Sacha Baron Cohen knows Ali G is "outdated and problematic" in 2026, and that's why he's back.
The 54-year-old star has revived his iconic and provocative character for new movie Ali G: Who Iz I, which drops on Friday (23.10.26), and he has insisted the point of his alter ego is to take aim at "prejudices" in the world.
Writing for Time magazine, he said: “The fact that Ali G is outdated and problematic is the very reason I resurrected him.
“The world he’s returned to is, in many ways, worse than the one he left 20 years ago.
"All the prejudices my characters are designed to expose haven’t just lingered — they’ve metastasized.”
Sacha acknowledged that sometimes "satire can offend people other than the intended targets", which in Ali G's case is on the character himself and the "predominantly white male establishment who take him seriously".
He added: "As someone who has opposed bigotry and injustice throughout my life and partnered with civil rights groups, I don’t recognize myself in the warped portrayals of me that I sometimes see on social media, lumped in with the bigots I lampoon."
He noted that his characters - including Borat - are designed "as vehicles to expose prejudice, bias, and stupidity", even if "not everyone sees them that way".
He continued: "Ali G is a white imbecile—a delusional cultural appropriator—who steals the fashion and lyrics from his favorite gangsta rap and dancehall idols, from Compton to Kingston."
Sacha insisted that although "most of my humor is indeed juvenile", that is down to the art form itself.
He added: "That’s because satire works best not when it preaches, but rather when it lives among the laughter.
"Then, once you walk out of the theater or switch off the TV, it makes you think."
And although Sacha knows one movie can't "stamp out age-old prejudices or stop the extremism that’s fueling the slide from democracy to autocracy and mass violence", he hopes it can at least "help sound the alarm".
He said: "I made this latest film for the same reason I’ve always done this work.
"Not only to make people laugh, but also to bring them face-to-face with the danger of fanaticism and conspiracy theories."