Sacha Baron Cohen whose fictional character Borat Sagdiyev has won global acclaim, took home two Golden Globes awards - one for best actor in a musical or comedy and the other for best comedy or musical for his 2020 film Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.
This is a historic win because it makes Sacha the first person in Golden Globes history to win two awards for the character - the Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev. He had won the Golden Globe best actor in a musical or comedy in 2006 for the first film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. During his acceptance speech, Sacha thanked the "all-white" Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), the voting body behind the annual awards show, and he also thanked Rudy Giuliani for being the "reluctant" star of the Borat sequel. He said, "Thank you to the all-white Hollywood Foreign Press. I’ve gotta say this movie couldn’t have been possible without my co-star, a fresh, new talent who came from nowhere and turned out to be a comedy genius. I'm talking, of course, about Rudy Giuliani. I mean, who can get more laughs out of one unzipping? Incredible. Our movie was just the beginning for him, Rudy went on to star in a string of comedy films. Hits like 'Four Seasons Landscaping,' 'Hair Dye Another Day' and the courtroom drama 'A Very Public Fart.'"
On winning the best actor award, Sacha even poked fun at Donald Trump's refusal to accept the presidential election results. "Hold on, Donald Trump is contesting the result," he said after his name was called for best actor in a comedy. In his remarkably subtle witty style he added, "He's claiming that a lot of dead people voted, which is a very rude thing to say about the HFPA."
The actor thanked the film's crew for shooting the movie putting themselves at risk and also thanked his bodyguard. Sacha was nominated for three Golden Globe in total, tying the record set by Jamie Foxx and Helen Mirren for the most nods by a performer in a single year. Along with the Borat Subsequent Moviefilm nomination, he was also recognized for portraying Abbie Hoffman in The Trial of the Chicago 7.