Celebrity Justice
Manners Maven Make Glorious Lawsuit Against Borat

An Alabama etiquette coach who got a little nudie-pic shock in "Borat" is taking off her white gloves and suing Sacha Baron Cohen -- almost a year after the movie was released. Sexy time -- to give it a rest!

Kathie Martin, who runs the Etiquette School of Birmingham, Ala., is just the latest Borat "victim" to bring legal action against Cohen and 20th Century Fox. In Martin's suit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, she alleges "commercial misappropriation, fraud, unjust enrichment, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress" by the movie's producers, and is seeking undisclosed damages.

In her scene in "Borat," Martin is shown a naked picture of Borat's "son" during the course of their "interview." Another Birmingham etiquette coach, Cindy Streit, filed a complaint with California's Attorney General last year, alleging violations of the state's Fair Trade Act.





Tags: Borat, Kathie Martin, KathieMartin

Reader Comments

(Page 1 of 2) | 1 | 2 | Most Recent | Next 15 Comments

1. ..oh!!!!!!!! give us a break lady!!!!...not very classy of u to start crying 2 flippin yrs later!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.....thats when u shot the scene!!!!!!!!!!...the greedy always come out of the closet!!!...not very becoming!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted at 11:20AM on Oct 25th 2007 by jr

2. this lawsuit is sooo dumb. we are too litigious of a society today. everyone sues everyone for everything today and it makes me sick. get over it lady.

Posted at 11:23AM on Oct 25th 2007 by people who sue suck

3. ...I emailed her to let her know her scene was very funny and she was unbecoming !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted at 11:24AM on Oct 25th 2007 by jr

4. would this law suit be considered proper etiquette?

Posted at 11:27AM on Oct 25th 2007 by take dat betches

5. Suing someone else for your own stupidity is the height of rude behavior.

If she put her brain ahead of her feeeeeelings she could turn it around and use it for publicity instead of simply being a whiner with a lack of foresight.

"I taught Borat manners! Well, not really, but I CAN teach you" or something like that.

I'd sign up!

Posted at 11:29AM on Oct 25th 2007 by Wah, wah, wah

6. That movie was hilarious! She ought to sue herself for being so dumb!!!!!!!!!!!!!HIGH FIVE!!!!!!!!!!

Posted at 11:41AM on Oct 25th 2007 by shannon

7. Oh, is it proper etiquette in Alabama to extort "undisclosed damages" out of rich celebrities? This so called etiquette coach needs to get herself a sense of humor.... and then some class. What a crock!!!

Posted at 11:57AM on Oct 25th 2007 by Erika

8. I could understand filing suit right after the movie came out, but a year or two later? Some isn't right there.

Posted at 12:24PM on Oct 25th 2007 by Duh

9. I heard that the film company had non actors sign a release allowing the footage to be used-so that protects them from just such a lawsuit

if, in hindsight, she wishes she hadn't signed it-understandable but too late

Posted at 12:39PM on Oct 25th 2007 by sally

10. She was set up, he lied and and deceived them and now he has millions from it. She sued now because of the statute of limitations.She was in a film, was tricked and didn't get paid for it. I call that unfair BS. Why should any of those people have been deceived into working on a major film for basically nothing? Screw Cohen-it's what he did to them. This wasn't a joke on You Tube. It made A LOT of money. Just because you liked the movie doesn't mean that Cohen wasn't using unknowing people to make himself wealthy. Believe me, if the situation was reversed- HE would be suing them.

Posted at 1:14PM on Oct 25th 2007 by YumYum

11. Looks like time to make call my brother-in-law who is number four hitman in all of Kazakhstan.

Posted at 1:20PM on Oct 25th 2007 by Borat

12. She has probably had more business and publicity since her appearance than ever before.

She ought to be thanking him for the increased business from the exposure her business got from the movie. My gosh, think of how they could market that if they had a creative bone in their oh so polite southern bodies.

Posted at 1:44PM on Oct 25th 2007 by Money y'all

13. Typical woman mantality.... cant take responcibilty for being played. Sorry ya wannabe princess... courts and juries usually ignore fools and their poor tender feelings. Get over it!
You got more attention than an old snivveling looser deserves.

Posted at 1:49PM on Oct 25th 2007 by jer

14. THAT IS ONE UGLY ARSE GUY .............. RICH BUT STILL UGLY AS HELL !!!!!

Posted at 2:00PM on Oct 25th 2007 by THEMOMMA

15. It's called I'm an extremely embarrassed white lady and all my white friends now make fun of me. This man is going to pay for what he did to me.

HA HA !!!

Backwards Alabama. So sad but oh so true. I'm from there but definitely not of there. Thank God for the State of California!

Posted at 2:47PM on Oct 25th 2007 by Steve

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