Sacha Baron Cohen was one of the few presenters to get booed at the Golden Globes last night. The only other one that came close was Ricky Gervais and his funny Holocaust joke, which could have been a disaster, but Gervais pulled it off with aplomb (Gervais said to Kate Winslet, “I told you to do a Holocaust movie,” which he did during her appearance on “Extras”) Unfortunately, Cohen dissed an even more untouchable force in Hollywood – Madonna.

Cohen started the joke by talking about the recession, and how it was affecting celebrities. First he said, “This recession is affecting everyone, even celebrities. Victoria Beckham hasn’t eaten for three weeks. Charlie Sheen has been forced to have sex without paying for it. It’s true.” Then Cohen continued, “And even Madonna has had to get rid of one of her personal assistants. Our heart goes out to you, Guy Ritchie.” This is not the first time Madonna has been the (grisly) butt of Cohen’s jokes. Early reports from Cohen’s film Bruno show that Cohen’s character adopts an African orphan named David.

Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, best known for his character Borat, was booed at the Golden Globes last night for cracking wise about Madonna.

Before presenting the award for Best Comedy Film, he was commenting about the recession when he said that even the superstar had been impacted: “Madonna has had to get rid of one of her personal assistants,” he said. “Our heart goes out to you, Guy Ritchie.”

The room, filled with celebs — many of whom have been in the Madonna/Ritchie situation — jeered the comic.

[From Radar Online]

I actually lol’d at Cohen’s jokes, and from the cutaways, I think most people laughed with some discomfort. In a weird cutaway moment, the camera went to Sandra Bullock, who laughed with embarrassment. Cohen’s really trying hard to get on Madonna’s hit list, though. I’m starting to wonder if there’s some sort of private beef they have with each other, considering they were once “friends”.

Thanks to the Huffington Post for the heads up on this story.