Borat plaintiffs want DVD halted

The future DVD release ofthe recent hit Borat could be jeopardized as a judge weighs the complaints of two frat boys who claim they were duped into making racist and sexist comments in the movie.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Joseph Biderman viewed the relevant scenes on Thursday, but it is unclear when he might issue a ruling.

The unidentified fraternity members from the University of South Carolina filed a lawsuit Nov. 9, alleging that producers plied them with alcohol and coerced them into signing release forms to appear in the mockumentary Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.

The men contend thatthey were toldthe film would not appear inthe United States.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages based on itsallegation that the widespread release of the film brought the plaintiffs "ridicule, humiliation, mental anguish and emotional and physical distress, loss of reputation, goodwill and standing in the community."

Lawyer Olivier Taillieu said the DVD should not be released because "further dissemination of the film is going to cause some injury to my clients."

He also said one of the men was forced to resign from his prominent position at the University of South Carolina chapter of the Chi Psi fraternity.

Box-office smash

A lawyer for20th Century Fox, the film's distributor, questioned the plaintiffs' claim that they were too drunk to understand the release forms.

"We're confident that we're going to prevail," Louis Petrich said. "We don't think the lawsuit has any merit. We don't even agree with them on the facts."

Borat, which follows the cross-U.S. adventures of a boorish— yet often charming— Kazakh journalist played by British comedian Sasha Baren Cohen, has become a smash hit and reaped a major windfall for Fox since its release in early November.Made at an estimated cost of $18 million US, it has taken in over $100 million at box offices in the United States.

The film, though, has also produced its share of legal headaches.

After Baron Cohen, who is Jewish, appeared as the chauvinistic, anti-Semitic Borat at the MTV World Music Awards in Lisbon on Nov. 3, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry threatened to sue,alleging the character damaged the reputation of the central Asian state.

A complaint was also brought by the owner of an etiquette business who arranged a dinner party in the film, while two Romanians have filed a lawsuit claiming they and several fellow villagers who appeared as Kazakh citizens were exploited by Fox and the movie's producers.