Twenty years after retiring Ali G, Sacha Baron Cohen has dusted off the tracksuit — and he’s talking politics. The comedian says Donald Trump has “elements of brilliance” and admits he and his peers were “too easy to dismiss him as a nincompoop.”
Baron Cohen, 55, revived the character for “Ali G: Who Iz I?”, which is now open in theaters before landing on Amazon Prime on October 30. He first brought Ali G to audiences at the turn of the century with “Da Ali G Show,” where he interviewed some of the world’s most powerful figures — and more often than not made fools of them.
(Credits: Variety)
Sacha Baron Cohen on Trump: “Too Easy to Dismiss Him”
Speaking to Josh Horowitz during a live taping of “Happy Sad Confused” at New York’s 92nd Street Y, Baron Cohen reflected on his time interviewing world leaders as Ali G.
“As Ali G, I had the privilege of sitting with some of the smartest and most powerful people in the world, and all of them were punctual,” he said — before pausing and turning to the one exception: “Donald Trump kept us waiting for about 40 minutes.”
Ali G: Who Iz I? Release Date on Amazon Prime
The new special marks two decades since Baron Cohen hung up the yellow tracksuit, and it reunites him with the character that launched him — the Staines hip-hop wannabe who got the world’s elite to agree with his most ridiculous propositions.
Whether the new outing recaptures the chaos of the original run remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: Ali G’s timing — back on screen with a US election cycle in full swing — couldn’t be better.
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Source: Variety — read the full story there.
