'Borat' ended Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock's marriage, Sacha Baron Cohen says
"Borat" was the final blow of the marriage between Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock, the comedy's star claims.
Sacha Baron Cohen, who also wrote and directed the gonzo 2006 comedy "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" told the Daily Beast's Last Laugh podcast that Anderson's role finished off her marriage just months after their yacht wedding in the summer of 2006.
Kid Rock was not a fan of the performance, Baron Cohen confirms.
The movie featured Baron Cohen as a clueless brute Borat Sagdiyev who is obsessed with the "Baywatch" star, traveling to America to marry Anderson. And while Baron Cohen pranked unwitting individuals portraying Borat in the movie, Anderson was the only one in on the joke.
In the final scenes Borat attempts to kidnap Anderson at a Virgin Megastore book signing and bring her back to Kazakhstan to be his wife. Baron Cohen literally put a seemingly shocked Anderson over his shoulder to sprint away.
The maneuver injured the "amazingly brave" Anderson, Baron Cohen said, when he "clipped her jaw" in the lift-and-sprint.
"She lost two things," Baron Cohen explained. "One, she lost a tiny bit of bone from her jaw and secondly, she lost a husband.”
Baron Cohen alluded to past reports that Kid Rock flipped out after he and Anderson saw the film at a special November 2006 first screening at the home of Universal chairman Ron Meyer, and made no secret about loathing Anderson's portrayal.
Baron Cohen said that he texted Anderson after that screening and asked, “How did it go? What did he think?” Anderson then texted back, "He's getting divorced," Baron Cohen recalled. When he asked her why, Anderson replied, “The movie.”
“And I thought it was a joke, but then a few weeks later they got divorced and they put as a reason for divorce, 'Borat,' ” Baron Cohen said.
The actor then added sarcastically, “I think they were a fantastic couple, so it’s a shame. Much better than Julian Assange or whoever she dated later on.”
Anderson and Kid Rock have yet to publicly respond. Anderson's press representative declined to comment on the report, USA TODAY has reached out to Kid Rock's reps.
The podcast snippet, a preview for the full podcast which drops Tuesday, features two other notes of interest.
Baron Cohen said he had to shoot the Anderson "kidnap" scene at the bookstore twice. The first time, none of the fans reacted when Anderson was carried out of the store. "I was like what kind of fans are these," Baron Cohen recalled. They did the scene again and the second time Anderson's fans gave the desired chase.
Another note, Baron Cohen's wife Isla Fisher tried to stop her husband from telling the divorce story for the podcast. He can be heard alluding to her silent imploring, but says, "No, it's alright" and tells the story.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Borat' ended Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock's marriage, Sacha Baron Cohen says
