Baron Cohen drops legal action over cannabis dispensary advert
Sacha Baron Cohen brought the case last year (Rick Rycroft/AP)
British actor Sacha Baron Cohen has dropped his lawsuit against a US cannabis dispensary that used an image of his character Borat on a billboard without his permission.
A document filed in Boston federal court on Tuesday said the two sides had agreed to dismiss the case brought last year by the Borat star.
The legal filing did not mention any settlement in the case. Emails seeking comment were sent on Wednesday to lawyers for Baron Cohen and the dispensary, Massachusetts-based Solar Therapeutics.
The billboard showed Baron Cohen posing as Borat with two thumbs up and the words “It’s nice!” – one of Borat’s catchphrases.
The billboard along a Massachusetts interstate highway was taken down three days after Baron Cohen’s lawyers sent a cease-and-desist order to the dispensary, according to the suit.
His lawyers said in the complaint that the actor “never would participate in an advertising campaign for cannabis” and that the use of his image falsely conveyed to the public that he endorsed the company’s products.
Baron Cohen and his California-based company Please You Can Touch LLC were seeking nine million US dollars (£7 million) in damages.
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