Hollywood Skewered For Coddling James Cameron

Let Sacha Baron Cohen make jokes!

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Has Hollywood lost its sense of humor? Acccording to New York Magazine, funnyman Sacha Baron Cohen planned a satirical sketch for Sunday's Oscars that got cut. How come? Apparently producers were afraid he'd offend director James Cameron. In the sketch, Cohen appears on stage dressed as a blue-skinned Na'vi who is pregnant with James Cameron's love child. Needless to say, entertainment critics are vexed they're missing out.


  • That's No Way to Win Ratings, writes Patrick Goldstein at the L.A. Times: "If you've ever watched the MTV Awards, you'd know that it's the most outrageous moments that become the buzz topic of the day. It's pretty obvious that the Oscars' lack of wild, unfettered humor is one key reason why the telecast's ratings have been in a prolonged downward spiral ... Once again, the academy has settled for timidity over some refreshing comic tumult."
  • Lighten Up!  Celebitchy: "That’s a shame as it would have added some obnoxious levity to the show."
  • How Thin-Skinned Is James Cameron? gripes Jamie Williams at iesb.net: "I could see this being funny. But Lord Cameron is said to be too up his own ass to be self-deprecating. Sorry, but you have a serious problem if you can’t make light of yourself - or your nearly $3 billion grossing movie. It's a joke, dude."
  • Don't Blame Cameron, Blame Hollywood, writes FilmDrunk: "Most people will pin this on Cameron, and that’d be a much easier joke for me, but the truth is, this is Hollywood... at its finest.  For every one time a star takes offense to having his balls busted, an assistant or publicist intercepts and gets offended on his behalf at least 1000 times."
This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.