Sacha Baron Cohen defeats defamation lawsuit brought by Roy Moore

Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen defeats defamation lawsuit brought by former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, who says he was tricked into TV show, satirized Sexual misconduct allegations against him.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in Manhattan upheld the lower court’s ruling in favor of Baron Cohen, saying that Mr. Moore had signed a disclosure agreement barring any legal demands to appear in court.

The three judges also believed that when Baron Cohen showed the so-called pedophile detector, which beeps when it came close to Mr Moore, and that no audience would think the comedian had a factual charge against Mr Moore, the three judges also argued that Thought it was “obvious comedy”.

The $95 million lawsuit centers on Mr. Moore’s inadvertent appearance in the comic book Who’s America? programme.

The clip aired after Mr. Moore faced misconduct charges during his 2017 U.S. Senate campaign in Alabama, alleging that he had sex and romance with teens in his 30s. He denies the allegations.

Mr Moore, a Republican known for his tough stance against same-sex marriage and his support for the public display of the Ten Commandments, was told he won the award for his support of Israel.

But in the clip, Baron Cohen appears as a fake counterterrorism instructor “Col Erran Morad” to discuss fake military technology, including so-called paedophile detectors. The fake device beeped repeatedly as it approached Mr Moore, who was expressionless.

“Baron Cohen may suggest (although he characterizes any belief that Judge Moore is a pedophile) that he believes Judge Moore’s accusers, but he does not imply that there is anything in that belief other than the apparently comical pedophile detection. Independent fact-based ‘device’ that no reasonable person can believe is an actual, operational technology,” the court wrote in the unsigned summary order.

Mr Moore and his wife Kayla sued, saying the clip defamed Mr Moore and caused them emotional distress. The couple claimed the waiver Mr Moore signed was unenforceable because it was obtained under false representation.

The appeals court noted that it was indeed a ruse to have Mr Moore on the show, but he signed a binding release waiving all legal requirements.

The charges against Mr. Moore led him to lose to Democrat Doug Jones, the first Democrat to represent Alabama in the Senate in a quarter-century.

The seat returned to Republican control when Mr Jones lost the following election to former college football coach Tommy Tuberwell.

For years, Baron Cohen has lured unwitting politicians into embarrassing interviews. He has faced lawsuits in the past for similar hoaxes, but it was also dismissed because the men had signed a release agreement.

Mr Moore and his wife said they would appeal.

“The American people have long been influenced by Sacha Baron Cohen’s burlesque. His cowardice and deceit must be stopped. We will appeal,” the couple wrote to The Associated Press. said in a statement.