Sacha Baron Cohen Thanks Anonymous Bodyguard “Who Stopped Me From Getting Shot Twice” After Second Golden Globe Win For ‘Borat’ Sequel

Shortly after Borat Subsquent Moviefilm’s Golden Globes victory tonight in the category of Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Sacha Baron Cohen returned to the spotlight to claim a second statuette.

“Hold on, Donald Trump is contesting the result,” Baron Cohen joked, after winning the award for Actor in a Musical or Comedy. “He’s claiming that a lot of dead people voted, which is a very rude thing to say about the HFPA.”

While saluting all of the artists who risked their lives to help make this film—which was shot amidst the Covid-19 pandemic—the Borat sequel’s writer, producer and star gave special thanks to one person, in particular, who he kept anonymous. “Most thanks of all to my bodyguard, who stopped me from getting shot twice,” he said. “You know who you are, and you know I’m not allowed to say your name. But thank you.”

In his first acceptance speech of the night, Baron Cohen likewise went in both topical and hilarious directions. “Thank you to the all-white Hollywood Foreign Press,” he deadpanned, to kick things off.

Between his turn in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, and in The Trial of the Chicago 7—as political activist Abbie Hoffman—Baron Cohen is shaping up as a likely Oscar contender in one or more categories. At the Globes, he was also nominated for his turn in Aaron Sorkin’s legal drama, though he lost out in that case to Judas and the Black Messiah’s Daniel Kaluuya. In the category of Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, meanwhile, he beat out the likes of James Corden (The Prom), Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton), Andy Samberg (Palm Springs) and Dev Patel (The Personal History of David Copperfield).

Over the years, Baron Cohen has been nominated at the Globes a total of five times. While he factored into the race just last year with Netflix thriller The Spy, his only win in the past had come for the original Borat, in which he first introduced to the world a now-iconic comedic character.

Directed by Jason Woliner, his mockumentary sequel continues the story of the Kazakh journalist who caught the world’s attention in 2006, with a documentary he made on the United States. After humiliating his country with that film, Borat finds that he must travel back to America to redeem its reputation, by offering his daughter as a bride to Vice President Mike Pence. Also produced by Monica Levinson and Anthony Hines, the Amazon Studios title debuted on October 23.