Sacha Baron Cohen Won't Present

Sacha Baron Cohen will not be a part of this year's Academy Awards—and it may be James Cameron's fault. Cohen—also known as Borat and Brüno—was set to present an award at Sunday's Oscars, but on Tuesday an Oscar spokesperson confirmed that's no longer the case. The reason? James Cameron might have gotten upset. Cohen and Ben Stiller had planned a scathing skit centered around Avatar, with Cohen playing the part of a female Na'vi and Stiller playing "her" translator. It would become apparent that Stiller wasn't translating properly, and Cohen would open "her" evening gown to reveal James Cameron's love child growing in her womb. The comedian would then confront Cameron a la Jerry Springer. Needless to say, an insider told New York magazine that the ceremony's producer, Bill Mechanic, felt that Cameron might have found the skit far more offensive than humorous, and might have even stormed out. "Let's just say that Cameron isn't known to be, shall we say, ‘self-deprecating,'" the insider said. As a result, the skit's been scrapped, and now Cohen won't even attend. His spokesman released a statement citing "creative differences," but said there was "nothing acrimonious" between them.