Borat might be doing the box office business so much that it's only a matter of time before fleets of unfunny twats going to parties dressed as Borat ruin the joke forever, but at least its heartening to see that not everyone is a fan.

For instance, when Sacha Baron Cohen decided to walk into a New York bar dressed as Borat and try to reel out some hilarious unscripted Kazakhstan one-liners about having sex with a man's clothes, he was met a response that's been inevitable for a while – a frenzy of angry punches about the head. Although – memo to the bloke that punched Borat in the head – if you're ever going to punch someone from The 11 O'Clock Show in the face again, try and make it Iain Lee. That's Iain Lee.

Up until the release of Borat: Cultural Learnings For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan, all Borat had to fear was the might of the Kazakhstan government – which, angered by all the Kazakh-mocking on show, had attempted to sue Borat, remove Borat from the Internet and bitch to George W Bush about Borat, before relenting and merely inviting Borat over for a bit of a visit. And now that Borat is laying waste to the box office he'll soon have two more problems, in newspapers printing so many pictures of Borat next to mostly-unrelated articles about immigration that he stops being funny and everyone being disappointed in his turn in the Tim Burton Sweeney Todd remake because he didn't make a bear in an ice cream van scare any children in it.

But right now, all that Borat needs to worry about are the violent people that punch him in the face any time they come near him. And it's started already – after a stint on SNL with Hugh Laurie, Sacha Baron Cohen decided to go and delight some proles in a New York bar by saying some hilarious things at the expense of some drunk people in a New York bar. As if you couldn't guess what'd happen next. Sky picks the story up:

Not everyone sees the funny side to Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat character. And one man in particular really doesn't find him amusing. So much so, that he punched Sacha in the face. The comedian approached the stranger in New York and told him: "I like your clothings. Are nice! Please may I buying? I want have sex with it." But the man failed to get the joke and instead launched an attack on Sacha.

It's not known exactly why the drinker attacked Borat – there's a chance that he was defending himself from a seemingly unstable man, but on the other hand the attacker may have hit Borat because the adverts for his movie soundtrack made it look like Throw The Jew Down The Well was going to be in the film, and he felt disappointed when it wasn't.

In the end, Hugh Laurie – who wisely decided that dressing up as Dr House and giving a cranky yet brilliant prognosis on the state of Borat's smashed-up face would be a really shit idea – had to break up the Borat face-attack. Sacha Baron Cohen was not seriously hurt in the attack, but he is apparently shaken up, leading many to believe that his next guerrilla-style movie will feature a new character – Zindel The Funny Yiddish Man With Full Body Armour And Cotton Wool Wrapped Around His Face All The Time Who Never Says Anything Insulting To Anybody. 

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Borat Gets Beaten Up – Sky