MTV Eminem stunt 'was rehearsed'

Sacha Baron Cohen's stunt at the MTV Movie Awards, which saw him land on Eminem while baring his naked backside, was pre-arranged, a writer has said.

The rap star was seen storming out of the ceremony after Cohen's alter-ego Bruno landed on him in a skimpy outfit.

But Scott Aukerman, head writer for the awards, wrote on his blog the incident was staged and rehearsed in advance.

"They rehearsed it at dress and yes, it went as far as it did on the live show," he said.

Baron Cohen flew in to the Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles on a wire before apparently colliding with an obstacle and spinning down to the audience.

Speculation had been rampant over whether the stunt was staged, there was no comment from Baron Cohen, Eminem or MTV.

"Yes, the Bruno/Eminem incident was staged. That's all anyone wants to talk about, so let's get it out of the way," Aukerman wrote.

The article was later removed from his blog.

Twilight win

In the posting, he also revealed the pitfalls of writing for an internationally-televised award show - and admitted that several sketches got cut.

"We tried several things, from topical jokes to sketches," he wrote.

"Anything that didn't involve pointing out a celebrity or saying a curse word fell completely flat during rehearsals. Subtlety just does not work during that show."

Aukerman also revealed that he and the other writers only received "a few hundred dollars" for their efforts.

At the ceremony, held at the Gibson Amphitheatre near Los Angeles, Vampire drama Twilight won five trophies, including best film, best actress from Kristen Stewart and best male breakthrough performance for Robert Pattinson.