Sacha Baron Cohen Uses Borat to Defend Ali G in New ‘Who Iz I?’ Trailer

Sacha Baron Cohen, who makes his directorial debut in Ali G: Who Iz I?, has brought a few of his old characters, including Borat, back in the fold to promote his film for its second trailer.

Baron Cohen’s latest endeavor has received a call for a boycott by the AI-powered media monitoring platform Newscord, which accuses Baron Cohen of using satire as a “cover for enforcing racist stereotypes.”

In the second trailer for Baron Cohen’s new mockumentary, which resurrects his famous poser character after 20 years, he also brings back Borat to address the pesky boycott accusations. It’s unclear that Borat is actually in the movie, but in the new clip, he appears to downplay some of the backlash. In a “Special Announcement” from Kazakhstan Ministry of Information, Borat appears to give a “grave warning” about the new Ali G film. “There have been reportings that this film is racist. We have seen it and sadly it is not,” he deadpans.

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Borat is not the only former character to make an appearance in the new trailer: his Who Is America? features Israeli counterterrorism expert Colonel Erran Morad, who shows up to head up what looks like a training program for immigrant-fearing MAGA folks.

Ali G: Who Iz I? heads to theaters on Oct. 23. Over the summer, Baron Cohen teased the character’s return when he showed up to the Wimbledon finals in character, with the aim of selling as much weed as possible during the match.