Failed Senate candidate Roy Moore lost an initial ruling in his defamation lawsuit against actor and comedian Sacha Baron Cohen.
A federal judge in DC on Monday ruled in favor of a request by Baron Cohen and Showtime to move the lawsuit to New York City.
Moore’s attorney had opposed the move, saying, according to The Hill, that “the defendants can try to run to New York City where they obviously believe that a leftist jurist will be more inclined to dismiss the case, but they cannot hide from the egregiousness of their cheap and vile acts.”
The ongoing lawsuit stems from Moore’s appearance last year on a Showtime series created by Baron Cohen, titled Who is America?
Moore, a former Alabama judge whose Senate run was derailed by multiple accusations of sexual impropriety with minors, was lured onto the show under false pretenses, like all of its guests.
On the show, Moore was interviewed by Baron Cohen disguised as Erran Morad, an “Israeli Mossad operative.” The former judge flew out to DC believing that he was being honored for his support of Israel. Once there, Morad brought out a tunnel detection wand he said was repurposed to sniff out pedophiles. The wand beeped constantly around Moore before the politician stormed off the set in protest.
After the series aired last summer, Moore vowed to sue the show’s creators for “airing a defamatory attack on my character.” In September, he filed a $95 million lawsuit for defamation against Baron Cohen, Showtime, and its parent company CBS, claiming that he was fraudulently manipulated into appearing on the show and that the consent form he signed should be rendered void.