Overview

Borat evolved from previous characters that Sacha Baron Cohen had developed: An unnamed Moldovan TV reporter (for LWT/Granada TV and the BBC's Comedy Nation), and an Albanian TV reporter called Kristo (for the Paramount Comedy Channel).

Borat appeared irregularly on Da Ali G Show, for Channel 4 and HBO, with sketches featuring him often relying on outrageous behaviour and actions, and the reactions of uninformed individuals around him. In early appearances his name was given as Borat Karabzhanov as well as Borat Dutbayev but from 2003 his name was changed to Sagdiyev. In some cases, Borat's guests embrace his anti-Semitism and misogyny by agreeing with him, while other guests express displeasure and attempt to correct his behaviour. Borat has also appeared on BBC1's Friday Night with Jonathan Ross , he appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on July 14, 2004 and on November 2, 2006 in his own feature film, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan .

Cohen (in character) promoted the Borat film with appearances on Saturday Night Live , The Daily Show with Jon Stewart , Opie and Anthony , The Tonight Show with Jay Leno , The Howard Stern Show , Live with Regis and Kelly , Late Show with David Letterman , on which he played the berimbau as a guest musician with Beck, The Today Show where host Matt Lauer interviewed him and CBS's The Early Show where host Harry Smith interviewed then playfully wrestled with Borat.[2] Just minutes before the CBS appearance, Borat appeared on Fox News where both hosts laughed constantly throughout the interview. But Gretchen Carlson could not stop even when Borat expressed his astonishment when she stated that she would see the movie on Saturday: "You let women in cinemas here? In my country we have a pen outside for the animals and womens!"

Because of his outrageously offensive and bigoted behavior, of which Borat seems innocently unaware, and the stereotypes of a backwards second world country, as he portrays Kazakhstan, the character has sparked controversy. The most outspoken critics of Borat so far have been government officials in Kazakhstan who have vilified Baron Cohen for the way their nation is characterised. The differences between Borat's fictional homeland in Kazakhstan and the actual people and way of life in the country are so far apart that some speculate whether Baron Cohen made it that way to be a satire of American and British views of the world.[3]