Sacha Baron Cohen allegedly helped teach a crowd of unsuspecting straight men about the wonderful world of "rip n strip" wrestling last week, and they ... weren't very impressed.

In what was most likely a scene from his upcoming film Bruno, in which he plays a gay fashion designer, a near riot erupted when a cage fight called "Blue Collar Brawlin" turned decidedly homoerotic:

"Producers said "there would be a romantic embrace," (police Sgt. Adam) Holland said. "They said it was kind of to essentially make fun, poke fun at wrestling _ two guys rolling around on the floor, all sweaty."

An elaborate array of mounted and handheld video cameras caught the crowd of 1,600's reaction as the two men "went right up to the line" of the city's morality laws, Holland said. The two men stripped down to their underwear, kissed and rubbed on each other, the sergeant said.

The audience, as well as local fighters drawn to take part in the show, became enraged. "It set the crowd off lobbing beers," Holland said. "They had beers in plastic cups. Those things can get some distance on them actually." Holland said it took officers about 45 minutes to clear the convention center, as the two actors sprinted away through a specially set-aside tunnel."

Priceless. I love how the cops says it went "right up to the line" of the morality laws ... I wonder what would be "crossing the line", nipple tweaking?

Of course, this wouldn't be the first time that Sacha Baron Cohen has outraged people to get a reaction. That was the formula of his blockbuster breakthrough Borat, and if he is indeed behind the prank, it looks like he's continuing it with this new movie. While Borat had a few scenes of gay interest (most notably when he told some old coot "In my country, we kill homosexuals", and the man responds with "Well, we're trying to do that here"), it looks like Bruno may be wall-to-wall awkward gay reactions. (Cohen's full-on gay makeout session with Will Ferrell at the climax of Talladega Nights was also based in the same humor.)

After the break, you can see the hilarious poster that lured the straight guys to the arena that night. $1 beer? I'm there!

George Michael

In a continued effort to bring you all that is important in the world of gay entertainment and ensure that you are being spoon-fed images of gorgeous, commoditized manflesh, we present the newly-minted AfterElton Briefs. Following the usual assortment of carefully-selected news items, interested readers can find a refreshing pic of a hot man in underwear after the jump. Yes, we're serious.

• Above, George Michael kicks off his "25 Live" North American tour in California, bouyed by recent high-profile appearances on Eli Stone and American Idol. It's great to have the out international star back onstage (and not in the tabs!) where he belongs.

• Lou Ferrigno reveals that "Bruce Banner" was changed to "David" for the Hulk TV series because execs thought it sounded "too gayish", adding, "I thought it was the most absurd, ridiculous thing I've ever heard." The part about playing a big green guy with a yak's hair wig, on the other hand? Totally reasonable.

• TIME's ten questions with David Sedaris.

• Be sure to mark your calendars for May 15, 2009: Sacha Baron Cohen's gay Austrian fashionista character, Bruno, will invade American theaters with an oversized man-purse filled with gay panic jokes. 

• According to the London Times Online, Little Britian's Matt Lucas to "divorce" his "husband," whom he "married" 18 months ago. Does anyone find that a bit "condescending?"

And today's Briefs are brought to you by...

This week two interesting and opposing events took place that I thought made up a sort of salt-and-pepper set for discussing an old topic: When you say one thing and do the opposite, which matters more? ... or more specifically, what's the difference between saying that you're gay and actually being gay? And which, if either, is more significant?

First off is nationally shamed (not to mention rather creepy) Republican Senator Larry Craig, who, despite having pleaded guilty to playing footsie with a man in a Minneapolis Airport bathroom in June, is saying that he is not, nor was he ever, a gay homosexual.

Though Craig originally plead guilty to the incident involving the bizarre toe-tapping and stall-peeking, he recently stated, in no uncertain terms, "I am not gay ... and have never been," which I am perfectly willing to believe given his shameful voting history on gay issues. So his mouth and his votes say one thing, while his body allegedly says another. Which matters more, in the long run?

(One quick thing: I've been stuck in that very same airport myself for over eight hours, and let me tell you, it is a dull and darksided place. If only Senator Craig had been there recruiting hoofers for his restroom jazz choir team or whatever the hell he was apparently doing. That would have really helped pass the time.)

Let's move from Minneapolis to Hollywood, where Brit comedian and actor Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat, Talladega Nights) recently appeared in public with his very pregnant girlfriend wearing a t-shirt that reads, "Sorry Girls, I'm Gay." And, see, the joke here is that ... well, he's not.

The interesting thing about Cohen is that while his mouth (and apparel) scream "I'm gay!" all the time (he plays gay character Bruno, he wrestles nude with another man in Borat and makes out with Will Ferrell in Talladega Nights), his girlfriend-impregnating personal behavior clearly indicates that he's not.

The irony here is that while Craig allegedly (and admittedly) makes sexual advances toward men, he says he's not gay; and while Cohen doesn't, he says that he is. Did these two plan this?

So would Cohen's joke be funny if there weren't men like Craig around to set up the gag for him? Is it even funny now, for that matter? That actually points out one thing that these two men don't have in common at all: While Cohen has built much of his career from capitalizing on the American public's bizarre squeamishness regarding gayness, Craig has simply ridden the Republican moral agenda to political success.

Oops! No irony intended.

Speculation circulated last Friday that Sacha Baron Cohen aka Borat aka Bruno aka Ali G had signed on to play Freddie Mercury in a biopic about the gay singer. A quick check of IMDB and Variety indicated no such thing, so I was pretty skeptical. Turns out skepticism was a good thing as Cohen's publicist released a statement this weekend saying it was "Pure hokum." Now that's short and to the point! Instead, it sounds like Johnny Depp is the front runner for the part--and, frankly, a better choice.

Katharine Heigl of Grey's Anatomy might be T.R.Knight's best friend, but that hasn't kept bisexual film director Mike White (who also wrote and starred in Chuck and Buck) from wondering if Heigl's upcoming relationship comedy Knocked Up isn't playing a little bit to the homophobes in the bleachers. Knocked Up is directed by White's colleague and friend Judd Apatow (The 40 Year Old Virgin) and White sees the "gay" jokes in both Virgin and Judd's latest as being bullying. Says White in a Sunday New York Times article:

To me, I definitely stand in the corner of wanting to give voice to the bullied, and not the bully. Here’s where comedy is catharsis for people who are picked on. There’s a strain in ‘Knocked Up’ where you sort of feel like something’s changed a little bit. My sense of it is that because those guys are idiosyncratic-looking, their perception is that they’re still the underdogs. But there is something about the spirit of the thing, that comes under the guise of comedy, where — it’s weird. At some point it starts feeling like comedy of the bullies, rather than the bullied.

The trailer for the movie (which looks like pretty well-trod ground) is after the jump. As for the potential homophobia, there is one creepy anal sex with a kid joke and a character who reads a little gay and not in a Neil Patrick Harris way.

Spiderman exploring his kinkier side

And Live Hard or Die Free which shows the downside of product placement

Be sure to check out the others

Speaking of a cheeky look at the movies, it's doubtful Will Ferrell will ever score an Oscar win, but his odds of winning at this year's MTV Movie Awards are pretty damn great. Ferrell is up for a whole slow of awards, most notably for our interests, he snagged a nod for Best Kiss for the same-sex snogging in Talledega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby. This follows in the footsteps of last year's winners Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger. However, Ferrell's lip lock with Sacha Baron Cohen in Talladega Nights was considerably more lighthearted than Brokeback Mountain's smooch. (I've got the Ferrell/Cohen smooch after the jump.) Ferrell and Cohen will have to beat out Cameron Diaz & Jude Law in The Holiday, Columbus Short & Meagan Good in Stomp The Yard, Mark Wahlberg & Elizabeth Banks in Invincible, and Marlon Wayans & Brittany Danie lin Little Man.

Looking at that list of nominees, I'd say the same-sex snog has a good chance of winning again.

Other gay noms of interest include Best Picture nominees Blades of Glory, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan and Little Miss Sunshine all of which were more or less gay-friendly. Even Pirates of the Caribbean has a gay-sensibility.