Backlash against Sacha Baron Cohen’s Ali G comeback is intensifying.
Baron Cohen’s latest satirical film centered on the character that first made him a star on Da Ali G Show has drawn calls for U.K. theaters to refuse to screen it. According to media bias organization NewsCord, over 37,000 concerned fans have joined its campaign to ask local theaters to block the film.
The backlash follows the trailer for the upcoming mockumentary, Ali G: Who Iz I?, which featured the faux wannabe rapper wearing fake dreadlocks and a Rastafarian hat. Backlash over the caricature is also intensified by the character’s declaration to an interviewer that he aspires to be an “absent” father.
Racism accusations surfaced soon after Baron Cohen debuted the character in 1998. NewsCord’s campaign against the film features a report from 2000 in which Black comedians call the caricature an “alibi for racism.”
Still, Baron Cohen went on to make the 2002 film Ali G In Da House and will bring the character back to life in the upcoming film, set to release in October. He wrote in an unapologetic post on X on Wednesday to promote the trailer’s release, “In an age where a comedian’s career can be ended by a single un-PC joke, I thought I’d play it safe and bring this guy back.”
In July, the actor teased the character’s return by donning his classic yellow-tinted sunglasses, a skull cap and a thick gold chain, while pretending to sell weed at Wimbledon. He wrote in a post to Instagram to show off the stunt, “I iz BACK! And if u iz at dis borin wimbledore final lookin 2 get grand slammed, I iz here wif de hookup 🌱🍄❄️💊💉 dm me, especially if u iz fit.”
NewsCord declared in its campaign against Ali G that Cohen uses the character as a “cover for enforcing racist stereotypes.” The landing page for the boycott call reads, “Sacha Baron Cohen retired Ali G. Amazon revived the caricature. Cinemas can refuse it.”
Though the organization claimed victory when major U.K. movie chain PictureHouse said it had no plans to screen the film, Variety reported that no such decision has been made.
Amid backlash to Ali G on Friday, Baron Cohen highlighted remarks he made in 2023, at the 60th anniversary of the famed civil rights protest, the March on Washington.
“The power of unity is exactly why those who stand in the way of equality and freedom seek to divide us,” Baron Cohen said on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial as part of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s family’s invited speakers. “The power of unity is exactly why those who stand in the way of equality and freedom seek to divide us. They appeal to the worst instincts of humanity, which often simmer just below the surface,” he added.
The actor disabled the comments section and captioned the video, “Today is 73 years since the March on Washington. We’re in debt to all those who marched this week to keep Dr. King’s dream alive. It was a great honour to join these civil rights leaders in 2023.”
Baron Cohen’s comeback follows his divorce from actress Isla Fisher, who said she felt “so liberated” after they mutually filed to end their marriage in 2023.
