Former Republican chief justice of Alabama's Supreme Court and US Senate candidate, Roy Moore, 75, is seeking to revive his $95 million lawsuit against British actor Sacha Baron Cohen, 50.
According to Moore's lawyer, the politician believes he was treated unfairly when a judge dismissed his 2019 lawsuit last year and said that Moore was not defamed when he took part in Cohen's comedy show "Who is America?". "It was clearly a joke and no reasonable viewer would have seen it otherwise", the judge said. Moore disagreed and decided to have another try at an appeals court in New York earlier this week.
In September 2018, Moore, a former Republican chief justice of Alabama's Supreme Court and US Senate candidate, attended Baron's show where he was expected to receive an award for supporting Israel.
However, Cohen, disguised as fictional Israeli anti-terrorism expert, waved a wand he claimed could detect paedophiles, and which made a beeping noise when it moved closer to Moore. The interview took place following Moore's defeat in the 2017 Senate race in Alabama amid accusations that he had been involved in episodes of sexual misconduct toward underage girls while in his thirties.
Moore's lawyer Larry Klayman has initiated a reinstatement of the 2019 lawsuit to be able to gather evidence to prove that Moore was defamed and subject to emotional distress. Klayman also emphasised that now the case should be considered by a jury, as was the case in a recent defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard.
"There's nothing more heinous than being accused of being a paedophile...People jump off buildings over that", the lawyer said.
Cohen has denied all the accusations. His lawyer, Elizabeth McNamara, said that the way her client acted during the interview with Moore was "the classic satirical commentary that is fully protected by the First Amendment".