The campaign to cancel Ali G from cinemas, with AI
A UK-led digital campaign is pressuring cinema chains worldwide not to book Sacha Baron Cohen's Ali G: Who Iz I?, using NewsCord's platform to dispatch more than 36,000 protest emails after the trailer reignited racism claims. Despite headlines about a Picturehouse boycott, Variety reports no exhibitor has formally blocked the October 23 cinema release.
Key Takeaways
- NewsCord began emailing major cinema chains Wednesday on supporters' behalf, reporting 36,000-plus messages sent by Friday.
- Critics call Ali G an outdated racist caricature; defenders say the joke targets ignorant white cultural appropriation.
- Picturehouse's "no current plans" reply was a standard pre-booking response, not a confirmed boycott.
- Amazon MGM's mockumentary remains scheduled for an Oct. 23 cinema debut from Cohen's revived west Staines rudeboy.
Why is Ali G: Who Iz I? facing a cinema boycott?
The backlash accelerated after Amazon MGM dropped the first full trailer for Ali G: Who Iz I?, a mockumentary due in cinemas on Oct. 23. In clips, Cohen's character wears fake dreadlocks and a Rastafarian hat and jokes about wanting to be an "absent" father, prompting social media users to call the act outdated and racist.
On Wednesday, NewsCord — a UK news comparison and media monitoring platform — started urging cinemas around the world to refuse the film, emailing major chains with the request on behalf of those who register. The Guardian notes the film follows Ali G pranking real people across a year in the US, including retired US Army general Stewart Rodeheaver.
How is NewsCord using technology to target cinemas?
The Telegraph framed the push as a campaign to "cancel Ali G… with AI," highlighting how NewsCord's digital infrastructure lets users trigger individualized messages straight to theater booking departments at scale. As of Friday, the platform claimed more than 36,000 emails had been sent.
The campaign accuses Cohen of using satire as a "cover for enforcing racist stereotypes," citing a 2000 newspaper report in which Black British comedians called Ali G an "alibi for racism." Comedian Felix Dexter argued the character "allows the liberal middle classes to laugh at Black street culture." Writer Jeanette Winterson asked what separated Ali G from the Black and White Minstrels.
Did Picturehouse Cinemas really cancel Ali G?
NewsCord promoted a reply from Picturehouse stating, "We currently do not have any plans to screen this film on its release," presenting it as proof the chain would not show the title. Variety understands that email was a routine customer-service answer for any release not yet booked, with no final decision made about Ali G: Who Iz I?
Phil Clapp, head of the UK Cinema Association, told Variety that cinemas "are not there to act as censors or arbiters of public taste," adding that once the BBFC certifies a film, chains choose titles based on audience demand. For more theatrical controversies, see our Streaming & TV Alerts hub.
What happens next for Cohen's Ali G return?
Cohen created Ali G in 1998 on Channel 4's The 11 O'Clock Show as a dim-witted white man imitating urban British hip-hop and Jamaican culture. The Guardian reports Who Iz I? is only the character's second feature after 2002's Ali G Indahouse, following Borat's 2020 sequel.
In a new Substack post, broadcaster Afua Hirsch wrote that Baron Cohen's "so-called 'humor' is a crude compound" of outdated stereotypes. Cohen appeared to anticipate blowback anyway, posting alongside the trailer: "In an age when a single comedian's career can be ended by a single un-PC joke, I thought I'd play it safe and bring this guy back." The film has also drawn enthusiasm from Kevin Durant and A$AP Rocky.