Nudity, baby bumps and Ken: Ten things we are still talking about post-Oscars
There is a lot to unpack from the most talked-about night in Hollywood.
Actor and wrestler John Cena presented an Academy Award category while naked on Sunday night.
The 46-year-old stripped off at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles to announce the costume design Oscar to , starring Emma Stone.
He held the envelope over his middle when he went on stage before host Jimmy Kimmel appeared to give him a piece of cloth to wrap around his body.
Cena told the audience: “Costumes, they are so important.”
Kimmel had earlier revealed that it was a nod to the 50th anniversary of the previous “craziest moment” in Oscars’ history when a naked man ran on stage.
Kimmel said: “Can you imagine if a nude man ran across the stage, wouldn’t that be crazy?”
Cena then appeared behind the stage, saying: “I changed my mind, I don’t want to do the streaker bit any more.”
Kimmel encouraged him to do the comedy skit, saying: “We’re doing it.” Responding, Cena said: “I just don’t feel right about it, it’s an elegant event, you know honestly you should feel shame right now for suggesting such a tasteless idea.”
“It’s supposed to be funny,” Kimmel said while Cena added: “The male body is not a joke.”
The start of the Oscars was delayed by five minutes on Sunday as pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside the award ceremony in Los Angeles.
In video clips circulating on X, formerly Twitter, crowds of protesters could be seen carrying Palestinian flags and chanting “ceasefire now” near the Dolby Theatre.
The protest stopped traffic heading towards the 96th Academy Awards for around 20 minutes and blocked guests in their cars.
Several stars had not arrived at the venue 10 minutes before the start time, with star Margot Robbie thought to be one celebrity caught in the delay.
According to , some stars began to leave their vehicles and walk to the venue instead as police arrived to disperse the crowd.
Vanessa Hudgens showed off a surprise baby bump as she led stars arriving at the 2024 Academy Awards.
The US actress, who co-hosted the official Oscars red carpet alongside Julianne Hough, cradled her growing belly on the red carpet outside the Dolby Theatre, wearing a sleek black dress.
It comes after the 35-year-old married US baseball player Cole Tucker in a ceremony in Mexico last year.
We all longed for this to happen. Ryan Gosling performed the much-loved anthem ‘I’m Just Ken’ at the 2024 Oscars.
Gosling performed a hilarious rendition of the song, which began with him serenading Margot Robbie and ended with a full-blown sing-along with director Greta Gerwig and co-star America Ferrera.
The star donned a bright pink suit covered in sparkling rhinestones with gloves to match to perform the smash hit, which received a nomination at the 96th Academy Awards for best song.
Wearing a stetson hat tipped over his head and sunglasses, Gosling started his performance sitting in the audience by singing to his laughing Barbie co-star Robbie, who appeared unable to contain her giggles.
The actor then moved towards the stage to reveal songwriter Mark Ronson, who wore a billowing pink shirt as he played the guitar.
Gosling was then joined onstage by several actors who played Ken in Gerwig’s film, Ncuti Gatwa, Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, as well as a host of dancers in stetsons.
The army of Kens performed an all-singing all-dancing rendition of the song, which included the actor being lifted into the air surrounded by cutouts of Barbie’s head.
Slash then delivered a killer guitar solo while Gosling stepped out into the audience.
The actor stopped by actress Emma Stone, who enthusiastically sang along, before he shared the microphone with his co-stars in the front row — Robbie, Ferrera and Gerwig — who passionately joined in.
picked up the award for best documentary feature film on the night.
In accepting the “first Oscar in Ukrainian history”, director Mstyslav Chernov gave a powerful speech in which he said he wished he never had to make the film.
“I’m honored. But probably I will be the first director on this stage who will say I wish I had never made this film. I wish to be able to exchange this for Russia never attacking Ukraine, never occupying our cities,” he said.
“Russians are killing tens of thousands of my fellow Ukrainians. I wish for them to release all the hostages, all the soldiers who are protecting their lands, all the civilians who are now in their jails. But I cannot change the history. I cannot change the past.”
Continuing with the theme of stand-out speeches, Emma Stone got emotional when accepting the award for best actress for her role in , making for another memorable moment on stage.
The actress started off by explaining that her dress had broken, joking that it must have been during Ryan Gosling’s ‘I’m Just Ken’ performance.
“Oh, boy, this is really, this is really overwhelming. Sorry. My voice is also a little gone, whatever,” she said.
“The women on the stage, you are all incredible, and the women in this category: Sandra [Hüller], Annette [Bening], Carey [Mulligan], Lily [Gladstone], I share this with you. I am in awe of you, and it has been such an honor to do all of this together. I hope we get to keep doing more together. I don’t know what I’m saying,” she said while fighting back tears.
She concluded by thanking her family, including her daughter who turns three in three days.
“I love you bigger than the whole sky, my girl. So thank you so much.”
“Don't look at the back of my dress!” she exclaimed before leaving the stage.
You would think a huge star like Al Pacino would be well-versed in Academy Award announcement etiquette.
But on Sunday night, while revealing the winner for the much-anticipated category of best picture, the actor didn’t bother to name out the nominees and instead, went straight to opening the envelope.
“My eyes see ,” he said. In fairness, the film had been sweeping up at the awards, with a total of seven wins on the night.
Jenny the donkey from the made it to the Oscars last year and this year, there was another furry friend in the audience.
Messi, the border collie from was present for the big night. Perched in his very own seat at the prestigious awards, Messi seemed to be enjoying his life as a famous dog. According to , he even made friends with Billie Eilish and Bradley Cooper.
The seven-year-old played a supporting role in the best picture-nominated French drama.
Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel had plenty of gags about everything from snubs to long run times and Bradley Cooper but towards the end of the night, he made one final dig. This time, at Donald Trump.
Kimmel read out a post the former US president made on the online platform, Truth Social where he criticised the comedian and suggested he be replaced by “another washed up but cheap ABC 'talent’.”
After reading it on stage, Kimmel said: "Isn’t it past your jail time?"
The host was met with claps and cheers from the audience.
And last but certainly not least, our very own Cillian Murphy.
The Cork man became the first Irish-born person to win a best actor Oscar. He was presented with the award for his role as J. Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan’s epic biopic .
Taking to the stage, Murphy said he felt "a little overwhelmed" but said he was "a very proud Irish man standing here tonight".
"It's been the wildest, most exhilarating, most creatively satisfying journey you've taken me on over the last 20 years. I owe you more than I can say," he said to Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas.
He left the stage with some cúpla focal: "Go raibh míle maith agaibh."
Speaking backstage, Murpy said he was still “in a little bit of a daze” after the win but felt an overwhelming sense of pride at being an Irish actor.
“I’m very overwhelmed, very humbled. I’m very grateful and very proud to be Irish standing here today."
He revealed he was unsure of what he had said in his acceptance speech but he wanted to stress how significant it was to him that he is the first Irish-born actor to win an Oscar.
“It’s really, really meaningful to me and I don't know if I said this in my speech because I can't remember what I said, but I do want to say that I think in Ireland, we're really great at supporting artists,” he said.
“I think we need to continue to support artists and the next generation of actors and directors. I think that's vitally important.”
