Sacha Baron Cohen’s Ali G has crashed the Hollywood merger conversation with a crude one-liner about Sydney Sweeney. The character, in full swagger, brushed aside the Paramount-Warner Bros. deal with a quip that is now spreading across social media.
Sacha Baron Cohen’s NSFW Sydney Sweeney joke steals the spotlight from WB’s merger
Asked about the corporate tie-up, Ali G ignored the boardroom talk. “The only merger that’s happening tonight is me and Sydney Swinger’s babylons,” he said. The line works the way most Ali G bits do.
He further added, “Mi dong and the babylons are gonna merge together. Respect.” The character plays a confident fool who drags a serious subject into shallowness. Sweeney, one of Hollywood’s most talked-about stars, becomes the punchline. The studio deal becomes the setup. Now, the joke is also getting more attention than the business story it mocks.
Sasha Baron Cohen created Ali G for television, and the character later gave him a breakout role. Cohen won two BAFTA Awards for Da Ali G Show, which ran from 2000 to 2004. He also accepted a 2012 British Comedy Awards honour in character as Ali G.
He has revived the persona before. He performed as Ali G at a surprise Sydney comedy club set, and attendees reportedly had to lock their phones in pouches. That secrecy makes a viral Ali G moment unusual.
The timing gives the joke extra bite. Paramount made its bid for Warner Bros. Discovery on February 27, putting the price near $110 billion. Skydance said on October 6 that the takeover was complete. Along the way, the deal faced scepticism from state attorneys general and a number of celebrities, even after shareholders backed it in April.
Meanwhile, Sacha Baron Cohen’s Ali G: Who Iz I? reaches cinemas on October 23 via Amazon MGM Studios. Cohen sits in the director’s chair for the first time.
