Still from Showtime special “Who is America?” with Sacha Baron Cohen and former Alabama Judge Roy Moore. Courtesy photo.

When does a televised prank stop being funny and start being fraudulent?

A federal court in Washington, D.C., is about to decide.

Former judge and Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore and his wife, Kayla Moore, on Wednesday sued British comedic actor and film producer Sacha Baron Cohen, along with New York-based companies CBS Entertainment and Showtime, over the judge's portrayal in episode three of “Who is America?” which aired July 29.

The suit alleges the show “falsely painted, portrayed, mocked and with malice defamed Judge Moore as a sex offender,” and that his wife “was forced to endure the effects of the interview.”

For more than a decade, Cohen has disguised himself as an array of outlandish characters, including Ali G, Borat and Brüno.

According to Moore, Cohen uses his disguises to rope “unsuspecting victims” into interviews “under dishonest, unethical, illegal and false pretenses for his works.”

On Feb. 14, Moore traveled to Washington, D.C., with his wife to collect what they thought was a bona fide award for his “strong support of Israel in commemoration of its 70th anniversary as a nation-state,” according to his complaint, filed Sep. 5 in federal court in D.C.

CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California. Photo: Jonathan Alcorn/Bloomberg.

Click here to read the complaint

Moore filmed a segment for Yerushalayim TV — an imaginary television network. In reality, he was debuting “Who is America?” for Showtime.

Cohen posed as an Israeli anti-terror expert and former Mossad agent named General Erran Mosad, who showcased a fictional security device, the pedophile detector, which beeped whenever Moore was nearby.

Cohen, or “Mosad,” at first feigned doubt in the findings of the “pedophile detector,” and asked Moore, “Did you lend the jacket to somebody else, maybe?”

Moore balked, and said, “I've never had an accusation of such things.”

“I'm not accusing you at all,” Cohen's character replied.

“Maybe Israeli technology hasn't developed properly,” Moore went on to say, before cutting the interview short. He then stood up to shake Cohen's hand, which caused the “pedophile detector” to go off again.

Click here to watch the official video clip

The complaint said that if Moore had known that “Erran Morad” was in fact Cohen, he “would have never agreed to be interviewed” and “would not have agreed to travel to Washington, D.C.”

A Showtime spokesperson said, “The press has been sent copies of an alleged complaint, yet to our knowledge Showtime has not been served. With that said, we do not comment on pending litigation.”

Moore, formerly chief justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama, lost the race for the Alabama Senate in December 2017 amid claims made by several women alleging sexual misconduct and assault. Moore has since initiated lawsuits against three of those women, claiming they were part of a “political conspiracy.”

Counsel to Roy and Kayla Moore, Larry Klayman of the Klayman Law group in Washington, D.C., chose not to comment on the matter at this time and directed the Daily Business Review to a recent press release.

Click here to read the full press release

“Judge Moore, a man of great faith, morality and intellect, is one of the finest people I have ever known,” the release read. “Sasha (sic) Baron Cohen, who is not only low class but also a fraudster, will now, along with Showtime and CBS, be held accountable for his outrageous and false, fraudulent and defamatory conduct which callously did great emotional and other damage to this great man and his wife and family.”