Baron Cohen also stars in the series as various characters and executive produces alongside Anthony Hines, Todd Schulman, Andrew Newman, Dan Mazer, and Adam Lowitt.

Although Baron Cohen's career began with his prank interviews on Da Ali G Show, he found that his increased fame from Borat and Brüno made it more difficult to continue without being recognized.

Following the release of Brüno in 2009, Baron Cohen reached out to visual effects artist Rick Baker to ask if it was viable for him to wear realistic prosthetics to continue duping interviewees, only to learn the technology was not advanced enough at the time.

[14] Subsequently, he reached out to Baker's protégé Tony Gardner, who worked on Johnny Knoxville's prosthetics for the 2013 hidden camera prank film Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa.

[2] The series was created by Baron Cohen who was also set to executive produce alongside Anthony Hines, Todd Schulman, Andrew Newman, Dan Mazer, and Adam Lowitt.

The store owner was reportedly told by the show's crew that they were filming a documentary about a Hungarian immigrant wanting to buy a gun.

[13] On August 3, 2017, Baron Cohen was reported to have been filming in Augusta, Georgia, in character as "Dr. Nira Cain" on the local The Austin Rhodes Show.

Simpson was reportedly further told that this sheikh was willing to pay a seven-figure sum to have him explain what happened on the night of the murders but only after first sitting down with Monaldo.

Baron Cohen and the crew of the series had been in Washington, D.C. for three weeks filming with various political figures including Bernie Sanders when they approached Carson and his staff with an interview request.

However upon Baron Cohen's arrival and right as filming was set to begin, a White House press representative became suspicious and proceeded to pull Carson out of the interview.

According to Cohen, the purpose of the child molestation claim was to investigate how powerful individuals such as Harvey Weinstein are able to thoroughly cover up long histories of sexual misconduct, in light of the ongoing Me Too movement.

She expressed anger at being tricked into participating in the interview saying, "I join a long list of American public personalities who have fallen victim to the evil, exploitive, sick 'humor' of the British 'comedian' Sacha Baron Cohen, enabled and sponsored by CBS/Showtime.

[35] A day later, former U.S. congressman Joe Walsh revealed on Twitter that he too had been interviewed by Baron Cohen in character and was critical of the methods used to gain his participation in filming saying, "Dressing up as a wounded veteran is absolutely stolen valor, his tactics are disgusting—I know cause I too was duped.

Gaetz acknowledged that he was a fan of Baron Cohen's and was looking forward to the series saying, "It's very consistent with his model, beginning with a seemingly normal interaction and then the brilliance of his comedy is that he accelerates the awkwardness of it to some usually ironically humorous end.

"[42] On July 16, 2018, Showtime defended Baron Cohen against the accusations leveled against him and the series by Palin and Walsh regarding his alleged portrayal of himself as a disabled military veteran saying, "Baron Cohen never presented himself as a veteran of the U.S. military to former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin during the booking process or during the filming of her interview, and contrary to her claims he did not appear in a wheelchair.

"[44] On July 21, 2018, reality star Corinne Olympios discussed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly how she had made peace with her appearance in the series' second episode, saying, "It was a little scary, I'm not going to lie...

"[45] On July 31, 2018, Atlanta battle rapper Ness Lee spoke with Vulture in an interview regarding his appearance in episode three, saying, "I thought he was going to make me look crazy.

I don't know the real answer as to why, so I'm just gonna make myself believe that Sacha's actually a fan of mine, and that's why I got a decent edit.

"[46] On August 10, 2018, Arpaio spoke again about his appearance on the show, this time in the wake of his segment's airing in episode four, through an interview with The Washington Examiner.

"[47] On August 13, 2018, Youth Shooters of America founder Dan Roberts commented on his appearance in the series' fifth episode during an interview with The New York Times.

"[48] On September 5, 2018, it was reported that Moore had filed a lawsuit against Baron Cohen, Showtime, and CBS Corporation seeking $95 million in damages for alleged fraud, defamation, and emotional distress.

[52] In July 2021, Southern District of New York Judge John Cronan dismissed the lawsuit, declaring that "Moore's claims are barred by the unambiguous contractual language, which precludes the very causes of action he now brings.

"[53] This decision was upheld by the Second Circuit Appeals Court in Manhattan, which wrote in its unsigned summary order that "Baron Cohen may have implied (despite his in character disclaimers of any belief that Judge Moore was a pedophile) that he believed Judge Moore's accusers, but he did not imply the existence of any independent factual basis for that belief besides the obviously farcical pedophile detecting 'device,' which no reasonable person could believe to be an actual, functioning piece of technology.

"[54] Responding to the judgement, Moore told the Associated Press that Baron Cohen's "pusillanimous and fraudulent conduct must be stopped," and that he will be making a further appeal.

[55] Following the premiere of the series' second episode, Jason Spencer, a Republican state representative from Georgia, faced criticism from members of both sides of the political spectrum after he appeared onscreen screaming the racial epithets "nigger" and "sand nigger", speaking in a stereotypical Asian accent, and baring his buttocks in a purported attempt to ward off potential terrorists.

"[66] In another mixed review, Entertainment Weekly's Darren Franich gave the first episode a grade of "C+" and said, "There are some laughs in Who Is America?, but the most profound feeling you get from the show is weariness.

"[67] In a more positive review, Sonia Saraiya of Vanity Fair offered the show qualified praise saying, "The Herculean efforts Cohen undergoes in order to entrap, fool, or insult his targets are both a little exhausting and a little pointless—but I can't deny that Who Is America?