![]() ![]() ![]() But which news channel which would air the story? It’s just as strange as an American TV news producer saying their piece would air on Direct TV. Of course, DBS vets: With 600,000 subscribers, it’s Israel’s only direct broadcast satellite television provider. Grimm had a solid record on Israel, but his selection for the honor was a bit out of left field. Receiving a reputable pro-Israel award isn’t a bad idea for a Democrat or a Republican in a New York City congressional district. She invited my client to sit with a film crew in Washington, D.C., to talk about U.S.-Israel affairs. She was happy to inform us Michael Grimm had been “chosen as one of Israel’s ‘70 at 70’ for his strong support of the state of Israel.” Her production company would air the feature on DBS, the largest TV provider in Israel, she said. (The full email chain is included below.) The short pitch from Ashley Winthrop, calling herself a producer with Yerushalayim Television, was a familiar mix of producer’s flattery and information. Running a close second is don’t fall for the scam in the first place.įor us, the incoming email invitation was pretty standard. The best defense is not to act like a jerk, ever. But let’s face it, when you act stupid and say horrible things on camera, it really doesn’t matter how you got there. There are probably more resignations coming. If you’re a Republican, Cohen wants to destroy you.Īnd he can: A Georgia Republican lawmaker resigned this week after Cohen, disguised as a colonel in the Israeli army, convinced him to drop his pants and yell racial slurs for the cameras. He won’t set up a piano that rolls slowly away from it’s pianist he won’t drive a car into an office to shock the new receptionist. He’s not interested in benign practical jokes. Today, with his new CBS/Showtime production “Who is America?,” he’s even more determined to humiliate. Starting with his characters Ali G and Borat, Cohen took Funt’s early reality TV genre a step further: He mercilessly pranked his guests, leading astronaut Buzz Aldrin into cringeworthy conversations or small town bar patrons in an anti-Semitic sing along. The program aired for two decades on network television, proving America loves this stuff. His show “Candid Camera” hid their film crew and played practical jokes on unsuspecting victims. There are plenty of politically-motivated pretenders out there preparing to punk you, and you better be on your toes.Ĭohen is following a great American television tradition started in the late 1940s by Allen Funt. Today, I have a message for Republicans and Democrats alike: beware. I didn’t know it was Cohen’s crew-in fact I called the overture in an email at the time “amateur Ali G.” But there were signs of a bluff, and I turned them down. Sacha Baron Cohen’s fake production company contacted me in mid-February asking me to help put together a TV interview with my client, former Republican Congressman Michael Grimm. ![]()
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