Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat takes on Kanye West: 'He's too antisemitic even for us'

Sacha Baron Cohen has returned as Borat to address some very not nice comments by Ye.

The comedian took the stage at Sunday's Kennedy Center Honors in character as Borat to joke about the recent string of antisemitic comments made by the rapper formerly known as Kanye West. Baron Cohen is Jewish, but his character, a journalist from Kazakhstan, is notoriously antisemitic in the Borat films, which expose real people who agree with his extreme viewpoints.

"I must say I'm very upset about the antisemitism in the U.S. today," Baron Cohen said as Borat, per Deadline. "It's not fair. Kazakhstan is the number one Jew crushing nation. Stop stealing our hobby. Stop the steal. Stop the steal."

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Baron Cohen's Borat went on to address Ye specifically, joking, "He tried to move to Kazakhstan and even tried to change his name to Kazakhstan-ye West. But we said no. He's too antisemitic even for us." The rapper recently defended Adolf Hitler and Nazis, and he was suspended from Twitter for posting an image of a Star of David combined with a swastika.

Baron Cohen also joked about former President Donald Trump, calling him "the president of U.S." and pretending to confuse him with President Biden, who was in attendance, per Deadline.

"You don't look so good," he said, addressing Biden. "Where has your blown a-- big belly gone? And your pretty orange skin without fail."

The Anti-Defamation League invited Baron Cohen to deliver an address in 2019 discussing how he uses his comedy to expose antisemitism. "I've tried to use my characters to get people to let down their guard and reveal what they actually believe, including their own prejudice," he said, adding that the original Borat revealed "people's indifference to antisemitism."