Oscars Controversy Stirs Over Sacha Baron Cohen & Possible Red Carpet Stunt

The Oscars countdown has begun and in an interesting twist, talk today centers around Sacha Baron Cohen! The comedian also known for his roles in the movies Borat and Bruno has not been banned from attending the Academy Awards, as Internet rumors have stated.

VIDEO: THE DICTATOR TRAILER FEATURES SACHA BARON COHEN & A KARDASHIAN JOKEHere's the scoop: Reports emerged last night that the actor was planning on attending Hollywood's "it" night of the year dressed up as the title character in his upcoming movie, The Dictator. The concept isn't totally far-fetched for Sacha, since he arrived at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2006 dressed up as his TV journalist alter ego, Borat. Then in 2009, he attended the MTV VMA's dressed up as Austrian fashionista, Bruno.He stars in Hugo, which was nominated for 11 Oscars but a spokesperson for the Academy Awards told The Hollywood Reporter, "We haven't banned him. We're just waiting to hear what he's going to do."OK! NEWS: OLIVE FISHES FOR KISSES FROM ISLA FISHERActually, the Academy notified his reps as well as reps for Paramount Pictures (the studio for Hugo and The Dictator) that they want to know what he has up his sleeve. The spokesperson said the Academy doesn't think it's appropriate for him to hijack the red carpet as a publicity stunt. She pointed out, "But his tickets haven't been pulled. We're waiting to hear back."The Academy takes these things very seriously — they specifically exclude studio-specific movie promotion for upcoming movies during the telecast and only recently permitted ads to air for movies during commercial breaks. That said, it'll be interesting to see if he dresses up in character or not!What do you think — should Sacha be a rebel?