Sacha Baron Cohen has gotten his Oscar tickets and is not banned from the show. However, his alter ego General Alladeen from The Dictator was banned and he is still causing some trouble.

This morning Cohen, as Alladeen, released a video statement about the whole episode. And it’s pretty danged funny. He starts off by calling the Academy the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Zionists (instead of Sciences), but says that he applauds the Academy for taking away his right to free speech.

He also took a shot at Hilary Swank, saying that he paid the Oscar-winning actress $2 million and that she won’t refund him. This, of course, is in reference to the actresses now infamous paid appearance at Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov’s birthday party. Cohen must be feeling quite happy at the moment, tons of free press and made some people laugh in the process. Also, he showed that the Academy doesn’t have a great sense of humor. I would say they don’t want anything to trump the Oscars, but whoops. [Deadline]

oscars, sacha baron cohen, the dictator