So, in case you missed it, Sacha Baron Cohen was reportedly “banned” from attending the Oscars. He would have been attending the show as a member of the cast of the Best Picture-nominated Hugo, but after receiving a proposal that Cohen arrive on the red carpet dressed as the title character from his upcoming film The Dictator, Deadline tells us “the Academy’s Managing Director Of Membership Kimberly Rouch phoned Paramont’s awards staff to say Baron Cohen’s tickets had been pulled unless he gives the Academy assurances ahead of time promising not to show up on the Red Carpet in costume and not to promote the movie on the Red Carpet.”
Paramount told Deadline, “Unless [the Academy is] assured that nothing entertaining is going to happen on the Red Carpet, the Academy is not admitting Sacha Baron Cohen to the show.”
As much as I couldn’t care less about whether or not Sacha Baron Cohen is at the Oscars, you have to love the wording of that last quote. Just to reiterate, the Academy wants to make sure “nothing entertaining is going to happen on the Red Carpet.” In short, they like it boring.
Well, maybe Cohen’s response to the ban as Admiral General Aladeen from The Dictator will assure them his appearance wouldn’t be entertaining. After making a big splash with Borat, watching his star drop with Bruno and now looking as if he’s scraping the bottom of the barrel with The Dictator, Cohen isn’t doing anything to impress me. I’ll grant you that you may chuckle while watching this, though I didn’t, but to call it funny is out of reach.
