Real concern in Borat scene

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Sacha Baron Cohen

Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen was genuinely "concerned" for his Borat sequel co-star Maria Bakalova as she found herself in a compromising situation with U.S. President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Guiliani.

The former New York City mayor has vehemently denied any wrongdoing after he joined Bakalova, who plays Borat's daughter and was posing as a journalist, in her hotel suite, and was filmed reclining on a bed and appearing to put his hand down the front of his pants.

A preview of the scene from the new Borat Subsequent Moviefilm concluded with Cohen, as his iconic Kazakh newsman character Borat, bursting into the room and declaring, "She's 15! She's too old for you!".

Guiliani has maintained he was simply tucking in his shirt after removing his recording equipment, and on Thursday night, Cohen released a video of himself, as Borat, pretending to defend the lawyer's actions, stating, "What was an innocent sexy-time encounter between a consenting man and my 15-year-old daughter has been turned into something disgusting by fake news media."

However, in a chat with Good Morning America on Friday, Cohen insisted it's clear from the footage what Guiliani's intentions with Bakalova were - and he actually became worried for the Bulgarian actress as the scene played out.

"If the president's lawyer found what he did there appropriate behavior, then heaven knows what he's done with other female journalists in hotel rooms," the British actor declared.

"I just urge everyone to watch the movie. It is what it is, he did what he did. Make your own mind up; it was pretty clear to us."

He added, "I was quite concerned for her (Bakalova) during the scene. We built a hideaway that I was hiding in during the entire scene so I was monitoring it by text, but it's my responsibility as a producer as well to ensure that the lead actor is looked after."

Despite his unease at the situation, his co-star knew she was never in any real "danger."

"I always felt safe with our team, with our crew, with Sacha in my corner," Bakalova explained. "I actually never felt that I was in danger, that's why I'm lucky."

The mockumentary, which has a full title of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, premiered on the Amazon streaming service on Friday.