Sacha Baron Cohen’s ‘Who Is America?’ Trolls Sarah Palin in Finale Credits

As Showtime hinted might be the case a couple of weeks ago, Sarah Palin’s long-awaited segment on Sacha Baron Cohen’s Who Is America? was ultimately left on the cutting room floor, failing to materialize as the series aired its seventh and final episode Sunday night. However the very last thing viewers saw was a credit for the former Alaska governor that read “Special Publicity Consultant (Inadvertent)” above her name. Palin was the first major figure to come out with her own story about how Baron Cohen had “duped” her for the series, explaining how she and her daughter had flown across the country to sit for an extended interview with the British comedian, who had disguised himself as the right-wing conspiracy theorist Dr. Billy Wayne Ruddick, Ph.D. Palin even appeared on Good Morning America to essentially promote the “bizarre, really embarrassing, humiliating interview.” After Palin spoke out, numerous other political figures followed her lead by going public with their stories about how Baron Cohen had tricked them into making all kinds of offensive statements on camera. Among those who, like Palin, came forward but did not make it into the series were former CNN Trump surrogate Jeffrey Lord and a California gun store owner. — Matt Wilstein