In the premiere episode of Showtime’s very divisive, very damning Who Is America?, a disguised Sacha Baron Cohen sat down with Christy Cones, a fine art consultant for a Laguna Beach gallery, to discuss his art. Specifically, the art that his ex-con character “Rick Sherman†likes to create with his, uh, let’s just say bodily fluids. Cones was an absolute hoot, and a clear highlight in an episode otherwise encompassed by (successfully) making politicians look like fools. “Essentially, Sacha is carrying on a long tradition that was started thousands of years ago by guys like Aristophanes and Petronius and Jonathan Swift and Voltaire,†Cones told us in a post-episode interview. “Art and satire, it hurts. I just wish everybody would quit taking themselves so seriously.â€
A week after the episode aired, Cones, as revealed on her Twitter account, received some special gifts in the mail from none other than Rick Sherman himself. Not only did the man send Cones the portrait he painted of her with his “feces,†but he also hand-wrote her a note of gratitude for being such a good sport in the segment, which was filmed over a year ago. “Im the English bloke what come into you’re picture shop last year to show you the art I done when I was in the nick,†the letter, a copy editor’s nightmare, partially said. “I want to say how lovely it was to meet you, I hope your well and staying out of trouble. As for me, I told you I had only ever done one thing wrong, just 14 times. Well you can make it 15 now HAHAHA! Meaning that after a bit of time outside painting oil on canvas, Im now back in HMP Belmarsh painting feces on plaster again! Anyway, say la vie!â€
Say la vie, truly!