Sacha Baron Cohen's reappearance in character as Ali G at Wimbledon has drawn sharp criticism, with commentators branding the move 'pathetic' and 'out of touch'. The 54-year-old comedian wore a white tracksuit to the tennis tournament, marking his first public outing as the character in nearly two decades, ahead of a reportedly completed new Ali G film.
Ali G's Return Sparks Backlash
Asyia Iftikhar, senior TV reporter, described the sight as 'wince-inducing' and argued that the persona, first launched in 1998, has worn thin. 'Seeing a 54-year-old man sweating in a tracksuit trying to reclaim the glory days of his comedy career with a tired persona that screams outdated is truly a wince-inducing sight,' she wrote. Some social media users echoed the sentiment, calling the return 'bleak' as Baron Cohen declared, 'I iz back.'
Ali G was retired in 2007, making this revival almost two decades later. The character originally satirised upper-middle-class white kids mimicking street culture and famously interviewed a young Jacob Rees-Mogg and a pre-presidency Donald Trump in 2003, where Baron Cohen pitched drip-proof ice cream gloves.
Criticism of Baron Cohen's Humour
Critics have long taken issue with Baron Cohen's other personas, including Borat, Bruno, and The Dictator. Iftikhar argued that characters like Borat, which caricatures Kazakh culture as misogynistic and antisemitic, and The Dictator, which leans on North African stereotypes, 'punch down' rather than up. 'A joke that worked in the homophobic landscape of the early 00s but not so much now,' she said of Bruno, his flamboyant gay fashion reporter.
Baron Cohen's 2005 film Ali G Indahouse faced protests over racial discrimination and was criticised for homophobic panic and two-dimensional female characters. Iftikhar noted that the film's soundtrack featured a novelty rap with Shaggy, calling it 'never going to be groundbreaking.'
Mixed Legacy and Recent Work
Despite three Oscar nominations for dramatic roles, Baron Cohen's comedy has been polarising. His 2024 Netflix film Ladies First, while not written by him, was deemed 'cringeworthy tosh' by critics. However, his 2018 series Who Is America was praised for exposing right-wing hypocrisy, though Iftikhar said it 'didn't necessarily shed light on anything new.'
The Ali G revival at Wimbledon, which included the character pretending to sell weed, was described as 'a serious double fault from a man old enough to know better.' Iftikhar concluded that 'those late 90s comic creations should stay in the past.'
