Just in the original Borat movie, there are a lot of shenanigans and tomfoolery afoot in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, but there are also a handful of heartwarming moments. Among those is the time that Maria Bakalova’s Tutar spends with babysitter Jeanise Jones, who had no idea the girl she was looking after was not, in fact, a soon-to-be underage bride.
Following the release of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm on Amazon Prime Video, a GoFundMe page was set up for Jeanise Jones, who wasn’t paid much for her appearance in the movie, and is also currently unemployed due to the pandemic. When we initially reported on these fundraising efforts, over $92,000 had been sent Jones’ way. That number has since risen to over $131,000.
Yep, a lot of people on the internet have donated to help Jeanise Jones through this difficult period of her life, and with this GoFundMe not even being a week old, there’s still plenty of time for other to provide financial aid. The page was set up by Derrick Scobey, the pastor at Jones’ church, who described her as “a moral compass and a light shining in darkness” in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.
But wait, it gets even better! As reported by People, star of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Sacha Baron Cohen, has donated over $100,000 to Jeanise Jones’ Oklahoma City community. Upon Jones’ request, the Ebenezer Baptist Church will handle distributing money for food, shelter and any other needs the community has.
Jeanise Jones is among the many people who’ve become fan-favorites in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, although unlike with Holocaust survivor Judith Dim Evans, Sacha Baron Cohen did not disclose to Jones afterwards that he and Maria Bakalova were playing characters. As such, after her time on the sequel was over, Jones was legitimately concerned about Tutar’s welfare for the next year and asked the other congregants at her church to pray for the girl.
Of course, by the time marketing for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm ramped up, and with the movie’s release on Amazon Prime Video (the original plan was for it to hit theaters in November, but that was scrapped due to the pandemic), Jeanise Jones learned what had actually been going on. Jones said she felt “kind of betrayed,” but it’s good to see that some good has come out of all this for her between the GoFundMe page and Sacha Baron Cohen helping out her community.
While Borat Subsequent Moviefilm’s existence wasn’t officially revealed until this past September, Sacha Baron Cohen began filming it in late 2019 and finished as summer 2020 was winding down. The sequel has been met with primarily positive reception, and Amazon states that tens of millions of people streamed it during its first weekend.
Be sure to read CinemaBlend’s review of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm and stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more news about the sequel. Find out what movies are intended to play in theaters next year with our 2021 release schedule.
