Sacha Baron Cohen mocked billionaire Jeff Bezos whose Amazon MGM Studios produced his controversial upcoming film Ali G: Who Iz I?
The actor, 55, made the remarks at the LA premiere for the movie this week when speaking as his character on the red carpet.
He said of the wealthy businessman's involvement in the film: 'Jeffrey Bezos came through. You know that bloke? Him flew over here from the Amazon, where him lived up a tree, you know?'
'Him has his d**g out. Him is just very natural there. But him has got a company now – them sell like, I don't know, everything...
'And him said: 'Look, here's some cash money, make a documentary about you life.' And I said: 'I will, so long as you're not in it.' That's how we did the business.'
Sacha transformed into his iconic character Ali G for the premiere. The comedian wore the character's trademark yellow costume as he hit the red carpet with Morgana Robinson, 44, who plays Ali's girlfriend Julie.
The promo trail has been defiant in the face of calls for the mockumentary to be banned in UK cinemas, with a petition being launched by campaigners amid claims the film and character are 'enforcing racist stereotypes'.
Sacha Baron Cohen mocked billionaire Jeff Bezos whose Amazon MGM Studios produced his controversial upcoming film Ali G: Who Iz I?
The actor, 55, made the remarks at the LA premiere for the movie this week when speaking to Variety as his character
The actor, in his directorial debut, filmed the movie secretly over the course of a year with the mockumentary following his character's life 'since the world went to c**p', alongside his pregnant girlfriend.
Julie, who was played by EastEnders' Kellie Bright in the original 2002 movie, is dubbed 'Me Julie', and the film's soundtrack included a song with that name by Sacha and Jamaican-American reggae artist Shaggy.
Morgana was in full character at the premiere, as she preened and posed in a skin-tight bodysuit with sky-high heels and space buns in her hair.
The pair made a statement in their characters' looks, with the latter pulling out all the stops with her racy moves on the red carpet and on stage.
Criticism for the Amazon MGM film, which is due for release in cinemas on October 23, has been widespread.
A day after the trailer's release in August, NewsCord, a UK news comparison and media monitoring platform, started a campaign urging cinemas around the world to refuse to screen the film.
The campaign group has said they have emailed 15 major chains globally with the request on behalf of those who register.
A defiant Sacha himself soon also addressed the growing backlash, writing on X: '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.'
Sacha transformed into his iconic character Ali G for the premiere. The comedian wore the character's trademark yellow costume as he hit the red carpet with Morgana Robinson, 44, who plays Ali's girlfriend Julie
Julie, who is dubbed 'Me Julie', was played by EastEnders' Kellie Bright in the original 2002 movie (Sacha and Kellie pictured in the film)
Reports suggested that the UK cinema chain Picturehouse had responded to the campaign and confirmed its outlets would not be screening the film.
However, Variety has since reported that Picturehouse's email was a standard customer response to any release query about a film that hasn't yet been booked by the company and didn't appear on its schedule, with no decision yet made.
Sacha teased the return of the comedy legend with a surprise appearance at Wimbledon in July, where he donned his character's trademark look of bling jewellery paired with a tracksuit and sunglasses.
Last year, it was first reported he was 'bringing back his iconic comic creation, 27 years after the character first appeared on screens – where he was staged as the 'voice of youth' on Channel 4's The 11 O'Clock Show in Autumn 1998'.
Subsequently, he became the title character of Da Ali G Show in the early 2000s, before starring as the titular character in 2002 film Ali G Indahouse.
In a 2007 interview with The Daily Telegraph, Sacha announced that Ali G had been retired.
However, he resurrected Ali G at the 2012 British Comedy Awards to accept his Outstanding Achievement Award.
He returned to TV as Ali G with Ali G Rezurection in 2014, which featured new footage of Ali G while showing old highlights of Da Ali G Show.