A campaign to block Ali G: Who Iz I? from theater screens was launched after the film's trailer was released, with over 40,000 emails sent to cinema chains around the world urging them not to show the film when it premieres October 23.
The effort originated on NewsCord, a UK watchdog site. According to Deadline, at least one theater chain has already responded. Picturehouse Cinemas said it is not planning to screen the film, and emails were sent to at least 15 other chains.
The campaign's core argument is that the Ali G character, created by Sacha Baron Cohen for Channel 4's The 11 O'Clock Show in 1998, is built on harmful racial stereotypes. The email campaign cited criticism going back decades. "Black British comedians called the character 'an alibi for racism' in 2000; Jeanette Winterson asked what separates it from the Black and White Minstrels; Kazakh and Arab organisations documented the harm of the catalogue behind it," the campaign reads. "The screens belong to the chains, and a booking is a choice."
On X, NewsCord elaborated on the specific concerns about the character. "Ali G is a cover to laugh at Jamaican culture. The character enforces harmful stereotypes of how a Jamaican man behaves in society," the group wrote. "Ali G smokes weed, is a misogynist, and does nothing meaningful in life. He does this because he thinks this is what a Jamaican does. The world laughs at Ali G. But the real butt of the joke are Black people and specifically Jamaicans."
Social media criticism extended beyond the organized campaign. One person called the character "a racist stereotype." Another wrote: "Good. I've loathed the racial overtones of Sasha Baron Cohen's 'Ali G' character for a long time. Over twenty years on, the world has caught-up. By now we should ALL recognise what is, at its core, 'black face' is past its sell-by date and unacceptable."
Some commenters pushed back, with one fan claiming the criticism was motivated by Cohen's Jewish identity. Others rejected that framing. "Nope the backlash is because Ali G the character is a racist creation. 'Is it cos I is black' is probably his best known catchphrase," one person responded.
Cohen built the character as a British suburbanite imitating urban, British Jamaican culture. After the Channel 4 and HBO sketch series Da Ali G Show ran from 2000 to 2004, and the 2002 Universal film Ali G Indahouse, Cohen retired the character in 2007. The Sony Pictures UK marketing for the new sequel carries the tagline "He iz back. We ain't liable."
NewsCord, which uses AI-enabled tools to organize email campaigns, has itself come under scrutiny. Some have questioned the legitimacy of the platform and noted that the pro-Palestine organization is targeting a film by a Jewish actor.
