Judge May Halt 'Borat' DVD at Frat Brothers' Request

LOS ANGELES – A judge is weighing whether to halt the DVD release of "Borat" at the request of two fraternity members from a South Carolina university who say they were duped into making racist and sexist remarks in the hit movie.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Joseph Biderman viewed the scene in question on Thursday, but did not indicate when he might issue a ruling.

The fraternity members filed a lawsuit Nov. 9, alleging they were tricked into appearing in the spoof documentary "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan."

The men, who were not named in the lawsuit, allege the film's producers took them to a bar and, after a bout of heavy drinking, persuaded them to sign release forms agreeing to appear in what they were told would be a documentary shown outside the United States.

The lawsuit claims the film brought them "ridicule, humiliation, mental anguish and emotional and physical distress, loss of reputation, goodwill and standing in the community."

Attorney Olivier Taillieu, who represents the plaintiffs, said the DVD should not be released because "further dissemination of the film is going to cause some injury to my clients."

He said one of the men was forced to resign from his prominent position at the University of South Carolina chapter of Chi Psi.

Besides wanting to bar the DVD release, the plaintiffs are seeking unspecified monetary damages.

An attorney representing 20th Century Fox, a unit of News Corp., questioned the plaintiffs' claim that they were too drunk to understand the release forms.

"We're confident that we're going to prevail," attorney Louis Petrich said. "We don't think the lawsuit has any merit. We don't even agree with them on the facts."

The movie, which follows the adventures of comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's Kazakh journalist character, has been a surprise hit at the box office, earning more than $100 million in the United States.