In an action that is certain to draw further media attention to Sacha Baron-Cohen's upcoming Brüno feature, the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District has announced that he intends to take "appropriate personnel action" against the principal and athletic director of Birmingham High School for allowing a GQ photo shoot that featured Cohen as Brüno posing with the school's football team. He's wearing football uniform shoulder pads, a scanty pair of red shorts, an athletic cup and little else. "I don't believe that there is a place on any high school in America, including Los Angeles, for photos such as these," Cortines said in a statement. (GQ, the leading men's fashion magazine, is routinely stocked in many high-school libraries.) The parents of the boys signed consent forms for the pictures and the school itself received a $500 payment for the photo shoot. The L.A.Observed.com blog noted that Birmingham's principal wants to break away from the district as a charter school, and the school board is expected to vote on the matter today (Wednesday).

   Meanwhile, the inventive press agents for Brüno have taken precautions not to allow their client to be upstaged by other comics. The Australian Associated Press reported that when the Australian satirical group The Chaser showed up at the Sydney premiere of the movie on Monday, each member was forced to sign a statement promising not to disrupt the screening. They were then accompanied inside by several guards who remained close by -- just in case.