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The mystery of Sacha Baron Cohen's plans for the Oscars has deepened, with the Academy going on the record to deny an online report that the comic actor has had his tickets for Hollywood's biggest event yanked.
"We haven't banned him," an Academy spokesperson tells The Hollywood Reporter. "We're just waiting to hear what he's going to do."
Still, the Academy is making it clear that Cohen is not welcome to use the red carpet as a platform for a promotional stunt for his upcoming movie "The Dictator."
Photos from THR: 2012 Academy Award nominees
THR first reported Tuesday that the actor, invited to attend the Oscars as a castmember of best picture nominee "Hugo," was hatching a plan to arrive at the event dressed as his "Dictator" character, a crass totalitarian leader hellbent on keeping democracy out of his country.
THR's story prompted the Academy to notify Cohen's reps and Paramount, the studio behind both "Hugo" and "Dictator," that it would like to know exactly what Cohen has planned. "We don't think it's appropriate," the Academy spokesman tells THR of the prospect of Cohen "hijacking" the red carpet to plug his movie. "But his tickets haven't been pulled. We're waiting to hear back."
Photos from THR: Hollywood's memorable mea culpas
A Paramount spokesperson did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Cohen's publicist has not returned an email seeking comment.
Cohen has a history of using awards shows and other big events to hype his movies. To help launch "Borat" in 2006, Cohen arrived at the Toronto International Film Festival dressed up as his TV journalist alter ego, riding a wagon pulled by “Kazakhstani peasant women.” At the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, he came as gay fashionista Bruno (to promote "Bruno").
The Academy is careful to exclude studio-specific film promotion from its annual Oscars telecast (it only recently allowed movie ads to run during commercial breaks), so Cohen's plans are being taken very seriously.
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Excuse me but isn't the Academy Awards a big promotion event to get people go to the movies and promote movies. This just another example of the kettle calling the pot black
The problem is that if he does his shtick, then everybody will start doing it. Before long we'll have a group of aliens battling Charlie's Angels and a civil war patrol, all on the red carpet. I don't think that's what the Oscars are about. If it is decided that promoting a movie on the red carpet is the next big step, then, it might be in everyone's best interests to know how to dress for the occasion, or whether to attend at all.
The Academy Awards committee has let Cohen know that they would prefer he not appear in his movie costume and persona. That's more than fair, no blindsiding. Let's see if he respects their request.
You are all forgetting that the Academy Awards are boring and do nothing more than to promote bloated, narcissistic people into thinking they are demigods. It should be cancelled and any monies saved, should be used to help the poor/less fortunate people instead of hyping up people whos only talent is to look good (and most look like $h!t without makeup on) and memorize a line or two.
Although Sacha Baron Cohen's movies are tasteless, they are funny. Funny like Will Ferrell, Leslie Nielson type movies but more over the top.
Excuse me, but is the red carpet even an actual part of the Oscars ceremony? All I see is Joan Rivers asking women who their designer is. Where's the harm?
Outstanding! Where do I get a ticket? Honestly people...lighten up. This is a bunch of old wealthy men deciding who they'll give a statue to.
The Oscars is one of the only elements of class left in Hollywood. If theirs any chance in hell that Sacha Baron Cohen is going to show up in his tacky dictator costume he should have his ticket immediantly taken away from him.
I'm so sick of this guy's schtick.
Yech! I can't believe people spend their hard-earned $$ to see his movies.
I walked out on one, it was stupid!
I don't know. It would be an improvement over some the outfits I've seen on the red carpet.
I say he forgets about going as the dictator, and instead takes a cue from Lady Gaga and wears a meat suit, then sits next to that rap guy M&M. Or is his name skittles? Baby Ruth? Whatever.
Why would "that rap guy" be at the Oscars?
i think he was just REALLY desperate to get that M&M joke in there.
What Jonathan said.
Ditto Curt
Good thing Charlie Chaplain did not do his Dictator deal way back when. AA is way way too 'politically correct' and worries more about their money & comfort. There are no Chaplain's, No Edward R. Murrow's. Let him spoof the Dictators and plug his movie.
Good thing Charlie Chaplain did not do his Dictator deal way back when. AA is way way too 'politically correct' and worries more about their money & comfort. There are no Chaplain's, No Edward R. Murrow's. Let him spoof the Dictators and plug his movie.
I prefer George C. Scott's take on the red carpet gala likening it to a "damn meat parade". He also refused his Oscar because he didn't see acting as a competition against other actors.
Epic case of First World Problems.
Americans couldn't understand the comedic talents of our own Andy Kaufman. Sasha Baron Cohen is in the same class of comedic artistic performance and he, too, isn't someone that we "get." If comedy is not spoon-fed to us in understandable, controlled formats (stand-up performances, sitcoms with laugh tracks, etc.), it scares us. We don't know when to laugh, how to treat it, how to laugh at the absurdity it spits in our faces because it's shocking and "not right."
And in case anyone has forgotten, the Academy Awards ceremony started out as an isolated private dinner for 270 people that lasted 15 minutes. It's NOT "the only element of class left in Hollywood." All dignity went out the window when the ceremony drifted from simple trophy presentations into performances--"acceptable" performances, that is. It's just an hours-long promotional headache for those privileged enough to make two- and three-digit million figures per pictureInstead of the exclusive 270 people in the industry, it parades the industry elite in front of cameras for the sake of entertainment.
Go to Box Office Mojo and check out the amount of money that movies make in a year... how much money the world throws away on being entertained for a couple of hours. "Safe House," shot for about $85 million, made $171,528,277 from Feb. 17th-20th. How much better would it have been if that money have served other purposes?
Then the Academy Awards have evolved from a private industry insider ceremony to an insider ceremony they graciously allow the public to have a window seat to. It's their show, their rules, and I hardly think that Cohen "scares" us, "Irritates the living hell out of" is more appropriate. His movies, like them are not, do make for very cutting edge comedy, and that's all well and good, but Cohen needs to relearn where the boundaries are between edgy comic characters and borderline delusional mania. If he's that into his fantasies that he has to drag them out of the studio and hurl them in our faces like monkey poo, he's lost his own sense of perspective, regardless of whether we "get" his humor or not.
Hard to get Andy Kaufman's style of humor when even he didn't know what the heck he was doing half the time. The guy was way out there. Cohen is not even in the same league as someone like Kaufman, and I couldn't stand half of what Kaufman did, Cohen is a lousy comic, a lousy actor, and a lousy writer.
No fun allowed.
i'm sure if it were an anti catholic or anti Bush skit it would be more than welcome
Oh, aren't we a wee bit sensitive.
I think he should be allowed as long it fits within an approved script. And isnt disruptive to others or the show itself. No adlib, no surprise stunts.
The Oscars can be like watching paint peel, the show needs way more entertainment mixed in. Especially comedy.
No-- the Academy Awards is supposed to highlight artistic craft and professionalism, not be a carnival.
Actors, directors, etc, come as themselves, on a night to do honor to the profession.
To do a promotional stunt would be disrespectful to the other actors and directors, and to take away from the highlighting of the merits of the works that are nominated. He can talk to the Academy if he wants to provide entertainment....
The entire Oscars show is designed to promote films. And you have to also take into account the huge spider that Morgan Freeman wore on his lapel in 2001 (I think?) to promote "Along Came a Spider." Or how about the actress from "A Trip to Bountiful" going on and on about her movie on the red carpet. I mean, it's not my favorite thing, but everyone does it.
I think the reason why the Academy didn't want this was because Cohen was going to use the Oscar ceremonies to promote his new movie--a major no-no in Hollywood! And that's on top of potentially offending Muslims, too.
No, just...no. There are performers who've broken the fourth wall without turning the audience into fodder for their method acted fantasies. Borat, Ali G, Bruno, and whomever this chucklehead is, are characters that belong in the world created on film. Bringing those characters into a real world setting isn't performing art, its a sign of a dire need for therapy. Even Jim Carrey was able to detach from Andy Kaufmann after the filming was done.
I think that he should, but in the end I why would I care? I am not going to watch it, bunch of liberal idio ts.
Yet here you are reading, posting and boring.
this guys 15 minutes were over when ali g ended like 10 years ago. why is he going to be at the oscars?
I don't like Cohen, so I will turn over to TV Land
I think you have to decide what function the Academy Awards has.