It might be hard to imagine, but television producers do get nervous about allowing Sacha Baron Cohen’s characters on live TV, even the Oscars who didn’t want him to do “anything out of order”.
Telling Sacha Baron Cohen he can’t do anything out of order is very similar to telling a child they can’t touch a painting at an art gallery and rather predictably, while introducing Best Picture nominee Room he was completely out of order.
Cohen dressed as Ali G walked on saying, “I know what you was thinking when I walked on, here comes another talking black presenter.” He then proceeded to throw his support behind “dem very hard-working little yellow people with tiny dongs,” otherwise known as Minions, and “that amazing black bloke from Star Wars… Darth Vader.”
Now, Cohen has revealed that his wife, actress Isla Fisher, had to sneak the costume into the awards so that he could present as the foul-mouthed British character.
“They wanted me to actually present it as myself,” he told This Morning (via The Daily Mail).
“But luckily my wife put on the Ali G beard in the disabled toilets so we managed to get away with it.”
Apparently, he was even nervous that some the gags went a bit too far, but said he ran the gags passed Chris Rock, who gave him the thumbs up.
Ali G is one of Cohen’s oldest characters dating back to the late ’90s. Since then he has played Kazakhstan news reporter Borat, model Brüno and dictator General Aladeen.
You can watch his Oscars appearance below.
