Category Archives: Sacha Baron Cohen

Critics Pull No Punches As Sacha Baron Cohen’s ‘Dated’ New Comedy Arrives On Netflix

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When the trailer for the new Netflix comedy film Ladies First dropped, it quickly raised eyebrows, with some critics going as far as calling it “the worst movie trailer” the had “ever seen”.

And let’s just say the response isn’t any better now that the film has landed on streaming services, with a smattering of one- and two-star reviews.

Ladies First stars Sacha Baron Cohen as a chauvinistic CEO whose life is upended when he wakes up in a parallel world dominated by women.

Despite an all-star cast which includes Rosamund Pike, Fiona Shaw, Charles Dance and Emily Mortimer, the film is getting negative reviews across the board.

Critics are calling out the film’s subpar jokes, borderline-offensive gender politics and misuse of its talented British cast.

Here is what people are saying about Ladies First…

“In its attempt to become a one-stop shop for just about every form of nostalgia possible, Netflix has now decided to revive the dreadful British comedy of the 2000s.

The all-deciding algorithm has somehow deemed it necessary for a return to that cursed era with the release of Ladies First, a broad and chintzy new comedy that would have felt old hat even back then.

“It’s an excruciatingly unfunny high-concept thought experiment, imagining a world with flipped gender politics, that’s far too happy with itself and what it’s allegedly achieving to be passed off as just some charming throwback.”

“This a film that attempts to wring side-splitting laughter from the wacky, dystopian sight of, ho-ho, women taxi drivers, women paramedics and women changing tyres. Plus, equally hilarious are the scenes featuring, snicker snicker, men cooking, men hugging and men being interested in their children. Finger off the pulse? Just a bit.”

Critics definitely aren't laughing at Sacha Baron Cohen's new comedy
Critics definitely aren’t laughing at Sacha Baron Cohen’s new comedy

Rob Youngson/Netflix

“A dated battle-of-the-sexes comedy […] at a time when laws change daily to restrict women’s bodily autonomy, protect men from accountability and reinstate antiquated values that benefit a few at the expense of the many, sexual politics can feel more regressive than ever.

“But as uneven a playing field as women may face against men in their lives, relationships and careers, Ladies First is a movie that seems like it’s made less for this moment than one a few generations ago.”

“This comic tale of an arrogant, sexist male executive who gets his comeuppance when he hits his head and wakes up to find himself in a world dominated by women hits every satirical note you’d expect but provides more knowing chuckles than genuine laughs.

“An almost ridiculously overqualified cast of notable British thespians does their best to elevate the material of this Netflix comedy directed by Thea Sharrock but it’s heavy lifting.”

“The easy feminism of winks and role reversals quickly wears thin. Most of the movie takes place in Damien’s head after all, and much of its lessons are about his growth. Why does that sound so familiar?”

We're not sure what's happening in this scene from Ladies First and we're not sure we want to know
We’re not sure what’s happening in this scene from Ladies First and we’re not sure we want to know

“Sacha Baron Cohen is knocked unconscious early in Netflix comedy Ladies First, a film that only sometimes makes you wish the same for yourself.”

“Men and women both will find a number of alarming concepts in the gender-flipping comedy Ladies First not the least of which will be the idea of Sacha Baron Cohen as a romantic lead.

“He’s a terrific actor. Whether he has the animal magnetism to play opposite Rosamund Pike (who does?) strains credulity. But so does most of the movie.”

Ladies First is now streaming on Netflix.

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Sacha Baron Cohen Section Of Rebel Wilson’s Book To Be Censored In UK Edition

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The UK edition of Rebel Wilson’s new book will feature a censored version of her account of working with Sacha Baron Cohen.

Last month, the Pitch Perfect star made headlines when she posted a cryptic video on Instagram, in which she teased that a chapter of her new memoir Rebel Rising would see her speaking about an undisclosed “asshole” co-star.

She later named the actor in question as Sacha Baron Cohen, with whom she appeared in the 2016 comedy Grimsby.

At the time, a spokesperson for the Borat creator told HuffPost UK: “While we appreciate the importance of speaking out, these demonstrably false claims are directly contradicted by extensive detailed evidence, including contemporaneous documents, film footage, and eyewitness accounts from those present before, during and after the production…”

The Guardian has now reported that a chapter of Rebel’s book titled Sacha Baron Cohen And Other Assholes reads: “SBC summoned me via a production assistant saying that I was needed to film an additional scene. What followed was the worst experience of my professional life. An incident that left me feeling bullied, humiliated, and compromised.

“It can’t be printed here due to peculiarities of the law in England and Wales.”

According to the news outlet, the rest of the page is “blacked out”, as are select sentences in the remainder of the chapter.

UK publisher HarperCollins told The Guardian: “We are publishing every page, but for legal reasons, in the UK edition, we are redacting most of one page with some other small redactions and an explanatory note. Those sections are a very small part of a much bigger story.”

Meanwhile, Sacha’s representative said: “[HarperCollins] did not fact check this chapter in the book prior to publication and took the sensible but terribly belated step of deleting Rebel Wilson’s defamatory claims once presented with evidence that they were false.

“Printing falsehoods is against the law in the UK and Australia; this is not a ‘peculiarity’ as Ms Wilson said, but a legal principle that has existed for many hundreds of years.”

Sacha Baron Cohen
Sacha Baron Cohen

Michael Buckner via Getty Images

They added: “This is a clear victory for Sacha Baron Cohen and confirms what we said from the beginning – that this is demonstrably false, in a shameful and failed effort to sell books.”

Rebel recently told The Times she felt “disrespected” and “humiliated” on the set of Grimsby due to her appearance, claiming she felt “like I was something to be laughed at and degraded because of my size”, and that her character was “demeaned” in certain scenes.

The Times noted that Sacha had “refuted” his former co-star’s version of events.

Rebel first opened up about her working relationship with Sacha during a 2014 radio interview with KIIS FM.

Rebel and Sacha in Grimsby, which was released in 2016
Rebel and Sacha in Grimsby, which was released in 2016

Moviestore/Shutterstock

“Sacha is so outrageous,” she said at the time, as reported by Australia’s Courier Mail outlet.

“Every single day he’s like, ‘Rebel, can you just go naked in this scene?’ And I’m like, ‘No!’.”

She continued: “On the last day I thought I’d obviously won the argument and he got a body double to do the naked scene.

“Then in the last scene … he was like, ‘Rebel can you just stick your finger up my butt?’ And I went, ‘What do you mean Sacha? That’s not in the script.’

“And he’s like, ‘Look, I’ll just pull down my pants, you just stick your finger up my butt, it’ll be a really funny bit’.”

Rebel concluded: “You don’t wanna be a diva so I [said] I’ll slap you once on the butt and that’s it.”

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Rebel Wilson Opens Up About Working With Sacha Baron Cohen After ‘A*****e’ Jibe

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Rebel Wilson has reflected on her past work with Sacha Baron Cohen, which she has described as the “worst professional experience of my career”.

Last month, the Pitch Perfect star made headlines when she posted a video on Instagram, in which she referred to an undisclosed former co-star who she’d written about in her upcoming memoir Rebel Rising.

“I worked with a massive asshole, and yeah, now I definitely have a ‘no assholes’ policy,” she explained. “The chapter on said asshole is chapter 23. That guy was a massive asshole.”

In a follow-up Instagram story post shared a few days later, Rebel told her followers: “I will not be bullied or silenced by high priced lawyers or PR crisis managers. The ‘asshole’ that I am talking about in ONE CHAPTER of my book is: Sacha Baron Cohen.”

At the time, a spokesperson for Sacha – who worked with Rebel in the 2016 film Grimsby – told HuffPost UK: “While we appreciate the importance of speaking out, these demonstrably false claims are directly contradicted by extensive detailed evidence, including contemporaneous documents, film footage, and eyewitness accounts from those present before, during and after the production…”

Rebel reflected further on her work with Sacha in an interview with the Sunday Times published over the weekend.

“It’s one thing for someone who is fat to exploit their size for comedy, but it’s another for somebody else to humiliate you,” the Australian star claimed, saying she felt “disrespected” on set, particularly due to her character’s revealing outfits, but didn’t want to speak out in case she were to be labelled a “troublemaker”.

Rebel said she felt “like I was something to be laughed at and degraded because of my size”, noting her character was “demeaned” in certain scenes.

Rebel Wilson and Sacha Baron Cohen in Grimsby
Rebel Wilson and Sacha Baron Cohen in Grimsby

Moviestore/Shutterstock

According to the Times, Rebel later returned to sets for reshoots, to which she recalled: “The fact that I then went back… I felt ashamed of myself. Why do I have such low self-worth?”

In her book, the Times quotes her as saying: “I’m sharing my story now because the more women talk about things like this, hopefully the less it happens. And hopefully fewer women have to work harder just to respect themselves.”

The newspaper also writes that the Borat creator “refutes [Rebel’s] claims about her experiences on the set of Grimsby”.

Sacha Baron Cohen
Sacha Baron Cohen

Kevin Dietsch via Getty Images

Sacha Baron Cohen’s team reiterated his original statement when contacted for comment by HuffPost UK.

Rebel previously opened up about her working relationship with the Borat creator during a 2014 radio interview with KIIS FM.

“Sacha is so outrageous,” she said a decade ago, as reported by Australia’s Courier Mail outlet.

“Every single day he’s like, ‘Rebel, can you just go naked in this scene?’ And I’m like, ‘No!’.

“Sacha and I have the same agent in America and I’m like, ‘Sacha, I’m going to call our agent Sharon and tell her how much you are harassing me’.

“Every day he’s like, ’Just go naked, it will be funny. Remember in Borat when I did that naked scene? It was hilarious’.”

She continued: “On the last day I thought I’d obviously won the argument and he got a body double to do the naked scene.

“Then in the last scene … he was like, ‘Rebel can you just stick your finger up my butt?’ And I went, ‘What do you mean Sacha? That’s not in the script.’ “And he’s like, ‘Look, I’ll just pull down my pants, you just stick your finger up my butt, it’ll be a really funny bit’.”

Rebel concluded: “You don’t wanna be a diva so I [said] I’ll slap you once on the butt and that’s it.”

This article has been updated to include a response from Sacha Baron Cohen via his spokesperson.

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