Sacha Baron Cohen calls Ali G film his last of its kind; a participant says he was in on joke

Sacha Baron Cohen, 55, says his new film "Ali G: Who Iz I?" will be his last comedy in this risky, character-driven style, and a man who appears in it says he was in on the joke. Cohen said in an interview that he is not making "Borat 3" and called the film the most challenging he has done. He said he made it because he is "terrified" of where society is headed, wants to show extremism on both sides of the political spectrum, and fears conspiracies and lies spread by social media and AI. Joshua Loudermilk, 54, an aspiring actor from North Carolina, said he recognised Cohen early in the shoot but kept playing a hard-right Maga sympathiser. He said the film-makers did not realise he knew. In the film, Cohen's character Col Erran Morad recruits Loudermilk and Michael Aboud, chair of the El Paso county Republican party, for a border mission involving a gun disguised as buttocks and a kidnapped prosthetic baby. Aboud has since called Cohen a "liar" and a "pervert".

Right-leaning Fox News leads with Cohen's own account: it reports his statements that this is his last film of its kind, that he will not make "Borat 3," and that he is worried about social media, AI and extremism. It does not mention Loudermilk, Aboud or the film's plot in the portion available. Left-leaning The Guardian runs an exclusive built on Loudermilk's claim that he was in on the joke. It details the plot and includes Aboud's criticism of Cohen, and it does not feature Cohen's statements about retiring the style. Both cover the same film and its star but use different sources: the right uses Cohen's interview, the left uses a participant. Alternative and independent outlets had not reported this story at the time of writing, while left-leaning and right-leaning outlets had.