Sacha Baron Cohen may have stumbled upon something really nasty?

[Aridas]

Sacha Baron Cohen seems to have a knack for revealing some of the darkness in America through comedy, but... this story likely deserves some note and likely some further investigation.

The time Sacha Baron Cohen went to the FBI.

BARON COHEN: We immediately turned over the footage to the FBI because we thought, perhaps there’s a pedophile ring in Las Vegas that’s operating for these very wealthy men. And this concierge had said that he’d worked for politicians and various billionaires. But in the end the FBI decided not to pursue it.

 

[Baylor]

Fake news.

 

[Whip]

right up there with the veterans on patrol dopes.

 

[Baylor]

Thi s is right up there with pizzagate, just not as much evidence.

 

[Aridas]

Thi s is right up there with pizzagate, just not as much evidence.

Except without all the blatant red flags that Pizzagate had. I dare say that the "evidence" is better, too. I'm not going to proclaim that there's some there that's actually there, of course, but I'm remarkably unimpressed by your response.

 

[Andy_Ross]

Sacha Baron Cohen is really nasty.

 

[Aridas]

Sacha Baron Cohen is really nasty.

Yes, he is, from what I've seen.

 

[Baylor]

Except without all the blatant red flags that Pizzagate had. I dare say that the "evidence" is better, too. I'm not going to proclaim that there's some there that's actually there, of course, but I'm remarkably unimpressed by your response.

Comedian secretly films a man at service industry job, comedian brings up molesting little boys. Proceeds to accuse service industry worker of being part of a pedophile ring.

Nope, no red flags there.

Cohen saying he "went to the FBI" frames him as the morally superior one when he the one doing these dirty tricks.


The guy probably didn't even know what "bar mitzvah age" meant. He was trying to play off a weird hotel guest.

 

[Strawberry]

The guy probably got straight on the phone to the cops as soon as Cohen left the room.

 

[cullennz]

The problem I've always had with Cohen is he uses manipulating people to his own gain as a way to get eyes on a TV screen.

He seems to have the putting people at ease skills/personality of Louis Theroux, but while Theroux treats people with respect and looks at things objectively, Cohen uses people to his maximum advantage.

All in all, he is not a very nice chappy

Having said that, this bloke may well have been warranted, but the FBI don't seem to think so.

 

[Aridas]

Comedian secretly films a man at service industry job, comedian brings up molesting little boys. Proceeds to accuse service industry worker of being part of a pedophile ring.

Nope, no red flags there.

Cohen saying he "went to the FBI" frames him as the morally superior one when he the one doing these dirty tricks.


The guy probably didn't even know what "bar mitzvah age" meant. He was trying to play off a weird hotel guest.

Yup. Totally accurate description of the story. Totally.

The guy probably got straight on the phone to the cops as soon as Cohen left the room.

Hopefully, but I wouldn't count on it without evidence either way.

 

[fromdownunder]

So there really was something to Pizzagate after all. Perhaps this guy told him where the secret basement really was, and it contained a dimensional device leading to the Los Angeles in Earth 38.


Norm

 

[Baylor]

Yup. Totally accurate description of the story. Totally.

Yup. Totally great debunking there, conspiracy theorist.

Cohen said he wanted a "young man." Cohen's interpretation "there's a pedophile ring!"

Great sleuthing skills there champ. The editing to change the color was totally warranted.

 

[Horatius]

The guy probably got straight on the phone to the cops as soon as Cohen left the room.

That's probably the most likely thing, and explains why the FBI decided not to pursue it. Perhaps the system works, after all.

In some cases, at least.

 

[Polaris]

Sacha Baron Cohen is really nasty.

Not too nasty to wake up next to Isla Fisher every morning (dammit).

 

[Checkmite]

It's not beyond the realm of possibility that Cohen is completely inventing this; but assuming he's not for the sake of analysis - two points:

1. Once Cohen made the report and gave the footage to the FBI it would be impossible for him to ever know whether the FBI decided to pursue it or not, because it's not like they give courtesy calls to tipsters to keep them in the loop on investigations.

2. Cohen is a questionable witness; and more specifically any film footage with Cohen in it, especially in-character, is the most impeachable evidence in the universe because creating phony situations in order to case his targets in the most negative or uncomfortable possible light is Cohen's entire shtick.

 

[Horatius]

2. Cohen is a questionable witness; and more specifically any film footage with Cohen in it, especially in-character, is the most impeachable evidence in the universe because creating phony situations in order to case his targets in the most negative or uncomfortable possible light is Cohen's entire shtick.

This is true, but such evidence doesn't need to stand up in court. It would just be the beginning of an investigation, not the end of it.

As mentioned above, it's totally plausible that the FBI would contact the local police to see if there's anything that's popped up on their radar about this, only to be told, "Oh, yeah, that guy just called us about this weird Italian pedophile he just met..."

Hilarity then ensues.

 

[Aridas]

Yup. Totally great debunking there, conspiracy theorist.

Cohen said he wanted a "young man." Cohen's interpretation "there's a pedophile ring!"

Great sleuthing skills there champ. The editing to change the color was totally warranted.

Why would I need to debunk a rendition of the story as thoroughly inaccurate as yours?

It's not beyond the realm of possibility that Cohen is completely inventing this; but assuming he's not for the sake of analysis - two points:

1. Once Cohen made the report and gave the footage to the FBI it would be impossible for him to ever know whether the FBI decided to pursue it or not, because it's not like they give courtesy calls to tipsters to keep them in the loop on investigations.

This is actually one of the questions that does leave some doubt there. If he was informed, that would likely be a breach of protocol, which itself would likely be worth a bit of investigation.

2. Cohen is a questionable witness; and more specifically any film footage with Cohen in it, especially in-character, is the most impeachable evidence in the universe because creating phony situations in order to case his targets in the most negative or uncomfortable possible light is Cohen's entire shtick.

Anything that Cohen provided would be something of a trigger for investigation, at best. Definitely not conclusive evidence, though.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Comedian secretly films a man at service industry job, comedian brings up molesting little boys. Proceeds to accuse service industry worker of being part of a pedophile ring.

Nope, no red flags there.

Cohen saying he "went to the FBI" frames him as the morally superior one when he the one doing these dirty tricks.


The guy probably didn't even know what "bar mitzvah age" meant. He was trying to play off a weird hotel guest.

Clearly you read something different from I did:

And then at the end of the interview I say, listen, I want to go out and celebrate now. Can you get me a date for tonight? He says, ‘what do you mean, a date?’

I go, you know, like a young man. He says, ‘well, what kind of age?’ I say, lower than Bar Mitzvah but older than eight. And he says, ‘yeah, I can put you in touch with somebody who can get you some boys like that.’

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

The guy probably got straight on the phone to the cops as soon as Cohen left the room.

Then we would probably know about that, wouldn't we.