Who Is America: Gun activist Dan Roberts seeking legal action over ‘malicious’ Sacha Baron Cohen prank

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Gun activist Dan Roberts has addressed his humiliating appearance on Who Is America? branding Sacha Baron Cohen “malicious.”

The episode saw the pro-gun group leader place a sex toy in his mouth after Cohen - in character as Israeli terror expert Erran Morad - convinced him it was a defence strategy designed to survive beheadings.

Roberts, the leader of Youth Shooters of America, told the New York Times he was unaware he was being pranked and is “actively exploring what legal remedies may be available.”

He bit down on the sex toy, worn by Cohen, after being told the only way to escape a beheading was to bite the genitals of the enemy. Roberts claims that he was “baffled” and felt “extraordinarily uncomfortable” while filming the prank last July.

“But at the same time, if you believe yourself to be in the presence of what anyone would rightly describe as experts in their field, and they are telling you that these are techniques or tactics that they themselves have used, and you’re just a rank amateur, would you question it?” he added.

Attempting to contextualise the moment, he said: “Think about what they’re claiming: a last resort. You have one chance to do something, or you’re certain you’re going to die. That’s the scenario they’ve laid out. I don’t know many people, if they were completely honest, that they would say they wouldn’t take that opportunity to maybe, hopefully, grab one thing to maybe save their lives.”

Roberts branded his appearance “a malicious, willful and deliberate act on the part of Sacha Baron Cohen, the production company and Showtime, who blatantly lied to me about the purpose of the entire thing, in a deliberate effort to humiliate me.”

Earlier this week, Sheriff Joe Arpaio responded to his controversial appearance which saw him say he'd accept oral sex from Donald Trump.

Who Is America? continues in the US this Sunday with its UK premiere arriving Monday at 9pm Channel 4