Let me start this blog out by saying I once lived in Arkansas when my dear husband was a recruiter. And, the people there don’t mess around and from what I saw, don’t particular like to be pranked. However, that is just what Sacha Baron Cohen of Borat fame seems to have done.
Fans bought tickets to what they thought was a cage fight which offered $1 beers, but that isn’t what they got. Once the fans arrived to the Fort Smith convention center on June 5th, they didn’t get the “Blue Collar Brawlin” they expected, but two guys who ripped each other’s clothes off then kissed. Fort Smith police Sgt. Adam Holland said that the organizers (who have not been named) told him “Straight Dave,” a character in the fight, would bring a planted audience member into the stage. The producers told Holland the two would embrace to make fun of wrestling, then rip away their clothing and briefly kiss. The whole scene was supposed to mimic the scene between Baron Cohen and Will Ferrell in “Talladega Nights” The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.”
However, the crowd of 1,600 must not have gotten the joke. They became enraged and Holland said the act “went right up to the line” of the city’s morality laws, with the guys rubbing against each other. The angry crowd began throwing cups of beer and it took police officers 45 minutes to clear the crowd out of the convention center. There were signs in the lobby of the convention center that told the audience they would be filmed and everyone had to sign a waiver before entering the event.
A publicist for Baron Cohen would not comment about the fight, but Baron Cohen is known for pranking entire countries, so why not the state of Arkansas? Plus, one of the more famous Arkansas himself was pranked once before. Then-governor Mike Huckabee congratulated Canada in 2000 for its “national igloo,” which he was told housed the Parliament.
Come on guys, leave Arkansas alone for a while!