Eminem-Bruno MTV stunt ‘staged’

ACTOR Sacha Baron Cohen’s outrageous bare buttock landing in Eminem’s face at the MTV Movie Awards was a rehearsed stunt, one of the show’s writers says.

The controversial stunt involving the “Bruno” star was completely planned.

Another report, meanwhile, suggests the Detroit rapper wasn’t the first choice target of the British provocateur to promote his upcoming movie.

The victim was to have been celebrity heiress Paris Hilton, but she declined, Life and Style magazine says on its website.

Comedy-writing veteran Scott Aukerman wrote in a posting on his blog that the incident was staged and rehearsed in advance.

At last Sunday’s award show, Baron Cohen appeared in character as his gay Austrian fashionista Bruno.

He fell on top of Eminem after being suspended above the crowd. The rapper appeared to find little humour in the stunt and stormed out.

Speculation was rampant over what was and was not real. Baron Cohen, Eminem and MTV have yet to comment on it.

Mr Aukerman’s posting has since been removed. His manager did not immediately return a call.

The Eminem incident quickly became the most talked about highlight of a live two-hour television show that pushed the boundaries of taste.

Baron Cohen, clad in white feather wings and a jockstrap, swept from the air on a harness and landed face down in the lap of Eminem,

Aukerman, who worked with the show’s presenter Andy Samberg, wrote in a blog posting that “the Bruno/Eminem incident was staged.

“That’s all anyone wants to talk about, so let’s get it out of the way.

“They rehearsed it at dress [rehearsal] and yes, it went as far as it did on the live show then,” Aukerman wrote.