Easily the most talked-about scene in “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” comes when Rudy Giuliani, after completing an interview with Tutar (Maria Bakalova) lies back on a bed and thrusts his hand down his pants before being interrupted by her father, Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen), bursting into the room.
During a virtual panel on Saturday for the Producers Guild of America, the film’s producer, Monica Levinson, revealed that the furious former NYC mayor attempted to have the entire crew arrested.
“He claimed we were trying to extort him at the time,” Levinson said. “He called all of his New York City cops and said, ‘Extortion,’ which was a federal crime. Very smart to bring that up.” Levinson said, as reported by Deadline.
In addition, Levinson said that the hotel staff, after Giuliani’s complaints, locked the crew out of the room where the footage was filmed; luckily, the had already managed to get the footage out of the room beforehand.
“That’s always out first,” Levinson said. “We would hide tapes in our pants. There’s always ways to make sure we got out the data.”
However, the were still unable to access their equipment. “We actually had to rent new equipment,” Levinson said. “It was a really stressful time that evening because the hotel wouldn’t let us take anything out of the rooms.”
RELATED: Maria Bakalova Admits Filming That ‘Borat 2’ Rudy Giuliani Scene Was ‘Nerve-Racking’
According to Levinson, she and the were able to avoid arrest thanks to the lessons she learned after being arrested while making the first “Borat” film, spending 19 hours behind bars.
“We ended up confabbing with our lawyers,” she said. “I called the production team and said, ‘Let’s get everyone to New Jersey tonight.’ It was 11 o’clock at night. I didn’t want a repeat of what happened to me on the first movie happening to the entire crew.”
