In February 2018, Baron Cohen reportedly filmed a segment with O. J. Simpson in a hotel room in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was later reported that Baron Cohen's intention in the piece was to elicit a confession from Simpson regarding his alleged involvement in the 1994 murder of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman and he reportedly paid one of Simpson's lawyers to arrange a meeting. Simpson was told that Baron Cohen, in disguise as his Gio Monaldo character, was a middleman for a sheikh. 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. The interview was one of a handful of segments filmed with hidden cameras. Later that month, it was reported that reality television personalities Gretchen Rossi and Slade Smiley had filmed a segment for roughly four-and-a-half hours with Baron Cohen, while in character, for what they thought was an Israeli television series. The couple did not realize that had been tricked until days later while talking with mixed martial artist Tito Ortiz as he revealed that he had also been deceived by Baron Cohen.