Don’t worry, the old lady isn’t actually dead… or old.
Sacha Baron Cohen, better known as the mastermind behind Borat and Ali G, stunned the audience at the BAFTA LA Britannia Awards on Saturday night after he appeared to kill a little old lady by accident.
Cohen won the Charlie Chaplin Britannia Award for Excellence in Comedy and was presented with what appeared to be Chaplin’s cane from the 1931 film City Lights by an old woman called Grace Cullington.
Grace Cullington supposedly worked with Charlie Chaplin as a child actor in the 1930s, and so after accepting his new gift from the octogenarian, Cohen decided to imitate Chaplin’s famous penguin waddle.
However, Cohen tripped up and knocked Grace’s wheelchair off the stage, ‘killing’ her in the process in true Chaplin style slapstick comedy. Thankfully, it was all a joke at the audience’s expense as the woman in the wheelchair was actually just a stuntwoman.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Cohen said: “Grace Cullington is the oldest, no, sorry, was the oldest surviving [Chaplin co-star].
“I dedicate my award to her. This is obviously a tragedy. She has upstaged me. But on the bright side, what a great way to go, giving an award to me. Thus, she’ll probably make the Oscars In Memoriam segment,” he said.
“I’d like to say a few words to her family: Do not try to sue me.
“If you decide to get the lawyers involved, I will take you down just like I did your granny. The cane that woman forced on me was clearly defective and I’ve got lots of witnesses. At least 400 in this room and at least 500 watching on TV. Anyway, tonight is not about her, it’s about me.”
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