Sacha Baron Cohen has donated $100,000 to the church that unexpectedly featured in his new movie.
Sacha Baron Cohen
The 'Borat Subsequent Moviefilm' star donated the large sum of money to the community church attended by Jeanise Jones, who featured in his new movie, where viewers saw him in character as the Kazakh journalist as he took his daughter to the church.
Pastor Derrick Scobey of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Oklahoma City told People magazine: "I was blown away but not surprised because I was told about what type of heart this man has. Maybe it's a little risqué, some of the things in the movie, but he has a good heart."
In the movie's scenes, Jeanise was seen looking after Borat's fictional 15-year-old daughter Tutar, played by actress Maria Bakalova, and was heavily praised by fans for encouraging Tutar to "be happy" and telling her to "use her brain, because her daddy is a liar" after Borat made misogynistic comments about the girl.
Pastor Scobey has also set up a GoFundMe page for Jeanise - who had previously believed she was starring in a documentary about child brides - as she recently lost her job after three decades owing to the coronavirus pandemic.
A post on the page reads: "I am Jeanise Jones’s Pastor Derrick Scobey. Jeanise Jones is a Mother(3), Grandmother (6), faithful church member and just an overall great person who will help anyone. She recently emerged as the “STAR” in the new Borat movie. She was recruited from our church the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Oklahoma City after Producers spoke to me about needing a “Black Grandmother” for a small role in a “documentary.” Jeanise emerged as that person and she was completely unaware that this was a comedy, and all of this was made up. We have been praying for the young lady in the movie because we all genuinely thought she was in trouble. The joke is on us/Jeanise and that’s no problem.
"Many of you have reached from around the world to say thank you, so I thought it would be great to give people a vehicle to say thank you in a tangible way, She wasn’t paid much money at all for her role in this movie. This was not scripted for Jeanise. It all came from the heart. She is one of the most authentic people I’ve ever met. One good thing that has come from this is that Jeanise doesn’t have to worry about “Tutar” anymore. She has WORRIED about this young lady for a year."
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