THE DICTATOR AND THE OSCARS

So even as preparations for the Hollywood motion picture industry's most prestigious event hit fever pitch, Sacha Baron Cohen has managed to inject more excitement into the line-up by publicly announcing his plans to walk the red carpet as the fictional General Alladeen from his upcoming movie 'The Dictator'. Those who followed the news this week would know that every day promised a new development. 

First, when Cohen's stunt was known, the Academy flat out said no, and threatened to pull his tickets if he did so. That was despite the fact that he clarified he would change into a full tuxedo to attend the ceremony proper after the red carpet- Cohen appears in the most highly nominated film this year, Martin Scorcese's 'Hugo'. Bad publicity over the uptightness of the Academy members ensued, and their president Tom Sherak attempted to deflect some of the criticism by reassuring the public that Cohen's tickets had not been pulled- not true said Cohen's publicist and Paramount Pictures (who's distributing The Dictator). 

Afterwards, Cohen left a brief message on the spoof website of the Republic of Wadiya, saying "Admiral General Aladeen will deliver a formal response tomorrow morning to being banned from The Oscars by the Academy Of Motion Pictures Arts And Zionists". And true enough, this is the video message (sharp, biting but hilarious we say) that he delivered:

It seems the Academy has finally relented, and Deadline Hollywood confirms that the Academy has given its full permission for Cohen to strut the red carpet as General Alladeen as planned. All ado for nothing? Or was it an elaborately staged publicity stunt? Well, no matter- Cohen is one of the funniest comedians on the planet, and he's got the last laugh.