Sacha Baron Cohen’s Mystery Project Appears to Be a New Prank Series for Showtime
Over the Fourth of July holiday, Sacha Baron Cohen tweeted out a video teasing a mysterious new project that might have something to do with Donald Trump. Today, new details have emerged regarding the comedian and actor’s latest endeavor, which appears to be a prank interview series similar to Da Ali G Show for Showtime.
Variety reports that Sacha Baron Cohen is in talks to have Showtime air a new series in the vein of Da Ali G Show — the HBO series in which Cohen popularized his three fictional personas: Borat, Brüno, and Ali G. Each episode featured Cohen, disguised as one of the three characters, interviewing unsuspecting subjects. As teased in the video Cohen released on July 4, those subjects included Donald Trump.
It’s unclear if Cohen will be reprising one or all of his established personas, though it seems unlikely given that those characters have become so well-known (each inspired their own spinoff movie). The teaser video boasted that Cohen is “back as you’ve never seen him before,” which further supports the idea that he may be debuting a new persona. In addition to the Trump component — which has something to do with his “university” — Cohen’s new series may also involve O.J. Simpson, whom the actor reportedly interviewed at a hotel in Las Vegas back in February.
Variety wasn’t able to obtain a comment from Showtime or Cohen’s reps, and little else is known about the potential series aside from the fact that one or two episodes may already be complete. But then Showtime aired these mysterious promos for an upcoming series that’s premiering on July 15:
Given Variety’s report that Cohen is still “in talks” with Showtime, it’s possible that the network is teasing something else entirely. Then again, given that both the network and Cohen’s reps are remaining so tight-lipped, and Showtime’s promos mention a “non-disclosure agreement” that bars them from telling viewers anything about the show, it’s also likely that this is indeed the Cohen project.
I guess we’ll find out soon enough.