remove your wretched album from my new iPhone 6.” That was a reference to the 2014 release of U2’s album Songs of Innocence to all iTunes customers, triggering some upset from users that it showed up in their catalogs without their consent.

How does one finish a routine like that, with the US president and the first lady watching on?

Easy – you tell Biden that you hope he enjoyed the routine, and wrap up by saying, “It is my wish to pleasure you with my mouth.”

Just another normal day in Washington DC, then.

[sources:avclub&deadline]