He sounds like a real Borat
A Turkish Internet celebrity is claiming he’s the real inspiration for Sacha Baron Cohen‘s movie-hit “Borat” character.
“The world knows he is copying (me),” Mahir Cagri says. “I am not saying this – the world is. I have received so many e-mails from people in the United States who tell me he is imitating me.”
Cagri, 44, became a cyber celebrity in 1999 after posting photos on his Web site of him playing ping-pong or the accordion and sunbathing in a skimpy bathing suit.
Fans were captivated by his broken English and hilarious invitation to women: “Who is want to come TURKEY I can invitate … She can stay my home.”
Cagri says he plans to seek an apology and possibly some compensation during a visit to London this week.
“The bombshell is going to fall,” he says. “(Cohen) is making money by using me.”
The “Borat” film debuted at the top of last weekend’s box office with $26.5 million.
Taking out her trash
Britney Spears appeared upbeat – if a little off balance – as she took to the ice skating rink at New York’s Rockefeller Center just hours after filing for divorce from Kevin Federline.
That could be because she’s ready to get her career back on track, the pundits are saying.
After marrying Federline, Spears, 24, “went from being a pop icon to an emblem of white trash in a matter of two years,” says veteran publicist Michael Levine.
But now, says the Star tabloid’s Bonnie Fuller, “She wants to show that the old Britney is back. She’s got her body back, she’s got her groove back, she’s got her mojo back and she’s going to be hard at work on her new album.”
Baby steps
Rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs tells Essence magazine he’s not quite ready to marry girlfriend Kim Porter, who’s expected to give birth to the couple’s twin girls next month.
“I know she deserves to get married,” Combs says, “but I’m just not ready.”
He explains: “It’s not a reflection on how much I love Kim. It’s that I’m just learning how to be a good boyfriend. When I’m finished with this step, I’ll move on to the next.”
Well, he’s ready
Jennifer Garner‘s ex-husband, Scott Foley, is engaged again.
The former “Dawson’s Creek” and “Felicity” regular, now star of the CBS show “The Unit,” recently proposed to his girlfriend, actress Marika Dominczyk, his publicist says.
He and Garner divorced in 2004.
Him, too
A New York teenager has pleaded not guilty to stalking pop star Hilary Duff.
Maksim Myaskovskiy, 18, is accused of physical threats against Duff and her boyfriend, Good Charlotte singer Joel Madden.
Court documents say Myaskovskiy “admitted to being ‘obsessed’ with her, has stated his intention of purchasing a weapon, and has threatened to kill himself and to engage in dramatic actions to get her attention … and that Joel Madden stands in their way.”
The birthday bunch
Singer Mary Travers (Peter, Paul and Mary) is 70. Actor Lou Ferrigno (“The Incredible Hulk”) is 54. Rapper Pepa (Salt-N-Pepa) is 37. Singer Nick Lachey is 33.