Sacha Baron Cohen smuggled Ali G into Oscars ceremony against orders from bosses

Sacha Baron Cohen has revealed he had to sneak his Ali G get-up into the Oscars because bosses did not want him to present an award in character.

Cohen, 44 – who presented alongside Olivia Wilde – said he enlisted the help of his wife Isla Fisher to transform him into his Staines-born alter-ego.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain the comedian said: “The truth is we actually had to sneak it in because the Oscars sat me down before and said they didn't want me to do anything out of order.

“They wanted me to actually present it as myself. But luckily my wife put on the Ali G beard in the disabled toilets so we managed to get away with it.”

Cohen – who last week attended the premiere of his controversial new film, Grimsby – said he was nervous about his speech so ran a few jokes past host Chris Rock.

He said: “I mean there were a few moments I was a bit worried how they'd react to the first gag, but I bumped into Chris Rock actually on the way on and pitched him the gag and he gave me the thumbs up so I went for it.”

Cohen waded into the #OscarsSoWhite debate telling the audience he was at the ceremony to represent people who were overlooked like “Will Smith, Idris Elbow, and of course the amazing black bloke from Star Wars, Darth Vader.”

He added: "How come there's no Oscar for those little hard working yellow people. You know the Minions."

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