SPACE INVASION

Eminem In On The Gag? Sacha Baron Cohen Better Hope So

I LIVE WITH SOMEONE FROM 16 MILE, A SHORT EIGHT MILES NORTH OF WHERE EMINEM GREW UP, and he surprised me this morning.

"What did they do to Eminem?," he asked. Spilling out in the sentences that followed were phrases like, "That was so wrong!," to "That demands retribution!," and "He's a rapper! You can't do that! He can't take that!" And even this! "He should be ready to do some time."

The "that," of course, was the stunt pulled during Sunday night's MTV Movie Awards when provocateur Sacha Baron Cohen alighted on Marshall Mathers head ass first.

The web was atwitter as to whether or not Eminem was in on the gag.

If it turns out that he had no clue, it also means means that producer Mark Burnett is a cunning conniver.

Just days before the show, Burnett said of Eminem, "I've never met him, I look forward to it. I'm a street guy from East London, he's a street guy," he said. "He just wants to do his thing, so we should give him the canvas to do his thing. We're just blessed to have him here — we're very grateful. I'm a huge Eminem fan, huge. To have him come back and do this in a big venue is exciting. And whatever happens is gonna happen." Crabby adds the emphasis here.

Sure Eminem has dished out his dose of venom, but the anger comes from a real place: he is the product of poverty and a fucked-up upbringing. He turned that anger into poetry delivered rat-tat-tat to music, becoming one of the most influential musicians of his time.

I have no doubt that Em can be a total dickhead. But do you diss him minutes after he brings his much-anticipated music to your TV show?

According to TV Guide's Matt Mitovich, 'Bruno's landing on Eminem was a "prearranged stunt. There's no way it was an accident," an industry insider tells the magazine. "You don't let two stars collide without a detailed plan."

Sure, Sacha Baron Cohen's a riot, a brilliant actor best known for punking the public. And I can't wait to catch his upcoming turn as Abby Hoffman in a Steven Spielberg movie about the Chicago Seven. That is, if this latest gag is indeed a hoax and he gets to see the day. WTF?