Sacha Baron Cohen has revealed that the return of his infamous character Ali G wasn’t approved for the Oscars ceremony.
Cohen announced on ITV’s This Morning that his wife, actress Isla Fisher, snuck his Ali G costume into the awards ceremony in her bag.
The ceremony, that took place on Sunday (February 28), saw the actor introduce Best Picture nominee Room, however as Ali G, instead of himself, as previously arranged.
Speaking to This Morning, Cohen said: “The truth is we actually had to sneak it in because the Oscars sat me down before and said they didn’t want me to do anything out of order.”
“They wanted me to actually present it as myself. But luckily my wife put on the Ali G beard in the disabled toilets so we managed to get away with it.”
Whilst introducing Room, Cohen, or Ali G, offered his support for Will Smith, Idris “Elbow” and Minions, as well as “of course, that amazing black bloke from Star Wars. Darth Vader.” Before introducing the film as “a movie about a room full of white people.”
Speaking about the presentation, Cohen admitted that he was unsure about the jokes, despite encouragement from host Chris Rock before taking to the stage.
Cohen added: “I mean there were a few moments I was a bit worried how they’d react to the first gag, but I bumped into Chris Rock actually on the way on and pitched him the gag and he gave me the thumbs up so I went for it.”