Sacha Baron Cohen defends reviving “problematic” Ali G character for new film

Sacha Baron Cohen has written an essay defending the return of his “problematic” character Ali G for new film Who Iz I?.

Ali G was first introduced on Channel 4’s The 11 O’Clock Show in 1998 before his popularity led to the spin-off Da Ali G Show in the early 2000s, and full length feature film Ali G Indahouse in 2002. Cohen has returned to the character sporadically, including 2014’s Ali G: Rezurection and occasional appearances on US talk shows and awards ceremonies. Earlier this year, he was spotted at Wimbledon and Who Iz I? was announced shortly afterwards.

While the Sacha Baron Cohen creation is typically presented as a pastiche of cultural appropriation, critics have accused the character of actually amplifying racial stereotypes in a way that is harmful. One campaign has seen more than 55,000 emails sent to cinemas requesting they not show the new film, with Ali G accused of being “an alibi of racism”.

The BBFC has rated Sacha Baron Cohen's new Ali G film 15, despite thousands of people urging it to refuse the film classification.

We have asked the BBFC to explain how it concluded the film is not racist, and whether the people who made the decision reflect the communities the… pic.twitter.com/36Npn6VqQ3

— NewsCord (@newscord_org) October 17, 2026

One writer for the film has already defended the project “From my point of view, Ali G is not a racist character. Ali G is a tool to expose racists,” Colton Dunn told Deadline. “He puts himself in the most ridiculous situations, and he doesn’t do that because he’s racist. I wouldn’t sign on to work with somebody that I thought was racist, that’s against everything that I’ve done.”

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Now Sacha Baron Cohen has written an essay for Time Magazine explaining his reasons for resurrecting the ‘00s character. “The fact that Ali G is outdated and problematic is the very reason I resurrected him. The world he’s returned to is, in many ways, worse than the one he left 20 years ago,” he explained. “All the prejudices my characters are designed to expose haven’t just lingered—they’ve metastasized. They’re fuelled by the greatest propaganda machine in history – social media – and now by its monstrous child, AI.”

“I’ve always designed my characters and comedy as vehicles to expose prejudice, bias, and stupidity, though I realise not everyone sees them that way,” he continued. “Like a good bouffon, [Ali G] undermines that establishment – not the culture he loves and borrows from.”

He went on to say that the goal of satirical comedy has always been the same: “Make the audience laugh as hard and as much as possible, while holding up a mirror to reflect back things that aren’t always comfortable to see or warn of trends we’d rather look away from.”

Ali G: Who Iz I? hits cinemas tomorrow (Friday October 23) and in the new year Sacha Baron Cohen will be taking to the West End stage as the lead in Quentin Tarantino’s first-ever play, The Popinjay Cavalier.