Sacha Baron Cohen is no stranger to controversy – but last year, reports from the set of his new film Grimsby, as well as pre-production emails and documents revealed in the Sony hack, suggested that the actor and comedian, whose creations include characters such as Ali G and Borat, had taken things a step further.
A story in The Sun claimed that a scene for Grimsby had been filmed in which the Queen is infected with HIV, after a misdirected gunshot splatters the blood of a HIV-positive child into her mouth.
“The scene with the Queen is bleak. It’s more gruesome than anything he has done before,” a source told the newspaper.
“No decision has been made on whether it will make the final cut, but if it does it will inevitably cause a lot of outrage.”
Later on in the film, a similar incident would reportedly see the disease transferred from the Queen to the Pope.
An email leaked during the Sony hack also referred to the scene - while a separate cast document, available to view on WikiLeaks, refers to a Queen stunt double.
It appears, however, that both scenes may have been deemed a bit too much.
Instead in the final version of Grimsby– which premiered last night in London’s Leicester Square – the Queen and the Pope have been swapped – for actor and former Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe, and for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Radcliffe, played in the film by a double, is originally infected after the child’s blood enters his mouth, which contains open sores.
Trump is then infected with Radcliffe’s blood at the end of the film, leading to news reports that “Donald Trump has Aids” (which in turn caused loud cheering at the film’s premiere).
The original report drew criticism from Aids charities, who objected to the fact that the scene was unrealistic, and to the fact that the illness was being used as a joke.
“HIV can only be passed on by blood if it enters an open-wound, or in significant amounts, a mucus membrane,” a spokesperson for the National Aids Trust told the Daily Mail.
“Even then it is extremely unlikely, alongside the fact that any child living with HIV in the UK would almost definitely be on HIV treatment and therefore unable to pass the virus on.”
"The fact that HIV is used in this context, for shock value, is testimony to that fact that HIV is still seen as a punchline.”
Judging by the description above, however, it sounds as if these concerns weren’t a motivation in the switch – the nature of the “gruesome” infection scene remains the same.
Instead, it looks as if Cohen decided that the British head of state and the Catholic religious leader weren’t the best targets for his humour.
Trump may have been introduced due to his increased profile in the past year, and to end the film on a note of “celebration”: the politician’s unpopular, often extreme views have made him a figure of mockery across the world.
The decision behind Radcliffe’s inclusion is less clear – although it does allow Cohen to slip in a pretty funny Harry Potter-related gag (we’ll let you watch the film to find out what it is).
At the end of the film, the credits note: "Daniel Radcliffe was not involved in this film. And is not HIV positive."
A similar notice is also included for Trump.
