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Victims of ‘Borat’ aren’t laughing

Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, center, with etiquette consultant Cindy Streit, left, and Sarah Moseley, both of Birmingham, Ala. The two unknowingly became the target of British comedian Baron Cohen's outrageous humor in his movie satire. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press The Spokesman-Review
Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, center, with etiquette consultant Cindy Streit, left, and Sarah Moseley, both of Birmingham, Ala. The two unknowingly became the target of British comedian Baron Cohen's outrageous humor in his movie satire. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

NEW YORK — While teaching American humor to a gregarious and absurdly out-of-touch foreign journalist, Pat Haggerty realized something was off — who WAS this guy?

Haggerty, a public speaking coach from Washington, D.C., is one of the unwitting co-stars of the surprise hit movie “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit of Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.” Haggerty has no hard feelings toward Borat, a.k.a. comedian Sacha Baron Cohen — but the same can’t be said for others who were humiliated or even lost their jobs thanks to the awkward fellow with the bushy mustache.

Their embarrassment over the film’s hilarious, cringe-inducing blend of fiction and improvised comedy is magnified by its success — “Borat” has topped the box office two weeks in a row, earning a total of $67.8 million.

Last year, Haggerty agreed to be filmed for what he thought was a benign documentary on his client’s journey across America. He hurriedly signed a release form, was paid $400, and the lesson began.

As cameras rolled, his client told raunchy stories in garbled English and laughed heartily at the expense of handicapped people. “And then, I’m starting to smell a rat,” Haggerty told The Associated Press. “Each passing minute I’m going, you know, this can’t be real.”

Confused, he ended up playing along. He later figured out — thanks to his son, an HBO-watching college student — that he’d been duped.

Duped by Borat.

“They were exercising a First Amendment right,” said Haggerty, adding that he enjoyed the movie. “And this Sacha Cohen guy’s going to make 87 gazillion dollars. You know, good for him. I’m just sorry that he had to do it in such a way that he allowed people to make jerks out of themselves exposing their character flaws.”

Cohen’s behavior also wasn’t funny to Dharma Arthur, who claims she was fired as a morning show producer in Jackson, Miss., after being duped into giving Cohen air time. Cohen’s live appearance, in which he said he had to go “urine” and hugged a bemused weatherman, led her life into a downward spiral, she told the AP. She is seeking an apology.

Kathie Martin, who runs an etiquette school in Birmingham, Ala., was also left out of the joke. Even though she was gracious and calm when Borat showed her nude photos of his son, Martin admitted she was “taken aback” by his schtick during their on-camera meeting.

“Unless you can figure it out for yourself, you have no way of knowing you have been tricked into being part of a childish prank with an R rating attached,” she told the AP via e-mail.