Score another one for the comedians, against the people offended by their comedy.
Judge Terry Friedman of Los Angeles County Superior Court dismissed a libel lawsuit brought against Mr. Cohen, HBO and the British broadcaster Channel 4 by a woman who said Mr. Cohen had used her name in a comedy routine.
Judge Friedman's ruling:
No reasonable person could consider the statements made by Ali G on the program to be factual. To the contrary, it is obvious that the Ali G character is absurd, and all his statements are gibberish and intended as comedy. The actor, Sacha Baron Cohen, never strays from the Ali G character, who is dressed in a ridiculous outfit and speaks in the exaggerated manner of a rap artist. Ali G’s statements are similarly absurd. For example, prior to the reference to Plaintiff, while ‘interviewing’ the author Gore Vidal, Ali G refers to the Constitution of the United States as having been written on two tablets, clearly intended to confuse the Constitution with the Ten Commandments. Altogether, the program is obviously a spoof of a serious interview program. No reasonable person could think otherwise.
It does kind of sound like Judge Friedman is an Ali G fan, no? Anyway, here's the "libelous" Ali G interview with Gore Vidal - the part that so offended is where Ali G talks about a former girlfriend who "amended herself"...
Ali G on American History - watch more funny videos
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