How Pro-Palestine Activists Attempted to Ignite a Boycott of Sacha Baron Cohen’s Ali G Sequel

The campaign against the film, which included AI-fueled mass mailings to pressure exhibitors, was run by a group with ties to other efforts against Disney for employing the Israeli actresses Gal Gadot and Shira Haas. How Pro-Palestine activists attempted to ignite a boycott of Sacha Baron Cohen’s Ali G sequel. One of the most intriguing things about Sacha Baron Cohen’s satirical sequel Ali G: Who Iz I? — out in limited theatrical release, to mixed reviews, and now streaming on Amazon Prime Video — occurred off-screen. The film’s first trailer debut on Aug. 25 triggered plenty of online backlash about the iconic character, which has long functioned as a Rorschach test. The British commentator Afua Hirsch argued, “Black people don’t dress like that anymore.

Even white people imitating Black people don’t talk like that anymore. Sexualizing black women and casually mocking working class women is not accepted anymore. Baron Cohen’s so-called ‘humor’ is a crude compound of all these things.” Cohen anticipated the outcry, reposting the trailer with the observation, “In an age where a comedian’s career can be ended by a single un-PC joke, I thought I’d play it safe and bring this guy back.” Then, after the fallout amplified, he posted a promotional clip of a progressive academic character from “the Campaign for Ethical Comedy,” also played by