A federal judge handed a big win to Sacha Baron Cohen in former Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore’s defamation case against the comedian, agreeing to let the case be transferred to federal court in New York.
D.C. District Judge Thomas Hogan made the ruling during a hearing today.
Moore is suing Cohen, Showtime and CBS over his appearance last year on Cohen’s show “Who is America?”
Moore claims that he was defamed and tricked into appearing on the show, during which Cohen’s character labeled the former Senate candidate as a pedophile by using a device “supposedly invented by the Israeli Army” to detect such people.
Attorneys for Cohen and Showtime argued that a provision in a consent agreement signed by Moore stated that all legal disputes stemming from his appearance on the show would be handled in New York.
Hogan announced his decision from the bench right after hearing arguments.
As the judge spoke and it became clear where his decision was headed, Moore, wearing a small cross on the lapel of his dark suit jacket, closed a folder in front of him and sat back in his chair.
Hogan ruled in favor of Cohen and Showtime, which means the case will be transferred to the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Moore didn’t speak during the hearing.
Moore ran in the Alabama Senate special election in 2017, but lost the race after he faced allegations from several women that he pursued romantic relationships with them while they were teenagers and he was in his 30s.
Several of the women accused Moore of sexual misconduct, including assault.
He has repeatedly denied those allegations.
In a segment that aired in July 2018 on Cohen’s show, Cohen interviewed Moore while pretending to be an Israeli anti-terrorism expert.
During the segment, Cohen produced a device that he said the Israelis had developed to identify sex offenders.
As he waved the device over Moore — it looked like the metal detector wands used at security checkpoints — it beeped.
The bit was a nod to the multiple women who came forward during Moore’s unsuccessful Senate bid in 2017 to accuse him of pursuing relationships, sometimes involving allegations of sexual assault and misconduct, when they were teenagers.
Once Moore realized what Cohen was doing, he ended the interview and walked out.
He sued Cohen for defamation in September.
WATCH COHEN WITH MOORE:
Moore has been teasing another run in 2020 against incumbent Democrat Doug Jones.
But the Cohen case isn’t the only court fight Moore is tied up in.
He’s defending against a defamation lawsuit filed in state court in Alabama by one of the women who said he sexually abused her, Leigh Corfman, related to Moore’s denials on the campaign trail when her allegations surfaced.
Moore is separately pursuing a defamation lawsuit against Corfman, also in state court in Alabama.