Comic claims his gag was stolen

Jokes about adopting African children have been going around ever since Angelina Jolie and Madonna began the celebrity trend.

The latest comes from Sacha Baron Cohen, whose Bruno character adopts a Third World child in his upcoming movie – but now American comedian Pauly Shore is threatening to sue – claiming Baron Cohen stole the idea from him.

In his new movie, fame-hungry Bruno adopts a black child, picking him up from the luggage carousel at the airport and parading him on talk shows, joking that he has given him a traditional African name: OJ.

But Shore’s latest movie, Adopted, has a similar theme, with the much-derided comedian travelling to the continent to pick up an orphan, generally acting like an ignorant oaf and quipping that the child will probably grow up to become a mugger.

The New York Daily News reports that Shore has consulted his lawyers about taking action against Baron Cohen, claiming the scenes from Bruno bear a ‘striking resemblance’ to the trailer of his film, which has not yet been released.

Here is the Adopted trailer:

Baron Cohen is no stranger to lawsuits, with several people unsuccessfully suing after complaining they were duped into appearing in his previous Borat film.

The adoption jokes in the new Bruno movie are already said to have upset Madonna – who gave Baron Cohen a break in the US when his Ali G character starred in her Hey Mr DJ music video.

Published: 30 Jun 2009