Ryan Seacrest on Sacha Baron Cohen Prank: I Had No Idea He'd Do That!

This was the real deal, folks.

Ryan Seacrest was not in on the joke when Sacha Baron Cohen (as "The General") dumped an urn of ashes all over the E! News host's Burberry tuxedo on the red carpet before Sunday's Academy Awards.

VIDEO: LOL! Watch the prank

 "I definitely did not know that he was going to do that!" Seacrest, 37, said Monday on "On Air With Ryan Seacrest." "He comes over, and I asked him a couple of questions, but ... You know that feeling in your gut."

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In character as the despotic ruler of upcoming comedy "The Dictator," Cohen, 40, told Seacrest he was carrying the ashes of late North Korean tyrant Kim Jong-il. "You feel like, 'This is going too normally.''" Seacrest recounted.

Seacrest knew trouble was coming when he "saw the urn coming up. It was getting closer to my chest, and then it tipped over, and it wasn't the wind. He spilled it on my tuxedo!"

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His saving grace? The advice of his mom Connie to "always make sure to bring two jackets, because you never know what’s going to happen!"

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