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Actor Sacha Baron Cohen in his 'Borat' character (Reuters)
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Last update - 09:44 23/12/2007
Report: Sacha Baron Cohen to retire alter-egos Borat and Ali G
By The Associated Press
Tags: anti-Semitism 

Borat is dead.

Sacha Baron Cohen tells The Daily Telegraph that he is retiring the clueless Kazakh journalist, as well as his alter ego, aspiring rapper Ali G.

"When I was being Ali G and Borat I was in character sometimes 14 hours a day and I came to love them, so admitting I am never going to play them again is quite a sad thing," the 36-year-old actor-comedian says in the British newspaper's Friday edition.
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"It is like saying goodbye to a loved one. It is hard, and the problem with success, although it's fantastic, is that every new person who sees the Borat movie is one less person I 'get' with Borat again, so it's a kind of self-defeating form, really."

Baron Cohen brought Borat Sagdiyev - an anti-Semitic buffoon in search of Pamela Anderson - to the masses last year with his smash comedy, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. He first introduced the character on Da Ali G Show, which was carried in the U.S. on HBO.

"It's much easier for me to be in character and it's a lot more fun," he says. "If I'd done the entire promotional campaign for (the 'Borat' movie) as myself it wouldn't have developed in the same way.

Baron Cohen - not Borat - can be seen as a singing barber in Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd, co-starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.

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  1.   Sasha is a comedic genius and I look forward to new 06:02  |  The Equalizer 22/12/07
  2.   There is a dark side too 09:13  |  Milo 22/12/07
  3.   Ali G 10:42  |  Clickfool 22/12/07
  4.   The next personage incorporated by Cohen will be an Israeli: 13:21  |  Andreas 22/12/07
  5.   Baron Cohen is smart 13:32  |  Petra 22/12/07
  6.   Dzjenkue 14:48  |  Boris 22/12/07
  7.   #4 Andreas 15:16  |  H 22/12/07
  8.   Clicky, You don`t love ALI G? Funniest Muslim ever 16:06  |  The Equalizer 22/12/07
  9.   H#7: Not very convincing. If you think Mr Cohen`s clichees about 16:14  |  Andreas 22/12/07
  10.   character or not 16:16  |  Arin 22/12/07
  11.   Slow news day 17:04  |  Michael 22/12/07
  12.   Sacha Baron Cohen 17:13  |  Honesty b4 all 22/12/07
  13.   Sacha in "Talladega Nights" 17:25  |  Steve 22/12/07
  14.   #9 My conclusion 17:41  |  H 22/12/07
  15.   #9 Andreas 17:53  |  guy 22/12/07
  16.   gre2375 18:01  |  Grigoriy Mendelson 22/12/07
  17.   Just One More Interview, With Ahmadinejad, Then Give Up! 18:05  |  Lavi 22/12/07
  18.   Maybe the next character will be Ahmadinejad or Assad 18:09  |  Marwan مروان خوري 22/12/07
  19.   Andrea: its simple. Cohen is a walking comedic genius... 18:31  |  Richard S 22/12/07
  20.   Clickfool: always off the mark, never getting it. 18:33  |  Richard S 22/12/07
  21.   He always revealed his own stereotypes 18:57  |  Tim 22/12/07
  22.   Tim in Toronto 19:41  |  Yair 22/12/07
  23.   RESPECT 20:27  |  IL supporter 22/12/07
  24.   #3 Clicjfool and Borat 21:03  |  Yonatan 22/12/07
  25.   "Never be rude to an Arab, An Israeli, or Saudi, or Jew ..." 23:06  |  Andreas 22/12/07
  26.   Tim from Toronto 00:08  |  Tex 23/12/07
  27.   Clickfool 00:44  |  FlickC00l 23/12/07
  28.   BB is gone! 01:11  |  King 23/12/07
  29.   Sheik Al Click`s taste 03:24  |  Tom 23/12/07
  30.   #15 guy 03:36  |  MR 23/12/07
  31.   #4 Does not posses the "Genuis Gene" 07:24  |  John 23/12/07
  32.   BYE BYE BORAT 17:04  |  salvyn 23/12/07
  33.   EQUALIZER: Ali ain`t no Muslim 17:05  |  Anna 23/12/07
  34.   Anna 33, I did not know about Alistair BUT 17:47  |  The Equalizer 23/12/07
  35.   Clickfool 18:12  |  Albert Seligman 23/12/07
  36.   Andreas 18:19  |  Albert Seligman 23/12/07
  37.   Equalizer - agree 18:42  |  Anna 23/12/07
  38.   He Is Smart 19:19  |  Yosemite 23/12/07
  39.   For Albert Seligman # 35 21:45  |  Clickfool 23/12/07
  40.   borat 22:25  |  grace 23/12/07
  41.   Sacha Baron Cohen to retire 22:49  |  Steven 23/12/07
  42.   steve 13 11:55  |  realism 24/12/07
  43.   `BORAT` CHARACTER WAS TO SHOW THAT ALL HUMANS ARE `ANTI-SEMITICS` 17:24  |  JACKAL 24/12/07
  44.   CF 18:05  |  Albert Seligman 24/12/07
  45.   JACKAL 18:07  |  Albert Seligman 24/12/07
  46.   albert seligman 45 18:39  |  realism 24/12/07
  47.   Realism 19:53  |  Albert Seligman 24/12/07
  48.   albert seligman 47 01:35  |  realism 25/12/07
  49.   Answer to Realism`s Question 21:05  |  Albert Seligman 25/12/07
  50.   albert seligman 49 01:07  |  realism 26/12/07
  51.   Ali G = Alistair Graham 10:57  |  To #8 26/12/07
  52.   Realism 17:30  |  Albert Seligman 26/12/07
  53.   albert seligman 52 13:34  |  realism 27/12/07
  54.   Realism 13:37  |  Albert Seligman 28/12/07
  55.   as 54 03:28  |  realism 29/12/07
  56.   Gratuitous advice for Realism 15:49  |  Albert Seligman 29/12/07
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