The Oscars didn't want Sacha Baron Cohen to present as Ali G

LONDON — Last Sunday, Sacha Baron Cohen brought his most famous character to the Oscars — even though the show didn’t okay his bit ahead of time.

The comedian was asked to introduce one of the night’s Best Picture nominees, Room, alongside Olivia Wilde. On Tuesday, though, he revealed that the awards show specifically asked him not to present in character.

“The truth is, we actually had to sneak it in because the Oscars sat me down before and said they didn’t want me to do anything out of order,” the comedian told ITV’s Good Morning Britain, The Guardian writes.

So Baron Cohen enlisted his wife, Isla Fisher, to help pull off his plan. They hid in the toilets for around 40 minutes, pretending Sacha had food poisoning while actually applying Ali G’s signature goatee to the actor’s face.

Though he didn’t ask the show’s producers for permission, Baron Cohen says he did get a last-minute seal of approval from the night’s host: “I bumped into Chris Rock on the way on and pitched him the gig and he gave me the thumbs up, so I went for it.”

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