Kazakhstan demands apology for ‘Borat’ anthem played at Arab shooting titles in Kuwait (VIDEO)
Borat Sagdiyev, played by actor Sacha Baron Cohen, attends a book signing for his new book “BORAT: Touristic Guidings to Minor Nation of U.S. and A. and Touristic Guidings to Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” at Borders on November 7, 2007 in Los Angeles, California.
Kazakhstan has demanded an apology from Kuwait after a spoof national anthem from the hit satirical movie "Borat" was played at a medal ceremony for its shooting team.
Organizers of the 10th Arab Shooting Championship in Kuwait hit the button on the obscene song, which features lyrics about prostitutes and potassium exports as Maria Dmitrienko stood on the podium to celebrate her gold medal performance, The Guardian wrote.
Footage of Thursday's original ceremony posted on YouTube shows Dmitrienko listening to the anthem without emotion and finally smiling as it ends.
"Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" was a popular 2006 film made by British comic Sacha Baron Cohen.
The anthem played in the film is titled "My Kazakhstan" and mocks Kazakhstan.
According to the Australian Broadcasting Authority, the film "portrayed the country as a hotbed of backward quasi-medieval racists who drink horse urine and indulge in incest."
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Championship organizers restaged the medal ceremony with the correct version of the Kazakhstan anthem, and Kazakhstan's foreign office said they were investigating the incident to avoid any similar errors.
Kazakhstan experienced a similar gaffe on its own soil back in March when, according to RT.com, organizers of a domestic skiing festival played Ricky Martin’s "Livin’ la Vida Loca" instead of the Kazakh national anthem.
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