8 Times Sacha Baron Cohen Almost Ruined His Career For The Sake Of Comedy

4) The Time A Woman Claimed ‘Bruno’ Left Her Disabled

Bruno, like Borat, was a production that took a little bit of flak. Beyond a few LGBT groups criticizing the film, however, Bruno wasn’t quite as controversial as its predecessor. The biggest scandal regarding the film wasn’t related to the content, but a rather serious off-screen incident involving real bodily harm that turned out to be…well, not true, basically.

Richelle Olson’s claim was that a struggle with Baron Cohen and his film crew at a bingo tournament had left her needing a wheelchair to get around. And so, she sued. It was incredibly damning, potentially career-ending stuff. In the end, though, it was revealed to be completely false. Olson later changed her claim to say that Baron Cohen had never struck her, but that emotional trauma had left her requiring a wheelchair. The case was eventually dismissed.