CBS This Morning co-hosts often promote the newest programs on Showtime, a division of CBS. Yet, the journalists on Wednesday ignored a disgusting new Showtime series featuring a comedian who dressed up as a disabled veteran in order to dupe Sarah Palin into an interview.
Actor Sacha Baron Cohen has a long history of performing prank interviews heavily under makeup to mock conservatives and libertarians. (He did this to Newt Gingrich, Pat Buchanan, Bob Barr and Ron Paul, among others.) Of the three networks, only NBC’s Today covered the story.
Today co-host Hoda Kotb explained: “Sarah Palin calls Sasha Baron Cohen evil and sick after being duped into an interview for his new undercover comedy show, saying the comedian posed as a disabled veteran while talking to the former vice presidential candidate.”
Fox News recounted Palin’s response on her Facebook page: “I join a long list of American public personalities who have fallen victim to the evil, exploitive, sick ‘humor’ of the British ‘comedian’ Sacha Baron Cohen, enabled and sponsored by CBS/Showtime.”
It’s quite the contrast that CBS is silent on this Showtime show considering that the network regularly promotes Showtime programs. (Showtime has been a division of CBS since 2005.) In March of this year, This Morning touted a news Showtime series on the New York Times. CBS also promoted a Showtime series on climate change.
Yet, somehow, CBS hasn’t talked about the new Cohen series. Perhaps even CBS is embarrassed of impersonating a veteran in order to mock a conservative?
