ALISON BOSHOFF: Ali G T-shirts anyone? Sacha Baron Cohen misses out on a fortune in film merchandise

IZ it 'cos I don't like fancy dress? Sacha Baron Cohen – whose new Ali G film opens in cinemas today – is not a fan of people who dress up as his characters.

Even though he has made a fortune by playing comic alter-egos – including Borat, Bruno and Ali G – I hear that he deplores 'copycats'.

For this reason, the film's distributors Universal is selling just three different T-shirts to promote Ali G: Who Iz I?, Baron Cohen's forthcoming film – and offering no other spin-off merchandise at all.

Hit films can make a ton of money from 'merch' and tie-ins, with Universal's Wicked films having more than 400 commercial partners – and generating an estimated $300million in promotional value.

A source said: 'Sacha really hates people going to fancy dress parties in Ali G outfits. Universal could have made a killing from merch, but they aren't selling any at all. Not even a beanie or a pair of glasses or a tracksuit.' 

Meanwhile, on eBay and Amazon, there are dozens of sellers offering Ali G and 'Me Julie' (his girlfriend) costumes.

'The trouble is that Sacha absolutely hates all the copycats,' I'm told. 

He is said to be a little high maintenance – as comic geniuses so often are – and one friend told me this week that despite being a funny guy in front of the camera, in private he is a 'highly strung person'.

That's putting it politely. Actress Rebel Wilson, who appeared with him in the film Grimsby, described her co-star as a 'massive a***hole'.

This new mockumentary sees Ali G swap his native Staines for Donald Trump's America. 

The plot revolves around his girlfriend, Julie, played by comedian Morgana Robinson, getting pregnant. It is only in cinemas for a week before going to Amazon Prime Video.

After the project was announced, the internet platform NewsCord helped to co-ordinate a high-profile campaign suggesting that the film was racist and should be banned. 

They alleged Baron Cohen had 'enforced harmful stereotypes across marginalised communities through his characters'.

But in an interview this week in the Hollywood Reporter, the star insisted that far from ridiculing the 'Staines Massive', or people from Kazakhstan, his characters and their comedy punched up, targeting those in authority.

He said that Ali G was funny 'because he is delusional'. 'He lives this boring, white middle-class life in a suburban town, and he deludes himself that he's living in Compton, and that is the absurdity of Ali G.

'The core joke is that a white moron, possibly the stupidest man in the world, is interviewing a white expert or high-status politician, and that white expert or high-status politician believes that this imbecile – played by me – is real and that leads to comedy.  

'And in my belief, it slightly undermines the power of the establishment.' 

At the LA premiere of the film, Baron Cohen, 55, in character as Ali G, caused some outrage. 

Asked about the proposed merger between Paramount and Warner Bros, he replied: 'The only merger that's happening tonight is me and Sydney Sweeney's babylons.'

In 2020, Baron Cohen launched legal action against a US firm which was using Borat to promote its 'sustainable cannabis'.

The British comedian accused Solar Therapeutics of copyright infringement after it used the fictional journalist from Kazakhstan on an advert along with his catchphrase: 'It's nice!'

The actor, who was divorced from wife Isla Fisher last year after 15 years of marriage, has set up a new firm to receive money from the Ali G picture called Staines Badman Productions.

His next venture will be starring in Quentin Tarantino's first play, The Popinjay Cavalier, which opens at the Phoenix Theatre in London's West End next spring.

A Goop move for Gwynnie 

She's still big – it’s just the pictures that got small. 

Gwyneth Paltrow has signed up for her first lead role in a TV drama. 

Paltrow, who won an Oscar in 1999 for Shakespeare In Love, returned to her acting roots in Marty Supreme last year having concentrated on her Goop wellness brand, and has now made the switch to telly – like the eternally working Nicole Kidman. 

The series is called The Apology. Paltrow, 54, will play a woman whose son was murdered 18 years previously. 

The drama starts when a stranger confesses that he did it – and she and her husband are outraged by the suggestion that he might get a reduced sentence. Netflix has already commissioned two series.

I'm the Best! Meet the man taking on Muhammad Ali 

Muhammad Ali’s widow Lonnie says that she gave the go-ahead for a new Prime Video eight-hour drama series, The Greatest, in order to bring the story of the boxing legend to a new generation.

Produced by Sinners star Michael B Jordan, the first series looks at the childhood and rise of the man born Cassius Clay, ending with him defeating Sonny Liston in 1964.

Lonnie, 86, who was the heavyweight champ’s fourth and final wife, said: ‘People don’t read as much as they used to. With this series, we are connecting him to a new generation of young people.’

Newcomer Jaalen Best plays Ali as a young man, and Lonnie commented: ‘Jaalen Best really is the best – he becomes Cassius Clay. He absorbs that role and brings you into that story, as if you were sitting there with him.’

Lonnie had known Ali since she was a child, first meeting him in 1963. 

She said: ‘He [Best] does have a strong physical resemblance to Muhammad, especially at that time in his life. Muhammad was built, but he was still thin.’

Will Smith played the boxer in the 2001 biopic Ali. He was hand-picked for the role by Lonnie and Ali himself. (The boxer died in 2016, of complications from Parkinson’s disease.) 

This time around, Lonnie had the power of veto. She met Best, who grew up in the small town of Magnolia in North Carolina, at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville and knew he was the one ‘as soon as I saw him’.

Just to make sure, she asked a friend – John Ramsey – who did a podcast on Muhammad, for his view. ‘John walked in and it was the same thing. He said, “That’s it, that’s him”.

‘Then I put Muhammad’s daughter Hana on FaceTime and I said to her, “Who is this?” and she asked me, “Is he kin to us?”’

Ben Watkins, who created the new series, tried to steer clear of anything which the audience would already know about Ali. 

He said he took inspiration from The Crown, which managed to shed fresh light on the royals despite them having been the centre of attention for decades.

Producer Matthew Gross told me: ‘This is a character study and a family story; an origin story of how Cassius Clay became Muhammad Ali.’ 

Gross works at Authentic Brands, which manages the image rights for a number of icons including Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley.

He described Ali as ‘one of the most beloved men to ever walk the earth: an activist, humanitarian and a great athlete… his cultural relevance is as great today as it ever was’.

He added: ‘One of the things that’s really important about the show is that it keeps him in the conversation and keeps him in popular culture for the next generation.’

Scream queen who is Hollywood's latest obsession  

Oscar campaigning started in earnest last weekend, with the Academy Museum Gala in Los Angeles.

Newcomer Inde Navarrette, 25, right, was the belle of the ball in haute couture Schiaparelli and Chopard diamonds. She was among those cheering on Taylor Swift, who sang at the event.

Swift is banging her own drum – she wants to snag an Oscar for best song for I Knew It, I Knew You in Toy Story 5.

Inde – real name Danielle – is in the running for best actress for her role in the breakout horror smash Obsession, and is clearly at the centre of a concerted campaign as she followed Saturday night’s gala with a spot of glad-handing at the Newport Beach Film Festival on Sunday.

Next stop: Saturday Night Live’s Halloween edition, where she will be the guest host. Navarrette said: ‘It’s just so lovely meeting people and the reception that Obsession has been getting. 

'I’m just so honoured to go and be with the members of the Academy and just get an inside scoop on what that magnificent world is like.’

She faces competition come the Oscars in March from Julianne Moore, who is tremendous in The Debut, and Olivia Wilde in The Invite – a film she also directed.

Get ready for a Mary Berry Christmas!  

Mary Berry stepped away from the Great British Bake Off – the show which made her a household name – ten years ago, when it moved from the BBC to Channel 4.

The Beeb has rewarded, and rewarded, and rewarded her loyalty; and I can reveal that she has secretly filmed a festive show for the BBC this year: Mary’s Christmas Countdown.

Dame Mary, 91, is now officially the Queen of Christmas, as this will be her fifth year holding the nation’s hand while the turkey cooks.

She presented A Mary Berry Christmas last year, and Mary Makes Christmas in 2024, Mary Berry’s Highland Christmas in 2023 and Mary Berry’s Ultimate Christmas in 2022.

It’s been said that she is worth £20million, much of it from fronting shows and writing books post-GBBO.

Most recent accounts show her companies sitting comfortably in the black, with Jamie Oliver her closest competitor, with shows in 2024 and 2025 for C4. Her Bake Off successor (post-Prue Leith), Nigella Lawson, hasn’t done a Christmas show since 2020.

Mary’s Christmas Countdown was filmed last month by TV company Dragonfly and commissioned by Ricky Cooper, who is in charge of factual entertainment at the BBC.

Another presenter who is still very popular with the Beeb is Stacey Solomon. The corporation has commissioned another of her Crafty Christmas programmes for the festive period – they’ve been running since 2022.

Solomon is not everyone’s cup of tea, but her shows – including decluttering series Sort Your Life Out – rate very well.

Beckham is back on Netflix  

David Beckham is shooting a new series for Netflix after the blockbuster success of his authorised life story, Beckham, which screened in 2023. 

There had been plans for him to make a road trip documentary – he is an avid fan of vintage motorbikes – but they have now been shelved in favour of another idea.

Greta has the last laugh in Narnia battle 

Is there trouble in Narnia? Netflix film boss Dan Lin was no fan of Greta Gerwig’s big-screen adaptation, which is gearing up for a release in cinemas. 

There’s a lot of focus on it, given that it’s Gerwig’s first picture since the mega-hit Barbie.

Reports suggest Lin was unimpressed by an early version and the $250million epic had reshoots imposed as a result. 

But then, like the Pevensie children vanishing through the back of a wardrobe, it slipped from his control.

Lin was sacked on Friday last week – and then had to attend the Academy Museum Gala on Saturday night with the man who fired him, Ted Sarandos. That’s showbiz!

Is Gary Lineker hoping to make a fortune out of cricket next? 

Goalhanger (the production company he co-owns) has registered The Rest Is Cricket with the Intellectual Property Office. 

Which suggests there are plans afoot to add the sport to his podcast empire. (He has already got football, politics, entertainment and history covered.)

Cricket is enormous globally, so the idea has great potential. Lineker might even front it himself – the former footballer is a keen amateur cricketer and good friends with ex-England bowler Stuart Broad.