STAGE TUBE: Sacha Baron Cohen Responds to 'Oscar Banning' on TODAY

Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen phoned in to the TODAY show this morning, disguised as Admiral General Aladeen, the character of his upcoming film, 'The Dictator', and responded to the Academy Awards' threat to keep him from attending Sunday night's event if he showed up on the red carpet in character.

Said Cohen, "I have been very busy today. I actually delayed 30 executions to do this (interview)... Normally I would be impressed by an act of cowardice by a faceless regime. But this is personal. I have issued them an ultimatum: They have until midday on Sunday to give me my tickets back. If they do not, they will see and face unforeseen and unimaginable consequences. By the way, how is your family? ... How is your eunuch Al Roker?"

Yesterday, an Oscar representative commented, "He's (Cohen) still invited. We would love for him to come. We have expressed that we don't feel it's appropriate to use our Oscar red carpet as a venue for a movie promotional stunt." When questioned what the consequences would be if Cohen disobeyed the warning, the rep simply responded, "We'll have to cross that bridge when we get to that."

THE DICTATOR is coming to theaters on May 11, 2012 from Paramount Pictures. The film follows the heroic story of a dictator who risked his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed.

Larry Charles, who previously directed Baron Cohen's mockumentaries Borat and Brüno, will also direct the film. Baron Cohen will star alongside Ben Kingsley and Anna Faris. The film is said to be inspired by the novel Zabibah and the King by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

The British comedian is best known for his 2007 hit, "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" in which he convinced Americans that he was an antisemitic journalist from Kazakhstan.

To view Sacha Baron Cohen's appearance on this morning's TODAY, click below!