Moore v. Cohen

Sacha Noam Baron Cohen (defendant) tricked Roy Stewart Moore (plaintiff), former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court and candidate for United States Senate, into participating in an interview under the guise of receiving an award for his support of Israel. Prior to the interview, Moore signed a consent agreement in which he waived his right to bring claims for defamation, fraud, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, among other claims, related to his participation in the interview. The waiver for fraud claims specified that Moore waived his right to bring fraud claims related to alleged deception about the interview or the consent agreement. Moore modified the consent agreement prior to signing, crossing out the waiver of his right to bring a claim for intrusion or invasion of privacy with regard to questions about sexual behavior. The consent agreement specified that in entering into the agreement, Moore was not relying on any representations made by anyone about the nature of the interview. Cohen conducted the interview dressed up and acting as an Israeli antiterrorism expert. During the interview, Cohen insinuated that Moore was a sex offender, and Moore ended the interview. The interview aired as part of a comedy series on Showtime. Moore filed a claim for defamation and, together with his wife (plaintiff), filed claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress and fraud. Cohen filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that Moore’s claims were barred by the waiver clause contained in the consent agreement. Moore argued that because he struck through language pertaining to the waiver of intrusion or invasion-of-privacy claims, the contract was modified so as to allow his claims, and that the consent agreement expressed an agreement not to mention the topic of sexual behavior. Moore also argued that Cohen fraudulently induced him into appearing on the show by misrepresenting the nature of the interview.