Sasha Baron Cohen faces grilling in defamation case

The lawyer representing former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore in a defamation claim against prankster comedian Sasha Baron Cohen says it's finally time for Hollywood figures to take responsibility for their actions.

"This is one of the few times in many years that the Hollywood elite will be held accountable," lawyer Larry Klayman, founder of Freedom Watch, told WND.

Judge Andrew Carter in U.S. District Court in New York issued an order allowing for full discovery in the case, including depositions of Cohen and other defendants.

The defendants had wanted the questions to be answered by lawyers on their behalf, but the judge allowed for questioning of the defendants as well.

Moore and his wife, Kayla, filed the case against Cohen -- known for tricking high-profile personalities into doing strange things on video -- after an encounter in New York.

Cohen tricked Moore into appearing on the Showtime program "Who is America?" After misrepresenting himself and the program, Cohen got Moore to sign an agreement to waive any right to sue.

But Moore argues in a defamation case seeking $95 million that the waiver is invalid because it was obtained fraudulently.

Cohen argued in his petition to dismiss that his program is "satire" and protected by the First Amendment.

"This lawsuit conflicts directly with the long tradition of First Amendment protection for political parody and satire of public figures — especially where the satirical work 'could not reasonably have been interpreted as stating actual facts about the public figure involved,'" Cohen's lawyers claimed.

During his 2017 run for the U.S. Senate, Moore denied allegations by nine women of sexual misconduct, including two who said they were minors at the time.

Cohen enticed Moore to appear on the show by telling him he was receiving an award for supporting Israel. But in the segment, Cohen pulled out a supposed "pedophile detector" and caused it to beep as it got near Moore.

Klayman argued to the judge that the consent agreement produced by Cohen was "void and unenforceable for several reasons."

He pointed out there is a longstanding contract principle that "a misrepresentation of material facts may be a basis for the rescission of a contract."

Moore also has claims against Cohen as a matter of law, he contended.

"Whether couched as opinion, humor, or rhetorical hyperbole, which defendants attempt, defamatory statements made by a comedian are actionable where a reasonable listener or viewer could conclude that he or she was asserting or implying false facts about a plaintiff," Klayman wrote.

Whether or not the statements are defamatory is for a jury to decide, he said.

The lawyer also noted the agreement Cohen made with Moore was with "Yerushalayim TV," which does not exist, so it cannot be enforced.

Esquire reported in August 2018 the show created a "buzz" for Showtime but had mediocre ratings.

Klayman said of the development: "I commend Judge Carter for allowing my clients to conduct full discovery and thus move forward with the case, without the restrictions attempted by Cohen's, Showtime's and CBS's lawyers. We are confident that this fine jurist will now provide due process for Chief Justice Moore and his wife Kayla and that, in the end, justice will be done. Not even Hollywood elite like Cohen are above the law, and this was proven today in one of the rare instances of judicial courage on the federal bench that I have seen in many years. I take my hat off to Judge Carter for his honest and just ruling."

The post Sasha Baron Cohen faces grilling in defamation case appeared first on WND.