Golden Globes: Sacha Baron Cohen Nominated for ‘Who Is America?’

The 2019 Golden Globes nominations were unveiled Thursday morning and among the honorees were Sacha Baron Cohen.

The comedian nabbed an honor for best actor in a TV comedy or musical category for his performance in Who Is America?, his politically charged Showtime series.

Cohen was nominated alongside Jim Carrey (Kidding), Michael Douglas (The Kominsky Method), Donald Glover (Atlanta) and Bill Hader (Barry).

Cohen’s Who Is America? — centered around pranking political figures and unsuspecting celebrities and civilians — sparked controversy when it aired this summer. In this first episode alone, Cohen (who adopted a slew of characters for the show) was able to convince multiple real-life Republican members of Congress to participate in a PSA encouraging Americans to support a program called “Kinderguardians” that would teach four-year-olds how to shoot guns. 

Other victims of Cohen’s included O.J. Simpson, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Bachelor star Corinne Olympios, former Vice President Dick Cheney and Sarah Palin — whose appearance on the show never materialized after a public feud with Cohen.

Last month, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Who Is America? would be eligible in the comedy series categories. There had been some question about whether or not the Hollywood Foreign Press Association would be willing to classify the show as a comedy series, as it blends scripted and documentary-style footage. Though Cohen was nominated in the acting category, Who Is America? did not receive a nomination for best comedy TV series. 

The 76th annual Golden Globe Awards will air live Jan. 6 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on NBC. Andy Samberg and Sandra Oh will host the ceremony, to be held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. (The Golden Globe Awards ceremony is produced by Dick Clark Productions, which shares a parent company with THR.)