Paula Abdul Duped By Sacha Baron Cohen's "Bruno"

Paula Abdul will make a cameo in what's expected to be one of the funniest movies of the year — but she didn't even know it. The American Idol judge recently went on the Johnjay and Rich radio show to talk about being duped by Borat actor Sacha Baron Cohen, who fooled Abdul into participating in a off-the-wall interview for his upcoming film Bruno. "It is the most interesting, whacked-out situation that happened to me. I was scarred for life for a year," Abdul said.

As the story goes, Abdul was told by Cohen's crew, acting as the producers of a German awards show, that she was the recipient of Germany's "Artist of the Year" award. Seem a little ridiculous? Keep in mind that country showers David Hasselhoff in love. An interview was arranged, Abdul showed up at a house in the Hollywood Hills and encountered Cohen playing Bruno. "I walk into the home and I'm greeted by this futuristic Captain Nemo-looking dude with a mohawk — and he's flaming," Abdul said. "And I'm going, 'Oh, this is going to be one of those fun Japanese game shows.' I'm like, OK, this is weird."

And it got weirder. With no furniture in the room, Bruno snapped his fingers and summoned two Mexican gardeners, who proceeded to get down on all fours to serve as a chair for Abdul. "He says to me, 'Sit down.' And I said, 'I'm not doing that,' " Abdul told the DJs. "And I'm in a dress, so I'm tipping and holding my core muscles to not sit on them. And he pushes me down on them, and I'm like, 'I'm sorry.' And these two Mexican gardeners don't speak a word of English, and I'm like patting them and I'm like, 'I'm so sorry.' " After Brüno kicked one of the gardeners and had everyone tumbling to the ground, Abdul decided she had had enough and bailed on the interview without even picking up her award.

There's more to the story, but we don't want to ruin the surprise for when Bruno hits theaters on July 10th. New York Magazine has the full account if you don't mind spoilers. According to the word on the street, Ben Affleck, politician Ron Paul and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger also fall victim to Cohen's shenanigans.

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Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

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