Sacha Baron Cohen has apologized to “the people of Kazakhstan” for the first time over his portrayal of Borat.

Cohen, 55, starred as the vulgar, racist Kazakh television journalist Borat Sagdiyev in the 2006 mockumentary Borat and revived the character for 2020’s Borat Subsequent Moviefilm .

When the sequel was released, a group of Kazakh Americans wrote in a public letter that the character had done “irreparable harm to Kazakhstan’s national image.”

Now, during an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Cohen has issued an apology.

The comedian explained that he first developed the character for the BBC, at which time Borat was said to be from Albania.

Sacha Baron Cohen starred in the 2020 ‘Borat’ sequel, ‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm’ (Amazon Studios)

He continued: “I want to apologize to the people of Kazakhstan, for the first time ever, because Borat has got nothing to do with Kazakhstan.”

Cohen explained: “Borat’s nation changed continually dependent on which channel was paying for him.…