They’ve banned Sacha Baron Cohen from the Oscars this year. Okay, not explicitly, but the Academy made it known that should he run amok on the red carpet as his upcoming character, Admiral General Aladeen, from the film The Dictator (as he’s famously done in the past), George Clooney’s henchmen will show up at his house and spew [empty] threats with drawn fists. Baron Cohen was a star in Martin Scorsese’s Hugo, which received 11 Academy Award nominations.
But, as is his custom, Baron Cohen can’t resist a bit of spectacle. This morning on NBC’s The Today Show, the perfectly-coifed Admiral General Aladeen gave a speech that warned the Academy about his being shunned.
“While I applaud the Academy for taking away my right to free speech, I warn you that if you do not lift your sanctions and give me my tickets back by 12pm on Sunday, you will face unimaginable consequences!”
What will these consequences be? We’re hoping for at least a pre-taped appearance with yelling that will play during the ceremony, but that’s probably wishful thinking. But Baron Cohen will be around, nonetheless.
“… whatever happens, I still plan to attend director Brett Ratner’s afterparty, since it’s impossible to catch herpes twice.”
We’ll see you there.
The full video is below.
Don’t forget to tune in on Sunday for the Standard’s Oscar celebration. We’ll be liveblogging the entire event.
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Jessica Carroll is the Standard’s editorial assistant. Follow her on Twitter at @jssckr.
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