Sacha Baron Cohen’s Avatar Sketch Cut From The Oscars To Spare James Cameron’s Feelings
By Devindra Hardawar/March 3, 2010 1:27 pm EST
We’ve seen the sort of responses Cohen can gather from unsuspecting bystanders in Borat, Bruno, and Da Ali G Show, and it’s a shame that we’re not going to see how James Cameron would react to a mockery of his mega-hit film. I can understand why the Oscar producers would be nervous, but I’m not sure how anyone can bring Cohen onto a project and not expect him to offend someone. This reminds me of how attendees at the recent TED conference were offended when Sarah Silverman was brought on to be Sarah Silverman.
Baron Cohen planned to appear onstage as a blue-skinned, female Na’vi, with Stiller translating “her” interplanetary speech. As the skit went on, though, it would become clear that Stiller wasn’t translating properly, because Cohen would grow ever more upset. At its climax, an infuriated Baron Cohen would pull open “her” evening gown to reveal that s/he was pregnant, knocked up with Cameron’s love child, and would go on to confront her baby daddy as if s/he were on Jerry Springer.
This is the second snub from the upcoming Oscars ceremony for Cohen. According to an interview on NPR’s Fresh Air, Cohen was one of names brought up to host the event, but he was shot down for that as well. “They thought it was too big of a wild card,” said Oscar producer Adam Shankman (Bedtime Stories and Hairspray).
