Sacha Baron Cohen Defends Ali G: Who Iz I? as Boycott Calls Grow

The dispute over Ali G: Who Iz I? turns on a question that’s followed Sacha Baron Cohen’s comedy for years: can a character built from caricature expose prejudice, or does the joke reproduce it? As calls to boycott the new film spread, Baron Cohen has defended the return of Ali G while raising a separate concern about how he believes prominent Jews are being treated online. The distinction matters: the boycott group’s stated objection is the character’s use of racial stereotypes, while Baron Cohen has voiced his own suspicion about other possible motives.

Opening October 23, the mockumentary brings back the wannabe hip-hop persona who first made Baron Cohen a star in 1998. It arrives more than two decades after Ali G Indahouse (2002). Baron Cohen co-wrote, produced and directed the film, which, according to The Hollywood Reporter, endured multiple shutdowns and a change of studios. He has also said it will be his last guerrilla comedy of this kind.

The criticism focuses on how Ali G borrows from Black British and Jamaican culture. NewsCord has urged cinemas not to screen the film and reportedly sent more than 37,000 emails to theaters worldwide. The group says satire doesn’t excuse the character’s use of racial stereotypes, citing his fake dreadlocks and Rastafarian hat, his slang and mannerisms, and his claim that he hopes to be an “absent” father. It has also pointed to criticism of Ali G by Black comedians in 2000.

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Baron Cohen’s response to the boycott

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Baron Cohen rejected the idea that his past support of Israel explained the boycott calls. “Well, I haven’t said anything about Israel,” he said, adding that people are being portrayed inaccurately on social media.

“We are in a world where people can’t distinguish between facts and lies,” Baron Cohen said. He cited his work co-founding Stop Hate for Profit with the NAACP, Color of Change, the ADL and other civil rights groups, an effort aimed at misinformation and incitement of racism on social media. He said he was not surprised that prominent Jews were being targeted, though he found the level of organization surprising, and described a trend of Jews being portrayed in certain ways and silenced. The Hollywood Reporter, October 21, 2026

Those comments are Baron Cohen’s interpretation of the backlash. NewsCord’s stated case against the film centers on its portrayal of race; the material provided does not establish a connection between the group’s objections and his views on Israel. Keeping those claims separate helps clarify what’s being argued: critics are questioning the character’s cultural borrowing, while Baron Cohen is describing what he sees as a broader pattern of online targeting.

Why bring Ali G back?

Baron Cohen has acknowledged that Ali G can look outdated and problematic. His case for reviving the character is that the prejudices exposed by his comedy have intensified, amplified, he argues, by social media and AI. He told The Hollywood Reporter that he is terrified by the direction society is taking and wants the film to show extremism on both sides of the political spectrum. He plays three different characters in the movie.

That explanation sets up the film’s central test. A satirical character can make an audience recognize a prejudice by exaggerating it, but that approach depends on viewers seeing where the joke lands. For critics, Ali G’s appearance and speech risk making the borrowed culture itself part of the punchline. Baron Cohen’s stated aim is to turn the character toward the prejudices he wants to expose. Whether the film makes that distinction legible is something audiences will have to judge for themselves.

“Yo check out de trailer for me new movie, Ali G: Who Iz I? It got nuff sick tings, but u’ll have to watch de hole film to find out if me hactually died makin it. Only in dem cinemas October 23nd.” Ali G, August 25, 2026

Baron Cohen has also answered the criticism in character. In one video, he appears in prosthetics as a balding progressive activist from a fictional “Campaign for Ethical Comedy,” urging people to boycott the film because he supposedly couldn’t invent a new character. Borat also calls for a boycott in another trailer. Baron Cohen joked online that, when a single joke can end a comedian’s career, bringing Ali G back seemed like the safe choice.

“Some of the things that happen in his new movie are ‘crazier than anything you’ve seen in any other film,’” CBS Mornings reported Baron Cohen saying as he explained the character’s return. CBS Mornings, October 21, 2026

Cinema plans remain in place

So far, the pressure appears to have had limited effect on the release. Reports that Picturehouse Cinemas had agreed to drop the film were disputed by Variety, which said the chain’s reply was its standard response for films that were not yet on its schedule. UK Cinema Association CEO Phil Clapp told Variety that theaters do not serve as censors.

Ali G: Who Iz I? remains set to open as planned through Amazon MGM Studios, with Sony Pictures UK handling the British release. The film’s arrival will give audiences a chance to assess the work behind the competing claims: whether Ali G’s return gives satire a useful target, or whether the character’s familiar devices overwhelm that intention. For now, the debate has made one thing clear: the film’s reception will hinge as much on who viewers think the joke is aimed at as on the character’s return itself.

Sacha Baron Cohen arrives in character and performs as Ali G at the L.A. premiere of “Ali G: Who Iz I?” The Hollywood Reporter, October 15, 2026