Sacha Baron Cohen Pranks Ryan Seacrest With 'Cremated Remains'
Ryan Seacrest, the Academy Award's red carpet host for E! Live, drew star attention when Sacha Baron Cohen decided to attack him with his friend's "cremated remains."
The "Borat" actor was warned that any comedic stunt would get him kicked off the red carpet. The warning however, did not deter Cohen from showing up as "The Dictator" in full costumes, with the "ashes" of Kim Jong-il in tote. The actor stopped, with sunglasses covering his eyes, to answer a few of Ryan Seacrest's questions.
First Seacrest asked Cohen what designer he was wearing. The comedian responded that he was wearing John Milano, adding that his socks were K-Mart.
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"As Sadam Hussein once said to me, 'socks are socks don't waste money,'" Cohen said. Seacrest played along with the jaunt at first, asking the cameras to take a close up of Cohen's socks.
The moment seemed to pass over fine, and then Cohen decided to pull his prank.
Cohen said the ashes were the remains of his friend and tennis partner Kim Jong-il, and his intentions were to pour them on the red carpet and Halle Berry. At that point Cohen looked at the bottom of the jar, "accidentally" tipping it over and spilling it all over Seacrest.
Security flanked both sides of Cohen and quickly pushed him along, although Cohen continued to try and throw the dust on Seacrest.
Seacrest reacted with a smile, albeit a glimmer of annoyance. The host handled the moment well, according to most Twitter users, despite the fact that he seemed to suffer from a moment of frustration.
Viewers also took to Twitter with a mixed reaction over the prank. In a Hollywood Reporter Poll, 32 percent of Twitter users voted that the stunt was "so not funny" with 57 percent suggesting that it was "hilarious."
Another 12 percent admitted that it was funny although very rude.
"This wasn't funny and for once I felt badly for Ryan Seacrest - he actually handled the situation better than I would have," GreyGoose125 wrote on the Hollywood blog.
Others were not as supportive of Seacrest.
"It was the highlight of an otherwise safe, very boring night. I'm sure Ryan Seacrest cried and cried and blew his nose into a wad of hundred dollar bills for someone having the gall to have a bit of fun with his self-satisfied interviewing act. Maybe Sasha should host next year?" SwedishLore15 wrote.
