During a rare interview in which chameleonic prankster Sacha Baron Cohen answered questions without retreating into one of his ego-protecting characters (apparently, the marketing team for Sweeney Todd felt that conducting junket appearances as singing, enormously beschlonged barber Adolfo Pirelli wasn't the way to go for their film), Cohen confirmed that he has no choice but to kill off both Ali G and Borat, the alter-egos he used to torment scores of clueless politicians, intolerant frat boys and litigious driving instructors. Laments Cohen about the old friends he now must sacrifice upon the altar of success:

Sacha Baron Cohen's comic creation Borat is perhaps Kazakhstan's most influential cultural ambassador, which is precisely the problem. Travelling the world with an unseen camera man, Borat is known for enthusiastically proffering phony pellets of cultural exchange ("In Kazhakstan we have many hobbies: disco dancing, archery, rape and table tennis...").

· StallionMania is not without its dark side. We can't approve of Butterscotch Stallion cybersquatting.
· If you've been looking for someone to blame for why Lindsay Lohan and Nicole Richie look so much alike (other than "puberty," but we're not talking about their bodies right now), her name is Rachel Zoe.
· Seeing Christopher Walken in Wedding Crashers reminded us of the time that he trounced us in a very memorable staring contest. (Self-linkage alert!)
· Fez is becoming a superhero. It's not entirely clear what his powers are, aside from an inexplicable ability to pork young actresses with obvious self-esteem problems.
· Why do we get the feeling that Sascha Baron Cohen was somehow provoked before going apeshit on a NY Daily News photographer?

Ali G, the British mock-gangsta who hit HBO at the weekend, is getting mixed reviews from TV critics. He may have gone too far with a gag confusing 911, the day, with 711, the convenience store.
Is it cos I is British? [Guardian]

Ali G, the whiteboy wannabe gangsta who has taken over British television with his spoof interviews of public figures, lands this Friday on HBO with a US show. Ali G is actually Sacha Baron Cohen, a nice Jewish boy from North London, whom Gawker's publisher knew when he did a bad stand-up act at the House on the Hill in Hampstead.