Has Sacha Baron Cohen sunk to a new low? We think so — while filming for his upcoming Showtime series Who Is America?, he disguised himself as a wild Alaskan Chinook Salmon and convinced former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to fish him out of the Nushagak River.

Disgusting!

As you would expect, people are outraged that the creator of respected works like Borat and Da Ali G Show would insult such a majestic natural beauty as the salmon.

“I am truly appalled that he went to such lengths for a joke. Criticizing our beloved state fish is tasteless and un-Alaskan,” said Palin. “There’s nothing funny about mocking anadromous fish species.”

Palin says that within minutes of reeling in Cohen and pulling the hook out of his mouth she realized it was a farce and packed up her tackle box to leave. Allegedly, Showtime’s hired driver then intentionally dropped her off at the wrong seaplane, causing her to miss her flight and spend the entire winter stranded in the wilds of southwestern Alaska.

Cohen spent nearly a year undercover preparing for the role. He lived for months in the Pacific before making the arduous run upstream to spawn and eventually be caught by Palin outside a small fishing village. During a brief interview immediately following the catch, Palin realized that the salmon was, in fact, a six-foot-three inch British man with a mustache and walked out.

One can only speculate as to what other ghastly ichthyic disguises Cohen has up his sleeve for Who Is America? We won’t be tuning in to find out.