Now it's the turn of an Alabama etiquette teacher and four people she invited to have dinner with a "foreign dignitary" to sue the makers of "Borat" for falsely portraying them in the hit mockumentary.
This may be confusing to some since Kathie Martin, operator of The Etiquette School of Birmingham, sued "Borat" star Sacha Baron Cohen and 20th Century Fox in December 2006. It was Martin who is depicted in the film giving the title character a lesson in table manners.
But the latest plaintiffs include a different Alabama etiquette coach, Cindy Streit of Etiquette Training Services of Birmingham, whom a "Borat" field coordinator recruited to help in arranging a "Southern, in-home style dining experience" for a "foreign dignitary" from Belarus.
That dining experience turned into the infamous dinner-party scene in which Borat horrifies the well-heeled guests by, among other things, returning from a bathroom visit with a plastic bag filled with what appears to be his bodily waste. Defendants "conspired to subject the Plaintiffs to Cohen's lewd, insulting and offensive conduct," the complaint says.
Streit and her four dinner guests are seeking at least $75,000 each in damages and injunctive relief for fraud, misappropriation and false light invasion of privacy. They allege, in particular, that the filmmakers set them up to appear “racially intolerant.”
The location of the dinner party hosts' home, the plaintiffs say, was falsely presented as “Secession, Private Drive” and the film was “purposely edited” so when an actress playing a black prostitute shows up at Borat's invitation, it appeared that
Plaintiffs and others present at the dinner were intolerant of dining with members of another race and left as a result of her presence.
The law firm of Maynard, Cooper & Gale in Birmingham is representing the plaintiffs. In November 2006, when Streit was represented by high-profile attorney Gloria Allred, she said at a news conference, “I am mortified at forever being portrayed in an R-rated movie with the most horrifying, pornographic scene imaginable to me.”
According to the complaint, a member of the film crew -– showing rare dedication to his or her craft -- “defecated in the plastic bag prior to filming the dinner scenes.”
No fewer than nine "Borat"-related suits have so far been filed around the country (see ). Whether the film has offended any other Alabama etiquette coaches remains to be seen.
By Matthew Heller
10/24/07 
