Sacha Baron Cohen sat down with Howard Stern on SiriusXM's The Howard Stern Show on October 19, 2026, to talk about Ali G: Who Iz I?, his first Ali G film in more than two decades. The interview comes just four days before the movie opens in theaters on October 23, 2026, capping a whirlwind press run that has already included a 60 Minutes profile, a world premiere in Los Angeles, and a fresh round of controversy over the character's return.
The film, from Amazon MGM Studios, marks Cohen's feature directorial debut and brings back the fictional west Staines rapper-journalist he first created in 1998. Cohen announced the project in July 2026, after attending Wimbledon dressed as Ali G and claiming to be the tournament's official "weed dealer," then confirmed the title and release date in an Instagram video in which he said, in character: "Dey haz finally made a documentary about me."
What Ali G: Who Iz I? is about
According to Amazon MGM Studios' official synopsis, Ali G returns after twenty years spent "chillin', tokin' and bonin'" and is shocked to discover that his long-term girlfriend, Julie, is eight months pregnant. Faced with an extra mouth to feed, he gets off his backside and heads to America to reclaim his former glory, but soon encounters adversaries who threaten his and his child's very existence. Comedian Morgana Robinson plays Julie, the role originally portrayed by Kellie Bright in 2002's Ali G Indahouse.
The film revives the undercover method Cohen perfected with Borat and Brüno: a loose story, a character in the wild, and real people who have no idea the man interviewing them is an Oscar-nominated actor running a bit. Reports say the movie was filmed in secret over roughly a year, and the trailer shows pranks involving real unsuspecting subjects, including retired US Army general Stewart Rodeheaver, who appears as himself.
Why Cohen brought Ali G back now
Cohen retired Ali G in 2007, saying the character had become too famous to fool anyone. On the press tour he has said the new project is designed to expose extremism at both ends of the political spectrum, and that he wants audiences to laugh hard while also examining conspiracies and lies. "My dream was 'Could I make one classic comedy?' And I felt like with Borat, I was like, 'I did it.' You know, so anything else is really gravy. And yeah, I feel very, very lucky," he said in a recent interview.
The comeback has not been quiet. The world premiere at the Hollywood Legion Theater in Los Angeles on October 14 drew headlines when Cohen, in character, answered a question about a proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. merger by joking about Sydney Sweeney: "The only merger that's happening tonight is me and Sydney Sweeney's babylons." The remark drew criticism online, with some viewers saying the character's humor has not evolved. A UK campaign has also urged cinema chains to reconsider screening the film, arguing the character relies on outdated stereotypes.
Two decades since Ali G Indahouse
Ali G first appeared on Channel 4's The 11 O'Clock Show in 1998 before landing his own series, Da Ali G Show, which ran for three seasons from 2000 to 2004 and later aired on HBO in the United States. The show made Cohen's name with its deadpan prank interviews of politicians and celebrities, and introduced the characters who would become Borat and Brüno. His only previous Ali G film, Ali G Indahouse, arrived in 2002 and generated more than £17 million at the UK box office despite mixed reviews.
In a promotional clip released by Variety on October 15, Ali G weighed in on Donald Trump, recalling that he once pitched the president an "ice cream glove" business idea and claiming Trump pretended he was not interested: "Next thing I know, he's a billionaire."
Ali G: Who Iz I? opens exclusively in theaters on October 23, 2026.
Watch: the official Ali G: Who Iz I? trailer from Amazon MGM Studios
Music in this post's reel: Kevin MacLeod - Silly Fun (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0