Ed Sheeran took Sacha Baron Cohen’s mockery in stride after being singled out by the Ali G character in a new film trailer. Cohen’s Ali G: Who Iz I?, arriving in theaters October 23 via Amazon MGM, marks the character’s return 24 years after his last film appearance.
In the trailer, Ali G narrates his comeback by listing global setbacks during his two-decade absence—wars, the pandemic, and Sheeran by name—before introducing the film’s premise: a documentary built from real interviews with unsuspecting public figures, echoing Cohen’s late-1990s TV show.
Sheeran responded on Instagram: “Tell 10-year-old me that Ali G would put him in his movie.” He referenced the character’s signature phrase, “Restecpa”—a deliberate mispronunciation of “respect” first used in 2002’s Ali G Indahouse.
The film marks Cohen’s first feature as director. Production remained secret; Cohen reportedly appeared in character at Wimbledon this year without revealing the project. The plot centers on Ali G discovering his girlfriend, played by Morgana Robinson, is pregnant after he resurfaces publicly.
Not all reactions have been positive. The trailer has drawn criticism in the U.K., where commentators and a cinema-boycott campaign have objected to the character’s styling—dreadlocked wig and Rasta-style hat—as a racial caricature that has not aged well since Ali G’s original run.
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Source: Billboard
