Watch a trailer for Bruno the movie

When Sacha Baron Cohen appears flying through the air in a harness, dressed in nothing but a pair of feathery white angel wings and a gold jockstrap, you know trouble is just around the corner.

But not even the most prank-friendly, diehard MTV fans could have anticipated what was to happen next when the outrageous British comedian flew across the auditorium and “accidentally” crash-landed face down — and bare, waxed, bottom up — into the lap of the American rapper Eminem at an awards ceremony overnight.

“Is the real Slim Shady about to stand up?” said Baron Cohen, grinning as he mimicked lyrics from Eminem’s hit rap song The Real Slim Shady, just before he fell into the audience during the live telecast of the MTV Movie Awards in Los Angeles.

The rapper, who had just performed a medley of his singles, was not too amused, screaming an expletive and imploring his burly bodyguards to get the gangly, semi-naked Briton, off of him.

Eminem screamed: “Get this [expletive] off me” and turned his face away in disgust, before storming off — with microphone on and cameras rolling — followed by his entourage, in the direction of the exits.

Baron Cohen's descent to the audience was included in rehearsals, but the rapper was absent during that part of the run-through.

Both the comedian and the rapper have things to publicise – Eminem has just released an album, while Baron Cohen’s new movie Bruno — a mockumentary about a flamboyant Austrian fashionista — is due for release in July.

Baron Cohen's publicist, Matthew Labov, had no comment after the show. MTV would not confirm whether Eminem was caught by surprise, and representatives for the rapper did not immediately return requests for comment.

Scripted or not, the stunt is bound, yet again, to put Baron Cohen – who was in character as Bruno, his new alter-ego — back in the spotlight in America, where he is seen as a controversial prankster.

The stunt brought the house down as it occurred on live TV during the irreverent awards, where Baron Cohen appeared as a presenter to promote his new movie. "This is very exciting TV," MTV awards host Andy Samberg ad-libbed as the audience guffawed.

"I enjoyed his [Cohen’s] precision landing," the actor and comedian Ben Stiller said backstage. "I did not see that coming."

Baron Cohen — who earlier strutted the red carpet (in character, of course) in a skin-tight leopard print leotard and matching boots — is best known for his other comedic characters Ali G and Borat, the bumbling, hairy reporter from Kazakhstan who is fond of fluorescent green "mankinis". He played both characters on TV and in subsequent feature films that proved enormously popular.

The MTV awards are driven by fans, who nominate and vote for their favourite movie stars through online polls. The winners receive a golden popcorn statuette.

The British director Danny Boyle’s film Slumdog Millionaire, which won a leading eight Oscars in February, went into this year’s MTV Movie Awards with six nominations, but came away empty handed.

The awards were dominated by the mainstream teen vampire movie Twilight, which has taken more than $382 million worldwide and has turned Robert Pattinson, its British star, from an unknown into an international heartthrob.

The film was named best movie last night while Pattinson won three popcorn statues, including best fight scene and best kiss with his co-star Kristen Stewart.

The late Australian actor Heath Ledger was named best villain for his Oscar-winning turn as the Joker in the Batman film The Dark Knight; the American Disney stars Zac Efron and Ashley Tisdale, of the money-spinning franchise High School Musical, won best male performance and best female breakthrough performance respectively. Disney’s Miley Cyrus picked up the award for best song for The Climb from Hannah Montana: The Movie.

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