The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has pulled actor Sacha Baron Cohen‘s tickets from the 84th Academy Awards. This means he is banned from attending the Oscars even though he is an Academy member and one of the stars from Hugo, Paramount’s 11-nominated movie and Best Picture contender. “Unless they’re assured that nothing entertaining is going to happen on the Red Carpet, the Academy is not admitting Sacha Baron Cohen to the show,” Paramount just told me. The reason is that a proposal reached the Academy for Baron Cohen to strut the Red Carpet in full costume as his title character in the upcoming Paramount comedy The Dictator. UPDATE AT 5:30 PM: Later today, faced with all the bad publicity resulting from its action, the Academy tried to parse what it did when questioned by some media outlets. But the fact is that, this morning, 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. The Academy made it clear that, without those assurances, it would not issue him the tickets. So he’s banned.*

Of course, the next best thing to that publicity stunt is all the media coverage which this ban is going to generate for Baron Cohen’s film. So the Academy has decided to act like dictators about the actor playing The Dictator. Ugh.

Loosen up, people. Frankly, the Academy looks like uptight wankers with this treatment of one of the globe’s funniest comedians. The Academy merely had to say no when that proposal was presented to it. Everyone involved in the ceremony was adamantly against it on the grounds that it makes a mockery of what Hollywood considers its most prestigious event. Instead, the Academy clearly wants another overly long, ridiculously reverential show about movies no one bothered to see where the best thing about the telecast will be the comeback of popular host Billy Crystal at age 63.

http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/

http://www-deadline-com.vimg.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/TheDictator2__120223004214-275x341.jpg

One word.

Good.

One word.

Good.


:lol:

Not a fan of his work Retro? lol

No, I loathed Borat. "Ha ha, it's so funny that he's making dumb people act dumb...he's SO SMART because he can do that."

Whatever. I hate that type of "I'm smarter than you are" type of comedy. Is "finding out" that some people are racist really 'edgy' today?

Overrated and egotistical, IMO.

I happen to agree with you. I didn't like Borat, never watched his follow up movie and never liked the Da Ali G Show when it aired on HBO.

Academy: Sacha Baron Cohen Not 'Banned' From Oscars But Dictator Stunt Unwelcome
2/22/2012
by Matthew Belloni


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, and other sources say the threat of booting him became more substantial on Wednesday.

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.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/oscars-sacha-baron-cohen-not-banned-the-dictator-293929

I'm not a fan of Sacha Baron Cohen, BUT the Oscars are a joke with or without Cohen attending.

Frankly, the Academy looks like uptight wankers

That's old news.

Sacha Baron Cohen Issues Statement on Oscars Dictator Controversy
2/23/2012
by Matthew Belloni


Sacha Baron Cohen knows how to milk a publicity stunt for all it's worth.

The actor, who has rankled the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences with his plans to attend the Oscars as his character from the upcoming comedy The Dictator, is responding to the criticism in the only way he seems to know how: with another publicity stunt.





Cohen released a statement on the Dictator website on Thursday announcing that he will issue a press statement Friday to address the controversy.

"Admiral General Aladeen will deliver a formal response tomorrow morning to being banned from the Oscars by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Zionists."





Cohen wasn't banned, but the Academy has let him and studio Paramount know that he is not welcome to turn the Oscars red carpet into a publicity stunt for his upcoming movie.

The Academy issued another statement Thursday saying he's welcome to attend as a castmember of best picture nominee Hugo if he behaves himself.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sacha-baron-cohen-oscars-dictator-294678

I'm not a fan of Sacha Baron Cohen, BUT the Oscars are a joke with or without Cohen attending.

:yeahthat

Sacha Baron Cohen's The Dictator Posts Video Message on Oscars Controversy
2/24/2012
by Matthew Belloni


Sacha Baron Cohen, responding to the Academy's unwillingness to let him appear on the Oscars red carpet at his character from the upcoming comedy The Dictator, has posted a video message online.

"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 Sunday, you will face unimaginable consequences!"

"On top of all this, I paid Hilary Swank $2 million to be my date, and she will not refund a penny."



Watch the video below ...

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/risky-business/sacha-baron-cohen-the-dictator-oscars-response-294808

I'll still be watching The Oscars anyhow.

But I'll have to wait til Monday to see who won since I gotta go to work at 7 a.m.

Oscars Producer: Sacha Baron Cohen to Appear on Red Carpet as The Dictator
2/24/2012
by Matthew Belloni


The Academy seems to have recognized that it's better off with Sacha Baron Cohen at the Oscars than without him.

Days after informing the ribald comic actor that his plans for roaming the red carpet as his character from The Dictator would not be a good idea, a producer of the show is saying Cohen is now welcome to use Hollywood's biggest night to plug his movie, to be released May 11.

"We're thrilled to have him and he'll be on the red carpet dressed as 'The Dictator,'" Brian Grazer told Extra.





An Academy spokesperson said she had not heard about the plans for Cohen, but if the welcome mat stays unfurled, Cohen will have succeeded in pulling off one of the more brazen publicity stunts in recent Hollywood history.

The Oscars, viewed by hundreds of millions of people worldwide, will give Cohen and The Dictator a huge promotional platform.





Early on Friday, Cohen issued a video message in character promising to punish the "Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Zionists" if it did not issue him tickets to the show by Sunday.

(In reality, Cohen's tickets were never pulled, and he was never "banned" from the Oscars, as some outlets reported.)





The Academy was initially not supportive of Cohen's plans, citing fears that he might upstage some of the nominees and other Hollywood dignitaries that attend the annual celebration of the year in movies.

Now, thanks to the huge press attention the flap/stunt has generated, the Academy apparently has recognized that audiences might tune in just to see what Cohen will do, and the possible jump in ratings is worth the risk of Cohen doing something crass or embarrassing.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/oscars-red-carpet-sacha-baron-cohen-dictator-294867

^ Oh, yay. NOW I'll be sure to watch. Way to wimp out, Oscars. :rolleyes:

Sacha Baron Cohen Tweets Photo With Oscar Tickets and Gun: 'VICTORY!'
2/24/2012
by Sophie A. Schillaci


General Aladeen is officially headed to the Oscars.

After sparring with the Academy over whether or not his latest film character should be allowed on the red carpet, Sacha Baron Cohen has tweeted his recent win.

On Friday evening, the comic actor posted a photo of himself holding two Oscar tickets in one hand and a pistol in the other. Donning full Dictator garb, his caption reads: "VICTORY!"

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/sacha-baron-cohen-oscars-the-dictator-red-carpet-294930

“Now you know this isn’t taped. Anything can happen, and it most certainly did. All over my lapel. Those were the words of the incredibly professional, surprisingly good-natured Ryan Seacrest, cutting to commercial after Sacha Baron Cohen — dressed in character from his upcoming comedy The Dictator — dumped an urn of ashes over the E! host in the middle of the Oscars red-carpet telecast.

The incident began when Cohen, clutching a gold-colored container, told Seacrest he was carrying late North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il’s ashes in his hands. “It was his dream to come to the Oscars and to be sprinkled on the red carpet and over Halle Berry’s chest again,” he said, before “accidentally” fumbling the urn and dumping its contents onto Seacrest’s tuxedo. After a few seconds of fumbling, Cohen continued: “If somebody ask you what you are wearing, you will say Kim Jong-il!” He was then escorted away by some beefy security guards.

Seacrest, never losing his composure or his trademark smile, told Cohen to “have fun this evening,” before chatting with cohosts Giuliana Rancic and Kelly Osbourne, both of whom seemed elated by the kerfuffle. Rancic, epitomizing celebrity in the social media age, called Seacrest “lucky” to be part of a moment that would certainly blow up Twitter. Osbourne, meanwhile, told Seacrest it was “the most priceless moment on TV that I’ve shared with you ever.”

“Do you think that I’m lucky? Is this a vision of luck?” Seacrest asked, laughing, before cutting to break.

I dunno, folks: I know it’s Hollywood in 2012, and I know the object of the game is to promote your project at all costs. But to me, Cohen’s stunt wasn’t nearly entertaining enough to support its nasty after-effects. Thankfully, Seacrest is such a pro that he was able to — quite literally — brush the dirt off his shoulder, but Cohen just ended up looking desperate to promote a flick with a trailer that’s surprisingly laugh-free.

To which I ask you: Was the ashy catastrophe a good thing for the E! host? Was Cohen’s joke funny enough to make up for its undeniable obnoxiousness?

http://www.tvline.com/2012/02/sacha-baron-cohen-ryan-seacrest-ashes-oscar-red-carpet/

http://www-tvline-com.vimg.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/downsize-4120226164259.jpg