Is Paula Abdul a “Bruno” victim? Yep, Paula Abdul was fooled by Sacha Baron Cohen, who plays Bruno in the upcoming film of the same name.

After Borat, you’d think that Sacha Baron Cohen would have a harder time convincing people that his Bruno character is real, but Paula Abdul fell for his prank – hook, line and sinker.

The Paula Abdul “Bruno” prank went down like this – Sacha Baron Cohen, who plays gay Austrian journalist Bruno, tricked Abdul into thinking she had won Artist of the Year in Germany. What followed is what Paula Abdul called an awkward interview, where she had to sit on a gardener who was ordered on all fours.

Paula Abdul shared the Bruno prank details in an interview on 104.7 FM’s Johnjay and Rich Show:

Abdul was greeted by Bruno, what she describes as “this futuristic, Captain Nemo–looking dude with a mohawk — and he’s flaming. I’m like, ‘OK, this is weird. Is this a variety show or something like that?’

He offered her some terrible food, which she declined and then, because there was no furniture in the room, “He snaps his fingers and says, ‘Gardeners!’ And these two Mexican guys come in, and they drop down to all fours. I see him paying them like 10 bucks. They drop down to all fours and he says [to me], ‘Sit down.’” And I said, ‘I’m not doing that!’”

Abdul continued… “It was getting so uncomfortable! I’m throwing daggers with my eyes at my publicist. And they’re kicking my publicist out. And I said, ‘Get me out of here. This is crazy. This is not funny, this is discrimination. This is abusive stuff going on here!’”

She left, but Bruno and his camera crew followed her to her car. Abdul said, “It was hysterical, but it was so disturbing. I was so mad at my publicist at that point. I said, ‘I can’t believe you signed [the release].’ And my manager and attorney were trying to call the production office — and, of course, it doesn’t exist. So I was freaking out.”

Paula Abdul just found out that the Bruno interview was a prank a few weeks ago.