Ali G star Sasha Baron Cohen took a prank too far at an American rodeo and was nearly lynched by angry locals.
Cohen, posing as his Kazakhstani journalist character Borat, insulted people in Salem, Virginia, telling them that their President drank blood, and singing a mangled version of the American national anthem.
"If he had been out there a minute longer, I think someone would have shot him," said local Mr Robynn Jaymes.
Robynn James, Salem, Virginia
Cohen convinced organisers that he was filming a documentary about America. He told them he supported the war on terrorism and said: "I hope you kill every man, woman and child in Iraq, down to the lizards.
"And may George W Bush drink the blood of every man, woman and child in Iraq." Then he asked if he could show his appreciation by singing the Star Spangled Banner. His version ended with the words "your home is the grave".
Cohen's rendition of the much-loved anthem was loudly booed by the crowd. Rodeo organisers, realising they had been hoaxed, had Cohen escorted from the site.
Cohen and his alter-ego Ali G have found fame in the US in the last year. His hit television programme, Da Ali G Show, became a hit on US TV.
PA