Punked

Sacha Baron Cohen Tried to Prank Me. Here’s How I Knew It Was a Scam.

By MICHAEL CAPUTO

Sacha Baron Cohen’s fake production company contacted me in mid-February asking me to help put together a TV interview with my client, former Republican Congressman Michael Grimm. I didn’t know it was Cohen’s crew—in fact I called the overture in an email at the time “amateur Ali G.” But there were signs of a bluff, and I turned them down. Today, I have a message for Republicans and Democrats alike: beware. There are plenty of politically-motivated pretenders out there preparing to punk you, and you better be on your toes.

Cohen is following a great American television tradition started in the late 1940s by Allen Funt. His show “Candid Camera” hid their film crew and played practical jokes on unsuspecting victims. It was harmless fun. The program aired for two decades on network television, proving America loves this stuff.

Starting with his characters Ali G and Borat, Cohen took Funt’s early reality TV genre a step further: He mercilessly pranked his guests, leading astronaut Buzz Aldrin into cringeworthy conversations or small town bar patrons in an anti-Semitic sing along. Today, with his new CBS/Showtime production “Who is America?,” he’s even more determined to humiliate. He’s not interested in benign practical jokes. He won’t set up a piano that rolls slowly away from it’s pianist; he won’t drive a car into an office to shock the new receptionist. If you’re a Republican, Cohen wants to destroy you.

And he can: A Georgia Republican lawmaker resigned this week after Cohen, disguised as a colonel in the Israeli army, convinced him to drop his pants and yell racial slurs for the cameras. There are probably more resignations coming. But let’s face it, when you act stupid and say horrible things on camera, it really doesn’t matter how you got there. The best defense is not to act like a jerk, ever. Running a close second is don’t fall for the scam in the first place.

For us, the incoming email invitation was pretty standard. The short pitch from Ashley Winthrop, calling herself a producer with Yerushalayim Television, was a familiar mix of producer’s flattery and information. She was happy to inform us Michael Grimm had been “chosen as one of Israel’s ‘70 at 70’ for his strong support of the state of Israel.” Her production company would air the feature on DBS, the largest TV provider in Israel, she said. She invited my client to sit with a film crew in Washington, D.C., to talk about U.S.-Israel affairs.

Receiving a reputable pro-Israel award isn’t a bad idea for a Democrat or a Republican in a New York City congressional district. Grimm had a solid record on Israel, but his selection for the honor was a bit out of left field. It warranted checking out.

Of course, DBS vets: With 600,000 subscribers, it’s Israel’s only direct broadcast satellite television provider. But which news channel which would air the story? It’s just as strange as an American TV news producer saying their piece would air on Direct TV.

This awkward reference sent a researcher to Google, where we discovered what appeared to be a rudimentary Yerushalayim Television web site. Winthrop also had a LinkedIn profile and a few possible Twitter handles, but not much beyond that. Things were smelling fishier and fishier. I grew skeptical, and made a few excuses to rebuff her.

It was also odd that a production company shooting interviews for the 70th anniversary of Israel would not film in New York City, where so many pro-Israel religious leaders and business and entertainment icons live. Instead, they hinted they would pay for Grimm’s travel to Washington—another red flag. But there was no possibility, under any circumstance, Grimm would suspend campaigning on the streets of Staten Island and Brooklyn for a boondoggle trip to Washington anyway. I wouldn’t even ask him.

In the end, I ran the pitch by Yossi Gestetner, one of the smartest public relations guys in New York City. (He had created a pivotal 2016 Trump Tower meeting for President Donald Trump with Jewish media leaders right before the New York State Republican primary.) He knew everybody and he certainly could help vet this invitation.

Gestetner made a few calls, checked it out and reported back that he couldn’t tell us much either way. He was skeptical that there wasn’t information out there about Yerushalayim TV in Israel, either. That tore it; we took a pass. Later, Gestetner tipped me off that Yerushalayim TV was one of many fronts for Sacha Baron Cohen’s production company.

These tricks are played by both sides. James O’Keefe at Project Veritas is channeling Allen Funt on the right, too, but he’s out to wreak havoc on liberal orthodoxy. I’m willing to bet O’Keefe’s pitch and approach are more polished, but it’s basically the same gig. Campaigns also send camera toting trackers to opponents’ events; their videos have ruined some high profile candidacies.

Regardless of which side of the political aisle you are on, the stakes are too high nowadays to book a TV interview with a complete stranger. We easily dodged a bullet, and our candidate never even entered the discussion. But Cohen’s team does a fairly good job faking it, with a solid pitch, fake news Web pages and social media accounts that were enough to fool a Georgia state legislator. Pros in state capitals across the country and inside the Beltway might be more skeptical, but they’re still vulnerable. They should be on vigilant watch for Sacha Baron Cohen and a legion of his imitators.