Baron Cohen demands fee for charity gig

Ali G creator Sacha Baron Cohen has been accused of greed after demanding £25,000 for a charity appearance.

The Eyecare Trust wanted the spoof homeboy to turn up to an awards ceremony to claim the title of Spec Wearer Of Year.

But his manager demanded the fee, which would have worked out at around £1,250 a minute.

Hear'Say's Suzanne Shaw collected her award for free.

Eyecare Trust spokesman Adrian Knowles told the Sunday People: "We just couldn't believe what we heard.

"All we wanted him to do was to come in, receive the award, say a couple of words about how cool his shades are, and go.

"When you ask for somebody to do something for charity, you don't expect that kind of reply. I'd rather he said 'my diary's absolutely full'."

Nicholas Parsons compered the ceremony in London last week.

Published: 4 Nov 2001