Comedian and actor Sacha Baron Cohen's Who is America? television show has caused lots of controversy between politicians, celebrities and everyday people, but the most shocking part of the show never aired.
According to Cohen, while doing an interview as Italian playboy "Gio", the pair talked about an alleged LasVegas-area paedophile ring.
"We were shooting some of this at the time of Harvey Weinstein. We wanted to investigate how does someone like Harvey Weinstein gets away with … criminality, essentially," Cohen said in an interview with Deadline.
Sacha Baron Cohen. Photo / Getty Images
"We decided that Gio would interview a concierge … During the interview, I revealed that basically Gio has molested an 8-year-old boy. Now, mind you, this is extreme comedy and we thought that the guy would leave the room. Instead, this concierge stays in the room and I go, listen, you've got to help me get rid of the problem.
"And this guy starts advising Gio how to get rid of this issue. We even at one point talk about murdering the boy, and the concierge is just saying, 'Well, listen, I'm really sorry. In this country, we can't just drown the boy. This is America, we don't do that.' And then, in the end, he puts me in touch with a lawyer who can silence the boy," Baron Cohen explained.
"It became really dark stuff. And then at the end of the interview I say, 'Listen, I want to go out and celebrate now. Can you get me a date for tonight?' He says, 'What do you mean, a date?' I go, you know, like a young man. He says, 'Well, what kind of age?' I say, 'Lower than bar mitzvah but older than 8.' And he says, 'Yeah, I can put you in touch with somebody who can get you some boys like that.'"
Cohen told Deadline he decided he wasn't to air the segment and instead reported the accused to law enforcement.
"We immediately turned over the footage to the FBI because we thought, perhaps there's a paedophile ring in Las Vegas that's operating for these very wealthy men," the comedian explained. "And this concierge had said that he'd worked for politicians and various billionaires. But in the end the FBI decided not to pursue it.
Vice President Dick Cheney, left, and actor Sacha Baron Cohen, portraying retired Israeli Colonel Erran Morad in a still from the TV series.
"It was too dark and wrong.
"In a journalistic way it was fascinating, but it was so extreme and so dark that it was too unsettling for the audience."
Even though the seven-episode television show had praise and support from Showtime, the series will not return for another season.
"It's like Da Ali G Show in England — I did one season. And the idea is not to make it a Seinfeld or an SNL,'" Baron Cohen recently said. "It is gruelling. … I'm too lazy to do this."
