Showtime Claims Sacha Baron Cohen Did Not Interview Sarah Palin Disguised As A Disabled Veteran

As we previously reported, Sarah Palin trashed Sacha Baron Cohen’s new Showtime series Who Is America?, after she claimed the comedian posed as disabled veteran Billy Wayne Ruddick Jr., Ph.D. to interview her and pull a prank.

She wrote at the time: “For my interview, my daughter and I were asked to travel across the country where Cohen (I presume) had heavily disguised himself as a disabled US Veteran, fake wheelchair and all. Out of respect for what I was led to believe would be a thoughtful discussion with someone who had served in uniform, I sat through a long “interview” full of Hollywoodism’s disrespect and sarcasm – but finally had enough and literally, physically removed my mic and walked out, much to Cohen’s chagrin. The disrespect of our US military and middle-class Americans via Cohen’s foreign commentaries under the guise of interview questions was perverse.”

Cohen then released a statement in character in which he said that he never claimed he was a veteran. He wrote:

Here's the truth @SarahPalinUSA 🇺🇸 #MAGA #buildthewall #boycottsashacohen pic.twitter.com/iFZWrFTxWL

— Billy Wayne Ruddick Jr., PhD (@BillyWRuddick) July 12, 2018

Showtime has now released a statement (via The Huffington Post claiming that Cohen was not dressed as a veteran. They wrote: “There has been widespread misinformation over the past week about the character of Billy Wayne Ruddick Jr., Ph.D., performed by Sacha Baron Cohen on the Showtime comedy series Who Is America? Baron Cohen did not present himself as a disabled veteran, and viewers nationwide who watched the premiere on Sunday can now attest to that.”

They then mentioned that he’s asked by Bernie Sanders if he’s disabled in episode one. They added: “He stated that he is not and uses a mobility scooter to conserve his energy.“