Popular American comedian Drew Desbordes, known professionally as Druski, has come under fire after teasing an upcoming collaboration with British actor Sacha Baron Cohen, who has been accused of perpetuating racist stereotypes in his work, as well as supporting Israel's excesses in Gaza.
Druski, who has 13.6 million followers on Instagram, shared a poster of himself alongside Baron Cohen's 'Ali G' character for an upcoming event titled 'Old Heads Auditions', which will be held in Brooklyn on 12 October.
The Ali G character has long been criticised for playing on stereotypes of Black people, as well as mocking Jamaican Patois.
After the post went out on Sunday, dismayed fans said their comments saying "Free Palestine" or mentioning the word "Zionist" were blocked.
"Druski blocks ‘Free Palestine’ & ‘Zionists’ from his comment section in a bid to stop backlash for collaborating with zionist Sasa [sic] Baron Cohen," wrote Toronto hip-hop outlet Keep6ixsolid on X.
Other social media users also shared screenshots purportedly showing them being blocked from writing "Free Palestine" under the post.
Comments were later locked.
While Baron Cohen has not explicitly advocated for Israel or Zionism in his public statements, the comedian has associated with pro-Israel groups, including the Anti-Defamation League and StandWithUs.
He has also been accused of trading in anti-Muslim stereotypes, most notably in his portrayal of Borat, a fictional character from Kazakhstan who stuns unsuspecting guests on his show with his misogyny, foul habits and references to incest, among other things.
In his 2012 film 'The Dictator', Baron Cohen played the despotic ruler General Aladeen, who appeared to be from a fictional Middle Eastern or Muslim-majority country.
Baron Cohen's involvement in the upcoming Druski event comes as his new Ali G movie, 'Who Iz I?', is set to screen in cinemas later this month.
The film, which comes more than 20 years after the first instalment, has sparked backlash, with calls for it to be removed from cinemas. In the UK, a campaign headed by media comparison platform Newscord saw nearly 56,000 emails sent to cinemas asking them not to screen the film.
Baron Cohen has acknowledged the backlash, releasing a video on Friday in which his Borat character makes light of the criticism.
On Monday, UK media reported that the film would only screen for one weekend, though it is unclear whether the short run is related to the public backlash.