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If Ali G Were Created in 2026, What Would He Be Doing?

Dreading the new film? Just count yourselves lucky Sacha Baron Cohen wasn’t coming up during the Kick era. 

By Adam Christopher Smith

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Welcome to LOST WEEKEND, VICE’s hungover news briefing.

It’s hard to say what exactly it is about our current cultural moment that possessed multi-millionaire comedian Sacha Baron Cohen to resurrect Ali G’s lifeless body rather than letting him rest in power.

Unfortunately, the Anti-Defamation League’s favorite satirist has now decided this is the perfect point to bring back the durag and bling; I guess he felt enough time had passed since Woke 1.0, when this sort of behavior might have resulted in a congressional hearing.

On his emergence in 1998, this satirical creation—an aspiring rapper from suburban England—had important things to say about the nature of identity in an increasingly globalized world, like FUBU is ugly, and what if cannabis. Now, 28 years on, it appears that he, like everyone else, has got nothing better to talk about than Sydney Sweeney’s breasts.

Sacha Baron Cohen’s Ali G on the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger: “The only merger that’s happening tonight is me and Sydney Sweeney’s babylons.” pic.twitter.com/r23NO3zh7r— Variety (@Variety) October 15, 2026

Sacha Baron Cohen’s Ali G on the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger: “The only merger that’s happening tonight is me and Sydney Sweeney’s babylons.” pic.twitter.com/r23NO3zh7r

Watching the trailers for Ali G: Who Iz I?, you’d be forgiven for thinking the original purpose of this comedy character was to ridicule MAGA America, when in fact the target of mockery was poor people in general—but don’t worry, it’s done with enough irony to keep the Democrats happy, though I’m not sure anyone else will........

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