The Word: Sacha Baron Cohen’s ‘Dictator’ oppressed by Academy
Well, the one, lone hope of making Sunday’s Academy Awards interesting is dashed: The powers that be are planning to disinvite Sacha Baron Cohen, despite the fact he’s an Academy member and stars in “Hugo,” which is nominated for 11 awards, including Best Picture.
The reasoning? According to the Hollywood Reporter, they’re worried he’ll come dressed up in full costume as his title character in his new film, “The Dictator.” The Academy is trying to smooth things over, saying they aren’t banning him, per se; rather, they just want him to come as Sacha, not as his character, General Aladeen, and cause shenanigans.
“We would love to have Sacha Baron Cohen at the Oscars show,” a rep for the awards show told CNN. “We have expressed [to Baron Cohen] that we don’t like our red carpet to be used as a promotional stunt. We’re waiting to hear from him. We’ve put the ball in his court.”
Ha. Don’t use the red carpet as a promotional stunt? That’s all the red carpet is! From “My gown is by blah blah blah” to “My next film is” to “It’s an honor just to be nominated.” Come on, Academy. You’re letting Billy Crystal pretend he’s a host for Sunday’s telecast; why not let Baron Cohen pretend he’s a dictator?
‘The Voice’ is now more popular than ‘American Idol’
Christina Aguilera is laughing all the way to the bakery.
Despite everyone talking about her weight, it’s not keeping the world from tuning in to watch her and her rag-tag team of co-judges Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green on “The Voice.” So much so, it’s overtaking stalwart “American Idol,” which only had 15.9 million viewers on Wednesday night, whereas “The Voice” had 16 million people tune in.
“Idol,”?take note: There is something to be said for being happy and well fed instead of so well manicured.
Follow Dorothy Robinson on Twitter @DorothyatMetro
