Ryan Seacrest 'Didn't Know' About Baron Cohen Stunt

E! presenter Ryan Seacrest has insisted that he had no idea that Sacha Baron Cohen would cause havoc on the red carpet of The Oscars on Sunday night (26th February) by throwing an urn of 'ashes' over him.

Baron Cohen was being interviewed in character as 'General Aladeen' - from his forthcoming film Dictator - while accompanied by two female 'bodyguards' and carrying a golden urn.

He told Seacrest:

"These are the ashes of my good friend Kim Jong-Il and it was his dream to come to the Oscars and be scattered on the red carpet and on Halle Berry's chest."

The actor then proceeded to tip the urn and its 'ashes' all over Seacrest's smart tuxedo, leaving the American Idol host appearing shocked and stunned to be covered in the mystery white powder.

Talking on his KIIS-FM show following the incident, Seacrest revealed that he became suspicious of Cohen since their interview was going "too normally".

"I definitely did not know that he was going to do that," he explained. "He comes over, and I asked him a couple of questions, but, you know that feeling in your gut. You feel like, 'This is going too normally'.

"I saw the urn coming up. It was getting closer to my chest, and then it tipped over, and it wasn't the wind. He spilt it on my tuxedo."

Fortunately Seacrest had listened to advice from his mother, who had told him to "always make sure to bring two jackets, because you never know what's going to happen".

Before the awards, show producer Brain Grazer had denied reports that Baron Cohen had been banned from the ceremony, stating he was "thrilled" to have him attend The Oscars.

Grazer added: "We absolutely respect him as an artist and he's allowed to come. He's part of the show."

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