Sacha Baron Cohen Sets His Sights On Genius Founder Mahbod Moghadam

Sacha Baron Cohen's "Who Is America" sets sights on Silicon Valley.

BYMitch Findlay
Link Copied to Clipboard!
8.6K Views
Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images

While many appreciate the lyrics slash analysis website Genius, formerly known as Rap Genius, the opinion surrounding founder MahBod Moghadam is decidedly less glowing. Previous controversies ultimately found him ousted from his own company; from there, he moved on to found Everipedia, professed to be a competitor to Wikipedia. That's merely the backstory. Now, Moghadam once again finds his name making headlines under dubious circumstances, and this time, he has Sacha Baron Cohen to thank.

On Sunday, Cohen's This Is America took aim at Silicon Valley, where his character Gio sat down for a photoshoot with Maghadam. Dubbing himself "Mahboo," better known as his hip-hop alter-ego, Maghadam ultimately went along with every request Gio sent his way. Unfortunately for everyone involved, such requests included ""do something like a black guy."

Maghadam came through with the first thing that came to mind: making the "blood" sign with his fingers. He went on to fire off guns at the camera, as well as spitting a questionable freestyle for the masses. It's safe to say we won't be seeing Mahboo's bars on Genius anytime soon. 

[via]


  • Link Copied to Clipboard!
About The Author
<b>Feature Editor</b> <!--BR--> Mitch Findlay is a writer and hip-hop journalist based in Montreal. Resident old head by default. Enjoys writing Original Content about music, albums, lyrics, and rap history. His favorite memories include interviewing J.I.D and EarthGang at the "Revenge Of The Dreamers 3" studio sessions in Atlanta and receiving a phone call from Dr. Dre. In his spare time he makes horror movies.