One of the most anticipated Who Is America? interviews might never see the light of day. In July, shortly after Sacha Baron Cohen’s new project was announced, Sarah Palin ranted about an encounter she and her daughter had with his character Billy Wayne Ruddick Jr., calling the comedian’s humor “evil, exploitive, sick” in a Facebook screed that doubled as incredible free advertising for the series. At the Television Critics Association, however, Showtime’s president of programming Gary Levine suggested there’s now a chance that audiences won’t even see the already-notorious Palin interview on Who Is America?.
When asked about when the segment would air, Levine reportedly said, “There are several people who have thrown themselves in front of buses that may not be headed their way.” He did not directly answer reporters who asked whether that meant that Palin’s interview would not air at all or whether it would be omitted due to legal reasons. “Sacha is refining stuff right up to the moment it goes on the air,” he said instead. “He screens stuff for audiences. It all feels off the cuff, but it’s remarkably researched.”
Palin, who says she was invited “to honor American Vets and contribute to a ‘legit Showtime historical documentary,’ ” has publicly dared Baron Cohen to show the interview. “Here is my challenge, shallow Sacha boy: go ahead—air the footage,” she wrote. “Experience tells us it will be heavily edited, not pretty, and intended to humiliate.” Maybe so, but up until now, Who Is America? has shown that the humiliation of its subjects is determined not by Baron Cohen’s outrageous antics but by their own behavior in front of the cameras, for better or worse.
Read more from Slate:
• How Sacha Baron Cohen’s Team Lures Unsuspecting Who Is America? Interviewees Onto the Show
• Watch Sacha Baron Cohen Trick Joe Arpaio Into Saying He’d “Have to Say Yes” to Oral Sex From Donald Trump
• Stephen Miller Wants to Deny More Legal Immigrants Green Cards and Citizenship
• Liberals Don’t Have to Defend Sarah Jeong’s Tweets
