'Borat' finds Kazakh anger 'bizarre'

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LOS ANGELES, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen says he finds Kazakhstan's reaction to his film "Borat" to be "bizarre" and insists the joke is on the United States.

In his first out-of-character interview since the movie's release, Cohen told Rolling Stone that his fictional Kazakhstan is too over the top for anyone to take seriously -- least of all the real Kazakh government, which has taken umbrage to "Borat's" nuttiness.

"I've been in a bizarre situation, where a country has declared me as its No. 1 enemy," Baron Cohen said.

He said he chose Kazakhstan as the base for his fictitious television correspondent because few people in the United States have heard of it. He also said the film was meant to lampoon the prejudices and pettiness he finds among Americans.