Baron Cohen's Preggers Na'vi Skit Axed From Oscars

Producer feared Avatar joke would offend James Cameron
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 3, 2010 3:29 AM CST
Updated Mar 3, 2010 6:21 AM CST
Baron Cohen's Preggers Na'vi Skit Axed From Oscars
The skit would have featured Ben Stiller acting as translator for Baron Cohen's blue-skinned female Na'vi, who was supposed to be carrying director James Cameron's love child, sources say.   (AP Photo/20th Century Fox)

Sacha Baron Cohen has been scratched from the list of Oscar presenters and insiders say it's because a producer feared a skit by the creator of Borat and Bruno would offend Avatar director James Cameron. Baron Cohen had planned to "blue up" as a female Na’vi for a sketch with Ben Stiller in which he would reveal he was pregnant with Cameron's love child, and attempt a Jerry Springer-style confrontation, a source tells New York.

Show producer Bill Mechanic, who worked with Cameron during Titanic when Mechanic was head of 20th Century Fox, allegedly feared that Cameron would be so offended by the sketch that he might storm out of the Oscars. "Let’s just say that Cameron isn’t known to be, shall we say, ‘self-deprecating,'" the source said. A spokesman for Baron Cohen confirmed that the actor won't be presenting due to "creative differences." It was, he added, "nothing acrimonious."
(More Sacha Baron Cohen stories.)

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