Rudy Giuliani says he called the police on Sacha Baron Cohen after ‘Borat’ star tried to prank him

Rudolph W. Giuliani said he called the police on actor and comedian Sacha Baron Cohen this week after the “Borat” star tried to prank him, the New York Post reported Wednesday.

Mr. Giuliani, the former New York City mayor-turned-President Trump’s personal lawyer, said the incident happened Tuesday at the Mark Hotel in Manhattan, the Post reported.

In an article Mr. Giuliani shared on Twitter, the Post reported that he said he was participating in what he believed would be a serious interview about the Trump administration’s response to the novel coronavirus when a person he later identified as Mr. Cohen stormed the room wearing what he called a “pink transgender outfit.”

“It was a pink bikini, with lace, underneath a translucent mesh top, it looked absurd. He had the beard, bare legs and wasn’t what I would call distractingly attractive,” Mr. Giuliani said.

“This person comes in yelling and screaming, and I thought this must be a scam or a shake-down, so I reported it to the police. He then ran away,” Mr. Giuliani added.

Mr. Giuliani, 76, said he only later realized the person was likely Mr. Cohen, a British prankster who previously starred in and created several projects involving similar stunts.

“I thought about all the people he previously fooled and I felt good about myself because he didn’t get me,” Mr. Giuliani told the Post.

A spokesperson for the New York Police Department’s public information office told The Washington Times that it had no complaint reports on file with respect to any incidents Tuesday involving Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Cohen at the Mark Hotel.

A representative for Mr. Cohen declined to comment, the Post reported.

Mr. Cohen, 48, has starred in several projects that have involved him making a mockery of others while portraying various characters, including the title role in his acclaimed 2006 movie “Borat,” a mustachioed purported journalist from Kazakhstan, as well as several personas seen in a “Who is America?” — a political satire that began airing on Showtime in 2018.

Most recently, he appeared on stage at a right-wing event in Washington state this month as the singer of a band who performed an overtly racist song and successfully encouraged audience members to sing along.