Stiller, Carell, Bateman, Fey, Cohen Tapped as Oscar Presenters (Updated)

Ben Stiller at 2009 Oscars

Variety is reporting that Ben Stiller, Steve Carell, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jason Bateman, and Tina Fey will be presenters for Sunday’s Academy Awards. ABC will air the ceremony live beginning at 5 p.m. Eastern.

Stiller is a frequent Oscar presenter, as this Sunday’s appearance will be his sixth. Carell has appeared three times previously and will likely be paired with Date Night costar Fey who also appeared last year. Baron Cohen and Bateman are making their first appearances on Oscarcast.

Update - March 3

Reports today indicate the Avatar related sketch featuring Stiller and Cohen has been cut from the broadcast. The sketch was viewed as potentially insulting to Oscar-nominated Director James Cameron.

Our insider informs us that Baron Cohen planned to appear onstage as a blue-skinned, female Na’vi, with Stiller translating “her” interplanetary speech. As the skit went on, though, it would become clear that Stiller wasn’t translating properly, because Cohen would grow ever more upset. At its climax, an infuriated Baron Cohen would pull open “her” evening gown to reveal that s/he was pregnant, knocked up with Cameron’s love child, and would go on to confront her baby daddy as if s/he were on Jerry Springer.

This is a shocking, sad turn of events. Considering that Stiller skewered Joaquin Phoenix last year, the satirical combination of Stiller and Cohen should not be a surprise to anyone, including the show’s producers. Then again, you’d like Cameron would be cool with the guy who promoted his movie on the Tonight Show for no reason.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 1st, 2010 at 12:17 pm and is filed under Academy Awards, Ben Stiller, Jason Bateman, Sacha Baron Cohen, Steve Carell, Tina Fey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.