Oscar producers decide against Sasha Baron Cohen Avatar skit

Sasha Baron Cohen, the guy behind Bruno and Borat, was due to present an award at next week’s Oscar ceremony, however his name has now be removed from the list. Why is this, you ask? Apparently the producers didn’t want Cohen to annoy Avatar director James Cameron.

An insider familiar with the Oscar telecast tells Vulture that an Avatar sketch planned by Baron Cohen and Ben Stiller was nixed yesterday by show producer Bill Mechanic, who worried that Cameron would be so offended by it that he might even walk out of the Oscar broadcast on live TV.

Our insider informs us that Baron Cohen planned to appear onstage as a blue-skinned, female Na’vi, with Stiller translating “her” interplanetary speech. As the skit went on, though, it would become clear that Stiller wasn’t translating properly, because Cohen would grow ever more upset. At its climax, an infuriated Baron Cohen would pull open “her” evening gown to reveal that s/he was pregnant, knocked up with Cameron’s love child, and would go on to confront her baby daddy as if s/he were on Jerry Springer.

I would have loved to have seen this. I can’t say I know Cameron, but I’m sure he’s a guy who can take a joke. I guess the producers just didn’t want to risk a potential best director winner walking out of the ceremony, even though it would have been one of those ‘Oscar moments’ people would remember for years to come.

The 82nd Annual Academy Awards will take place on Sunday March 7th, 2010