Sacha Baron Cohen's characters Ali G and Borat characters would be banned from TV, a top executive has said.
The actor, who was born in Hammersmith to Jewish parents, was catapulted into the spotlight on Channel 4's The 11 O'Clock Show in 1998, when he debuted his Ali G character, a wannabe gangster from Staines.
After the segment was warmly received by critics, the self-described “voice of da yoof” landed his own show on the broadcaster titled Da Ali G Show, which aired from 2000 to 2004.
Over the course of the show's run, Baron Cohen as Ali G interviewed a wide range of hugely famous subjects including ex-US President Donald Trump, former Brexit Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg and Labour stalwart Tony Benn.
In Borat, the Baron Cohen pretended to be a reporter from Kazakhstan who travelled from his homeland to America to learn about US culture while pranking many along the way.
His antisemitic jibes landed him in hot water after the film's release, but the actor defended himself saying: "dramatic demonstration of how racism feeds on dumb conformity, as much as rabid bigotry."
Now, nearly 20 years after the release of the first Ali G show, Alf Lawrie, the head of factual entertainment at Channel 4, said the tightening of broadcasting regulations meant these types of shows were no longer allowed.
Sacha Baron Cohen playing the part of his comedy character "Borat" poses for a picture at a private airfield (Photo: Getty)
He said: “You can’t make Ali G, Borat or Brass Eye now because the rules have changed.
“You can’t hoodwink people on the same grand scale. TV has become a slightly more regulated environment than it was 20 years ago.
“When you were making Borat 20 years ago, you could pretend quite seriously that he was from Kazakhstan and until it aired people had no idea otherwise.
“These days you can’t mislead in the same way.”
He added: “We’re far more respectful of our contributors now than we used to be.
“But it means the nature of some satire has changed.”
The broadcast regulator Ofcom has tightened rules on contributor welfare, meaning shows where contributors are purposefully fooled are banned.
Participants have to be informed of the nature of a programme in advance.
Lawrie was speaking ahead of the Monday night airing of the Channel 4 mockumentary Greg Wallace: The British Miracle Meat.
The show addresses the fictional story which suggests human flesh is being engineered for human consumption amid the cost-of-living crisis.
