It was a “very nice” thing to do.
“Betrayed” baby-sitter Jeanise Jones, the unassuming star of the “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” has now raised more than $240,000 for her Oklahoma City community, partly thanks to a recent bump from Borat himself.
Ask any fan of Cohen’s latest feature-length stunt and they’ll tell you it was professional caretaker Jones who stole the screen. The 62-year-old grandmother melted viewers’ hearts when she compassionately encouraged 15-year-old Tutar, Borat’s daughter, to reconsider having plastic surgery, and learn to love herself.
“Any man should like you as you are,” she told Tutar, played by 24-year-old undercover actress Maria Bakalova.
Jones has since been dubbed the “moral compass” of the satirical documentary. However, just a few days after the film’s premiere on Amazon Prime Video, it was reported that she felt “betrayed” for having evidently been lied to about the true nature of the film — sold to her as a sincere documentary about the grooming of child brides. For her role in the production, Jones was paid just $3,600.
“We were up there praying for her and asking God to help her and we were doing what we thought was the Christian thing to do,” Jones told The Post on Monday, adding that she learned the truth only after trailers were released.
With the help of her pastor, Derrick Scobey, of Ebenezer Baptist Church, fans have gone on to raise over $140,000 on Jones’ behalf via GoFundMe since Monday, in an effort to compensate her for the crucial role in the film.
Now, the community is enjoying another $100,000 boost from Cohen, ET has reported, to be distributed at Jones’ direction. Pastor Scobey said the funds will be used in part to help the town recover from ice storms and severe winter weather, which has left many in the area without power.
“While all these people around the world are loving how [Jones is] the moral compass of the movie, she’s sitting here serving people in the dark and in the cold,” Scobey told People this week. “This is who we are. This is what we do for our community, and we love our community.”
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