English actor Sacha Baron Cohen slammed Kanye West and Donald Trump for anti-semitism while appearing at the Kennedy Center Honors.
On December 4, 2022, the 51-year-old star donned his Borat personality and appeared on stage as part of a tribute to U2. There, he skewered former American president Donald Trump before taking a dig at West, who has become a hot topic in the wake of the rise of anti-Semitism in the country.
He said:
“Your (Donald Trump's) Kanye. He tried to move to Kazakhstan and even tried to change his name to Kazakhstan-ye West. But we said no. He’s too anti-semitic even for us.”
The line garnered a round of applause at the venue as several personalities were seen laughing.
Kanye West has been in hot waters lately for spreading anti-Jew hatred in interviews and on social media. He fashionably returned to Twitter after his account was recently restored but got banned again after he posted a swastika inside the Star of David.
Sacha Baron Cohen's mocking of Donald Trump
Before impressing the audience with his dig at Kanye West, Sacha Baron Cohen dragged former American president Donald Trump into the conversation. Trump recently spent time with West and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes at his Mar-a-Lago residence.
Sacha, who is extremely against spreading anti-Jew hate on social media, stated that he knew that the former US president was present and asked where Trump was. He continued to say that Trump didn't look good and made fun of his "pretty orange skin."
The statement by Sacha Baron Cohen as Borat had the current US president, Joe Biden, laughing as he sat in the presidential box with his wife Dr. Jill Biden.
Baron Cohen continued to say:
“I must say I’m very upset about the antisemitism in the U.S. today. It’s not fair. Kazakhstan is the number one Jew crushing nation. Stop stealing our hobby. Stop the steal. Stop the steal.”
Sacha Baron Cohen garnered laughter and applause for his digs at Kanye West and Donald Trump. It was quite a daring move to make at a Kennedy Center Honors ceremony.
He later paid tribute to rock band U2 and made reference to the 2014 release of their album on iTunes.
The Kennedy Center Honors saw a bunch of five honorees from the fields of music, stage, and cinema getting recognized for their talents.
The 45th edition of the ceremony saw actor George Clooney, singer Gladys Knight, songstress Amy Grant, composer Tania León and all members of the rock band U2 being recognized for their contributions to American culture.
President Joe Biden personally congratulated and praised the honorees for embodying the spirit of the nation. Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband were also among the attendees at the prestigious ceremony.