Sacha Baron Cohen is mocked after going on a rant about Covid misinformation after falling for an Australian mural artist’s joke about Bill Gates and the vaccine
- Sacha Baron Cohen tweeted an image of a mural from Australian graffiti artist
- Mural featured Bill Gates with vaccine and the words ‘time to install your update’
- Baron Cohen said it was example of Facebook spreading Covid misinformation
- But artist Lushsux said it was a satirical piece and Baron Cohen failed to see joke
Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen has been ridiculed online after failing to see an Australian mural artist’s joke about Bill Gates and the Covid vaccine.
Baron Cohen took to Twitter to rant about how Covid misinformation was being spread on Facebook and Instagram while using a photo of one of Melbourne-based graffiti artist Lushsux’s murals to illustrate his point.
The mural, painted in September last year, features Mr Gates holding a vaccine vial and a syringe along with the words ‘Time to install your update’.
‘Mark Zuckerberg, how do you sleep at night? This is on Facebook’s Instagram right now,’ Baron Cohen furiously tweeted this week.
Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen was mocked online after using an Australian graffiti artist’s satirical mural to rant about Covid misinformation
Melbourne-based artist Lushux, who painted the mural, replied to Baron Cohen ‘hey, it’s a joke piece you dork’
‘Your algorithms are STILL recommending lies about Covid and vaccines. How many people have to die before you act?!’
A bemused Lushsux, who has been described as Australia’s answer to Bansky, replied ‘Hey, it’s a joke piece you dork’, before later posting on Facebook how ironic it was Baron Cohen was unable to see the joke.
‘Funny how the guy who does satire for a living couldn’t spot a satire,’ Lushsux said.
Baron Cohen’s followers were also to quick to point out the mural was a satirical piece that was not designed to spread conspiracy theories about Covid.
‘With all due respect, the artist of that mural is a jokester, the intention is not to spread Covid conspiracies. If you look at some of his other art it’ll make more sense,’ one person replied to Baron Cohen’s tweet.
Another said: ‘I generally agree with your FB position, but this seems benign and your outrage seems misplaced. Can we have no room for art, or satire? Come on. This is no different than Banksy, IMO. Should Banksy be banned from FB/IG?’
Baron Cohen (pictured with his Australian wife Isla Fisher) used a picture of the mural to illustrate his point Facebook and Instagram was ‘recommending lies about Covid and vaccines’
Lushlux pointed out how ironic it was Baron Cohen failed to see the mural was a satirical piece
Baron Cohen’s Twitter followers were quick to point out the mural was the work of a ‘jokester’ and the intention was not to spread Covid conspiracies
Lushsux is no stranger to attracting the ire of celebrities.
Last year he sparked a feud with rapper 50 Cent after using the rapper’s image in a series of tongue-in-cheek street pieces, include ‘Swifty Cent’, showing the American as pop singer Taylor Swift.
The controversial artworks, which popped up around Melbourne, prompted 50 Cent to tell his 11.8 million Twitter followers he wanted to ‘hit him in the back of the head’.
The rapper posted one of Lushsux’s pictures, writing: ‘This guy need a ass whoopin’ bad, he still doing this s**t.’
Lushsux later ended up in hospital after being being attacked in the street.
‘Unfortunately some six or seven smoothebrains at one time on the street already put me in hospital already this month because of this s**t,’ Lushsux said at the time.
‘I don’t like to bring up all the bad stuff I have to deal with just to paint.’
The attack came just three weeks after 50 Cent told his millions of online followers he wanted to bash the artist.