14 DAY TRIAL // This Sunday brings the hottest awards ceremony of the year, the Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars. This is the movie industry celebrating the best of its best and, as such, some jokes that British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen might come up with could actually offend those with a poorer sense of humor – like film director James Cameron, for instance.
As per the Daily Mail, Cohen has pulled out of his presenting gig at this year’s Oscars. The reason for that is to be found in his intent of making fun of the “Avatar” director. However, the Academy would not risk having Cameron storm off halfway through the show, especially since he and his film are the biggest contenders of the night, together with Kathryn Bigelow and her “Hurt Locker.” Cameron is known for being a rather down to earth guy who might not stomach a joke like Cohen’s so well, so the Academy chose to play it safe this time, says the publication.
“Sacha Baron Cohen has been dropped as a presenter at the Oscars, allegedly over fears he may drive Avatar director James Cameron to storm out of the ceremony. The Borat star, who had been invited to introduce one of the awards, planned to poke fun at the film by dressing up as one of its characters – a blue-skinned, female Na’vi – and revealing to the audience that ‘she’ was pregnant with Cameron’s love child. But sources say that fears over Cameron’s reaction led show producer Bill Mechanic to axe the sketch and order Baron Cohen, 38, to be dumped from his first ever Oscars appearance,” the Mail writes.
A spokesperson for the actor, known for his outrageous roles in “Borat” and “Bruno,” can confirm that he will no longer be a part of this year’s Oscars ceremony. Out of diplomacy, he will not say why. “I hate to use the term, because it’s so ubiquitous, but there were ‘creative differences.’ Nothing acrimonious, but both sides felt that since they couldn’t agree, [Cohen] might as well remain in London,” the rep says for the same publication.
As we also informed you a while back, “Avatar” and “The Hurt Locker” are both in the running for the biggest winner of the year, each with nine nominations, including in the major categories, Best Director and Best Motion Picture. The other day, one of the producers on “The Hurt Locker,” up for an award, Nicolas Chartier, was banned from attending the ceremony after leading a campaign via e-mail to promote his film by disparaging “Avatar.”