Sacha Baron Cohen not Banned from Oscars: Academy

Sacha Baron Cohen, British stand-up comedian and actor, has not been barred from attending the 84th Academy Awards on Sunday, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

According to reports, the actor has been told not to attend the Academy Awards if he plans to dress up like his character in his new film The Dictator.

The Hollywood Reporter Tuesday reported that the star, invited to attend the Oscars as a cast member of best picture nominee Hugo, was thinking of arriving at the event dressed up as his Dictator character, a crass totalitarian leader hell-bent on keeping democracy out of his country.

According to an Academy spokesman, the Borat star is allowed to attend the event, but it was not appropriate to use Oscar's red carpet to promote his upcoming movie.

We haven't banned him. We're just waiting to hear what he's going to do, an Academy spokesman told THR.

However, Cohen spokesperson was not available for comment.

Cohen, whose The Dictator film is set to release in May, has a history of using award shows and other events to promote his movies.

In 2006, to promote his movie Borat, Cohen arrived at the Toronto International Film Festival dressed up as a TV journalist.

In 2009, he arrived at MTV Video Music Awards as a gay fashionista to promote his movie Bruno.