'Bruno' Cuts Scene Mocking Jacksons Hours Before Premiere

Sacha Baron Cohen stars as a flamboyantly gay interviewer in his comedy 'Bruno.' (Reuters)

Michael Jackson's death sent producers of Sacha Baron Cohen's latest comedy "Bruno" into a tailspin Thursday as they scrambled to cut scenes in which the comedian takes more than a few shots at Jackson's sister, LaToya Jackson, hours before the film's Los Angeles premiere, AFP reported.

In "Bruno," Cohen convinces LaToya that he is an Austrian fashion journalist while poking fun at her, but producers felt the joke was in bad taste after hearing of her brother Michael's death.

In the scene, watched by viewers at previous showings, LaToya Jackson eats sushi off the body of a naked Mexican worker acting as a table. It was missing during Thursday night's premiere and will not likely be restored before the film opens in the U.S. on July 10.

"Bruno" is a follow-up to Cohen's smash-hit mockumentary "Borat", and sees the comic playing a flamboyant, celebrity-obsessed Austrian fashion journalist seeking to become famous in the United States.

Also on Thursday, fans mourning Michael Jackson poured on to Hollywood Boulevard to lay flowers on his walk-of-fame star. However, they were on the wrong Michael Jackson.

Because the singer's star is currently covered by the red carpet put down for the "Bruno" premiere, passersby accidentally went to the star belonging to radio talk show host Michael Jackson, the Wall Street Journal reported.

AFP and the Wall Street Journal contributed to this report.