Culturite

Baron Cohen is known for his crazy antics in Borat, but just how far is he willing to go for Bruno, his upcoming comedy about a gay European model in the States?

Comedy actor Sacha Baron Cohen has sparked outrage in Arkansas after hijacking a cage-fighting contest with a display of gay kissing.

The Borat star infuriated fans at the Blue Collar Brawlin’ event when the participants stripped down to their underwear and kissed. More than 1,600 spectators threw beer and chairs at the act.

It is believed the event was a stunt for Cohen’s new movie Brüno: Delicious Journeys Through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Males Visibly Uncomfortable in the Presence of a Gay Foreigner in a Mesh T-Shirt.

Dwight Duncan, president of the Four States Fair Grounds which provided the venue said: “We had a contract for cage fighting. We were deceived.”

A spokesman for Cohen declined to say whether he was behind the prank.

Members of Hollywood actors unions approved a new three-year contract in a vote that was closely watched in Hollywood as an indication of whether the larger Screen Actors Guild will be able to continue pressing for a better deal in its own contentious labor talks with film and television producers.

Members of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists approved their new contract with a 62.4% majority. In recent weeks, the Aftra vote became something of a referendum on the actors’ desire to continue negotiating for a better contract with the studios, as the two unions share about 44,000 members. SAG, currently embroiled in difficult talks with Hollywood studios, campaigned vigorously against the new Aftra deal as a means of demonstrating that its members are willing to aggressively pursue better terms in their own contract — even on the heels of a crippling 100-day strike by screenwriters last winter.

Aftra members approved the new contract by a lower margin than in the past, when contracts were jointly negotiated with SAG. The lower approval margin is bound to be interpreted by some as a sign that SAG’s leadership has significant support to continue pushing the studios for a better deal. Others will declare the vote is a rebuke of the rival union’s leadership and a sign SAG might have to settle.

As a result, the SAG contract won’t get resolved for some time. SAG hasn’t yet called for a strike-authorization vote, despite the June 30 expiration of its contract. But its members possibly could be locked out by movie and TV producers if negotiations don’t quickly progress.