Bruno's Prank: Arkansas Cage Fights Turn Gay, Crowd Goes Crazy

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Crowds in Arkansas came for the lure of cage fighting and $1 beer, but police say what they got instead was men ripping each others' clothes off and kissing _ a stunt suspected of being orchestrated by Sacha Baron Cohen of "Borat" fame.

"We had a contract for cage fighting. We were deceived," said Dwight Duncan, president and CEO of Four States Fair Grounds in Texarkana, where the first of two Arkansas fights raised suspicions last month.

Matt Labov, a Los Angeles-based publicist for Baron Cohen, said he had no comment Monday about the faked fights. One of Baron Cohen's movies is due out next year.

The day after the June 5 Texarkana bout, Fort Smith's convention center hosted "Blue Collar Brawlin.'" Fort Smith police Sgt. Adam Holland said organizers told him a character named "Straight Dave" would goad a planted audience member into the ring for a fight.

The two men would then wrestle, rip away some of their clothes and share a brief kiss reminiscent of one between Baron Cohen and Will Ferrell in the film "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby."

Producers said "there would be a romantic embrace," Holland said. "They said it was kind of to essentially make fun, poke fun at wrestling _ two guys rolling around on the floor, all sweaty."

An elaborate array of mounted and handheld video cameras caught the crowd of 1,600's reaction as the two men "went right up to the line" of the city's morality laws, Holland said. The two men stripped down to their underwear, kissed and rubbed on each other, the sergeant said.

The audience, as well as local fighters drawn to take part in the show, became enraged. "It set the crowd off lobbing beers," Holland said. "They had beers in plastic cups. Those things can get some distance on them actually."

Holland said it took officers about 45 minutes to clear the convention center, as the two actors sprinted away through a specially set-aside tunnel.

Those in attendance were told by several signs on display that they'd be filmed, Holland said, and signed waivers before the event. Convention center sales director Karin Hobbs declined to name the event's sponsor Monday.

Baron Cohen became a national celebrity after his 2006 hit movie "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," in which he played a bumbling reporter from the Central Asia nation.

News of the faked cage fights comes as Baron Cohen is in production of a movie titled "Bruno," named after the gay Austrian fashion reporter he developed for "Da Ali G Show." Baron Cohen, in the guise of Bruno, often interviewed hapless subjects in the South.

If the cage match visits came from Baron Cohen, it wouldn't be the first time Arkansas fell for a practical joke. In 2000, then-Gov. Mike Huckabee fell for a prank and congratulated Canada for preserving its icebound Parliament, calling it a "national igloo."

Comments

[AnnoyedCanuck]

There's only one thing that matters: is it funny? We'll find out when the movie comes out.

My guess is, it won't be. There was a lot of very funny stuff in Borat, but also much that fell flat, or was merely condescending. The scene in which Borat had dinner with the snobby upper-class Southerners, which ended with Borat getting kicked out after his friend the black hooker showed up, was patronizing as hell. The black woman was used as a setup for a cheap, predictable joke in which no one - except silly Borat - came off well.

Sasha Baron Cohen is a smart, edgy guy, but is there anything more to his comedy than embarrassment and humiliation? Than minorities being made to look like virtuous victims and the mainstream majority made out to be oafs? I don't think so. Borat is a bore. Bruno will be too, if they are cut from the same comedic cloth.

[RyanMuadDib]

Humiliation is the world's #1 favorite form of comedy and entertainment as shown over and over again with reality shows. Yes it is sad, even though I like SBC.

[Helzapoppin]

I think this story is pretty funny, but humiliation jokes usually make ME feel embarassed just watching. I'm much more partial to the direct approach a la Rickles & Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.

[Blurp]

I agree with you Canuck about the Southern dining bit in the Borat movie. It made me feel uncomfortable because those people didn't deserve it. I actually didn't think they were snobs at all, but were welcoming and friendly beyond the point I would've been.

[DrFitz]

Not to mention his slam of the guy's wife "Her, not so much" could easily have gotten a punch in the face in the South. Ali G is the best character because it's so easy to baffle older people into taking his stupidity seriously as an indicator of what the younger hiphop generation believes. His interview of Buchanan is a classic.

[WhirledTraveler]

Arkansas, no sense of humor? America, no sense of humor? Who knew? The rest of the world, perhaps?!

[kfdan]

It's good to see someone making fun of these fake sports ... shows ... events!

[booker52]

Cohen is an ass, and this stunt is grade school level.

[goplayrabbit]

bahahaha

[BobSF94117]

The sad thing is that there were probably several closeted gay kids there with their dads, uncles, and cousins. Nothing like seeing how much you're hated like that...

[SifSkade]

It's Arkansas. They knew already.

[SifSkade]

Rather, it's America. They knew already.

[RaWash]

Cohen's fake character "Bruno" is extremely in your face and is designed to provoke homophobic sentiments, i wouldn't be surprised if the same thing happened in New York not just Arkansas, give the rednecks a break..

[UnknownSoldier]

Don't be surprised, but New York also has the Ku Klux Klan they live on Long Island mostly Italians and Irish and a few non practicing Jews.

[SifSkade]

If it weren't for the huge population concentration in New York City (all five boroughs, not just Manhattan), I'm pretty sure New York would be a red state. Upstate we have a huge hick population with pockets of inbreeding (yes, I'm talking to you, Utica), and visiting some parts of Long Island is like taking a trip into the past. If SBC had done the same thing in Buffalo he'd have gotten the same reaction.

[GuiltyByStander]

All "characters" are fake.

You can't provoke sentiments -- but you can provoke reactions in people who have them. And the more often the better.

[Helzapoppin]

John Cleese said once that it wasn't Basil Faulty acting silly that was funny - it was the other characters' reactions to him acting absurd that was where the humor came from. I think this is kind of similar. It's not the "gay display" that's funny, it's the ridiculous outrage by a mass collection of hayseeds that really does it.

[yellowdogminnesotan]

Great the entire world is going to think the United States is made up of Arkansans. As if Bush didn't embarrass us enough. Maybe Dick Cheney and George Bush can "borat wrestle" in a cage.

[wadenelson1]

This is right up there with the Blues Brothers singing "Rawhide" behind the chicken wire fence. Except it's real.

[StephenJK]

Cohen is a comedic genius and a genius of the utterly uncomfortable. He knows just where to go to get the most vitriolic reactions, too.

[hartkid]

To all the people who made generalized, stereotypical comments about the South - You obviously don't know what you're talking about. If you live in any state in this Union, I would suggest you take a look in your own back yards if you want to find a host of rubes and hooples. I've travelled around quite a bit of this Country and the only difference I ever noted in the level of "enlightenment" of the citizens is that some of you Yankees have a pretty high opinion of yourselves and absolutely no manners.

[andvoodoo2]

Thank you, hartkid. I'm from New Orleans but have lived all over the country and in several foreign countries as well. One thing I learned from living on the East Coast, the West Coast, the Mississippi Gulf coast and in the heartland is that the Deep South is a lot more real and genuinely accepting of ALL people. The North talks a good game about being accepting of minorities, but most people I met on the East Coast didn't have any AA friends, much less really know any. The same went for the West Coast and the heartland. They do a lot of crowing about how "accepting" they are, yet they act like a black person is from another planet when they encounter one. And, most of their gay friends are almost a source of pride instead of a real friend.
Here in the South, we all have gay family members, too. And most of us embrace them because family ties are important to us. And, as far as AA go, I have as many AA FRIENDS, not acquaintances but true friends, as I do white friends.

[Jackfolsum]

So some of your best friends are black? Awesome!

[Gumby69]

Type in "rick mercer arkansas" to find the joke we canucks laid on em'.

[peterg76]

False advertising? Good thing the free market economy always corrects itself!

[Titonwan]

"Momma I cain't watch thet wrasslin' no mo without a thankin' bout man flesh!" That is too funny! I would pay to see the reaction. I've sparred all of my life and absolutely love MMA, but I think this has got to be the funniest thing I've ever heard of! Good one Sacha!!! Love it.

[truthynesslover]

Its too easy!Like shooting fish in a barrel!But funny just the same.

[mahoner]

The naked wrestling scene from Borat was the most disgusting and funny 5 minutes of film I've ever seen. My boy has seen the Bruno character sketches and he says they're a riot, so I expect nothing less from a stunt like this.

Can't wait to see it in theaters!