Eminem admits Bruno encounter was a stunt

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Eminem has come clean, saying that he knew what was in store when bare-buttocked comedian Sacha Baron Cohen crash-landed on him at the MTV Movie Awards television broadcast Sunday.

Eminem stormed out of the awards ceremony after Baron Cohen, in the role of the main character from his new movie, "Bruno," landed on his lap after a flying mishap, leaving the audience wondering if the rapper really was furious or if it was a stunt.

The Detroit rapper told website RapRadar.com that he knew full well what was about to happen and that it was all staged, right down to his disgust when Baron Cohen, clad in white feather wings and a jockstrap, landed face down in his lap, buttocks aloft.

"Sacha called me when we were in Europe and he had an idea to do something outrageous at the Movie Awards. I'm a big fan of his work, so I agreed to get involved with the gag," Eminem told RapRadar on Wednesday.

"I'm thrilled that we pulled this off better than we rehearsed it."

Eminem said he went back to his hotel after storming out of the show and laughed for three hours.

The incident quickly became the most talked-about highlight of a live two-hour television show that pushed the boundaries of taste and language.

Writer Scott Aukerman, who worked with the show's host, Andy Samberg, wrote in a blog posting on Monday that "the Bruno/Eminem incident was staged" but MTV and Baron Cohen have so far declined comment.

Baron Cohen plays a gay Austrian fashionista called Bruno in his new movie, which opens in the United States on July 10.

This is the actor's big-screen follow-up to "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," which grossed $261 million globally and triggered a slew of lawsuits from unwitting victims.

(Writing by Belinda Goldsmith, Editing by Miral Fahmy)