Seacrest Had A 'Gut' Feeling He Would Be Pranked

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E!

It was expected that Sacha Baron Cohen would bring his customary antics to the Oscars red carpet, but no one could predict that the comedian would spill the "ashes" of deceased North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il all over an unsuspecting Ryan Seacrest-- especially the E! News host himself.

'The Dictator' Dumps Ashes All Over Ryan Seacrest

While the look of shock and disbelief on Ryan's face as he took the urn full of powder to his tux should have been enough to quell gossip that the event was an organized stunt, Seacrest assures us he was just as surprised as everyone else when it happened.

"I definitely did not know that he was going to do that," said Seacrest, setting the record straight on his morning radio show. "I saw his urn. And of course, obviously, I recognized the face on the urn, I saw it coming up," explained Ryan of the moment of impact. "It was getting closer to my chest, and then it tipped over, and it wasn't the wind. He spilled it on my tuxedo."

'The Dictator' Makes Oscar Demands 

While Seacrest maintains he was not in on the prank, he did admit to having an inkling that something funny was up with Cohen when he came in for the red carpet interview dressed in full character as The Dictator.

"So he comes over, and you know, we ask him a couple questions, and it was just… you know in your gut, you feel like this is going too normally," he said. "He didn't put all that on to just answer a couple of questions in character."

Sacha Baron Cohen's Oscar Controversy

Although Ryan wasn't wise to the practical joke in time to save his suit, thankfully, he came prepared with a spare, should anything like this ever happen.

"I had another jacket. So I was surprised, but not surprised, he revealed. "As a young, Live From the Red Carpet reporter you always want to make sure if you can, have two jackets. You never know what’s going to happen, you never know what you are going to spill on yourself, and you want to be red carpet ready at all times, because that's your job, to be red carpet ready, you are the red carpet host."

ET's Complete Oscar Coverage