<\/p>\n
A campaign is asking cinemas around the world to reject Sacha Baron Cohen\u2019s new Ali G movie, but its first claimed exhibitor win arrived before the theater chain in question had actually made a decision about showing the film.<\/p>\n
NewsCord<\/a> began contacting exhibitors after Amazon MGM released the trailer for Ali G: Who Iz I?<\/em>. The group accuses Cohen of reviving a character built around racist stereotypes and said its campaign had generated more than 36,000 emails by Aug. 29.\u00a0<\/p>\n NewsCord removed Picturehouse from its target list after the U.K. chain responded that it did not \u201ccurrently\u201d plan to show the film on its Oct. 23 release date. The campaign treated that answer as the outcome it had requested, and the response was subsequently reported as evidence that Picturehouse would not screen the movie.<\/p>\n That is not Picturehouse\u2019s confirmed position. Variety<\/a> reported that the message was a standard customer-service response for a film that had not yet been booked or added to the chain\u2019s schedule. Picturehouse had not made a decision about whether it would ultimately screen Ali G: Who Iz I?<\/em>.<\/p>\n Picturehouse\u2019s response said, \u201cWe currently do not have any plans to screen this film on its release.\u201d The wording initially appeared definitive enough that the reply was reported as a refusal, including amid coverage by The Independent<\/a> and other U.K. outlets.<\/p>\n Variety subsequently reported that there was no boycott decision behind the message. The response is the type Picturehouse sends when customers ask about films that have not yet been booked and do not appear on its schedule, and the chain had not decided whether to carry Ali G: Who Iz I?<\/em>.<\/p>\n NewsCord nevertheless removed Picturehouse from its mailing list, saying the chain had provided \u201cthe outcome every letter asks\u201d for. Its campaign page now tells participants that Picturehouse \u201cis not planning to screen the film,\u201d even though Variety\u2019s reporting establishes that the chain\u2019s eventual booking decision remains open.<\/p>\n Phil Clapp, chief executive of the U.K. Cinema Association, also pushed back against the broader premise that exhibitors should decide what audiences are permitted to see. He told Variety that cinemas are not there to serve as \u201ccensors or arbiters of public taste\u201d and said that once a film receives a British Board of Film Classification certificate, exhibitors should base booking decisions on the likely response from their audiences.<\/p>\n The campaign remains active against major theater operators across the U.K., United States, Canada, Australia, continental Europe, Mexico and the Middle East.\u00a0<\/p>\n Cohen introduced Ali G on Channel 4\u2019s The 11 O\u2019Clock Show<\/em> in 1998. The character is a dim-witted white man from Staines who adopts language, clothing and mannerisms associated with Black British, Jamaican and hip-hop culture while interviewing politicians, academics and celebrities who often do not realize they are participating in a comedy setup.<\/p>\n Criticism of that premise emerged long before the current movie. A Guardian report from January 2000<\/a> documented objections from Black British comedians who argued that Ali G allowed predominantly white audiences to laugh at Black street culture while maintaining a sense that they were participating in politically acceptable satire.<\/p>\n Comedian Felix Dexter said the character allowed liberal middle-class viewers to mock Black street culture in a context where they could retain their sense of political correctness. Writer Jeanette Winterson separately questioned what distinguished the act from the Black and White Minstrel Show. NewsCord has made those decades-old criticisms central to its current campaign.<\/p>\n Cohen has described the character\u2019s purpose differently. During a 2016 interview with Marc Maron<\/a>, he said Ali G was partly an attempt to undermine establishment figures and argued that the character was so stupid that he could not plausibly exist as a real person.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n In an age where a comedian\u2019s career can be ended by a single un-PC joke, I thought I\u2019d play it safe and bring this guy back. https:\/\/t.co\/8ckR5pQZQt<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Sacha Baron Cohen (@SachaBaronCohen) August 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Cohen has not publicly addressed NewsCord or the disputed Picturehouse claim by name. He did, however, signal that he expected controversy when he released the movie\u2019s first trailer. \u201cIn an age where a comedian\u2019s career can be ended by a single un-PC joke, I thought I\u2019d play it safe and bring this guy back,\u201d Cohen wrote on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n TheWrap reported that the trailer also drew public support from figures including Kevin Durant and A$AP Rocky, while at least one Danish exhibitor targeted by the campaign responded that it intended to show the movie and argued that cinemas should remain spaces for films that can provoke or challenge audiences.<\/p>\n Amazon MGM has not joined the public argument. A studio representative declined to comment on the boycott campaign when contacted by TheWrap<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\nPicturehouse Has Not Joined the Ali G Boycott<\/h2>\n
Criticism of Ali G Dates Back More Than 25 Years<\/h2>\n
Cohen Joked That Ali G Was the \u2018Safe\u2019 Character to Bring Back<\/h2>\n
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Ali G Returns in a Mockumentary Rather Than Another \u2018Indahouse\u2019<\/h2>\n