Ryan Seacrest Sacha Baron Cohen Oscar Prank: TV Host Responds To Urn Gag

It was the red carpet prank heard 'round the 84th annual Academy Awards: Sacha Baron Cohen -- dressed as Admiral General Aladeen, his character from the upcoming comedy "The Dictator" -- spilled an urn filled with "Kim Jong-il's ashes" all over E! red-carpet host Ryan Seacrest before the Oscar ceremony on Sunday night.

Cohen-as-Aladeen joked that it was Kim Jong-il's "dream to come to the Oscars and to be sprinkled over the red carpet and over Halle Berry's chest.” Of course, Cohen's gag was already dated by the time he arrived on the red carpet; Berry had to bow out of her presenter duties at the last minute because of an injury.

As for Seacrest, the normally unflappable host seemed slight perturbed that he wound up being the butt of Cohen's long-planned Oscar prank. After Cohen was whisked away by security, Seacrest told Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith that the ashes were some form of powdered pancake mix.

"My mom always told me to pack two jackets for red carpets, always wondered why. Now I know," Seacrest wrote on Twitter, before later adding, "A lot of people hitting up afterparties tonight...me? I'm hosting a pancake breakfast tomorrow."

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