When it comes to shocking Oscar moments, you can’t top last year’s infamous slap.
But there’s still plenty to talk about from Sunday’s Oscars telecast, where “Everything Everywhere All at Once” dominated the night with seven wins, including best picture. Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan gave historic, emotional speeches for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor, respectively, while Jamie Lee Curtis was upset in the Best Supporting Actress category — all for “Everything Everywhere.”
Jimmy Kimmel returned to host the ceremony for the third time, which lasted nearly three and a half hours. If you haven’t tuned in, here are all the other highlights and lowlights from this year’s show:
Lady Gaga peels down, Rihanna delights in original singing performances
Pop star Gaga, who is in the midst of filming “Joker 2,” surprised the ceremony with a performance of her best original song nominee “Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick.” Wearing only a T-shirt, ripped jeans and a largely bare face, Gaga delivered raw vocals as she sang a stripped-down version of the bombastic pop ballad, which she described as “deeply personal”.
“We need a lot of love to go through this life and we all need a hero sometimes,” Gaga said as she introduced the song. “There are heroes all around us, in humble places, but you might find that you can be your own hero, even if you feel broken inside.”
Rihanna, who revealed her second pregnancy last month while performing at the Super Bowl, gave an equally captivating but more lavish performance of her “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” theme song “Lift Me Up.” But it was “Naatu Naatu,” the infectious, high-energy dance number from “RRR” that eventually walked away with the original song Oscar.
Malala Yousafzai shuts down the silly Jimmy Kimmel joke about Harry Styles
The human rights activist was praised on social media for her sensible response to Kimmel’s comedy bit. Kimmel, who quizzed A-listers in the audience with fan-submitted questions, asked Yousafzai her thoughts on the drama “Don’t Worry Darling” from last fall’s Venice Film Festival. He also jokingly called her “Malala Land”, a play on the 2016 film musical “La La Land”.
“Your work on human rights and education for women and children is an inspiration,” Kimmel said. “As the youngest Nobel laureate in history, I thought, do you think Harry Styles spat on Chris Pine?”
“I’m only talking about peace,” Yousafzai replied, drawing applause and praise on Twitter for her microphone moment.
Jimmy Kimmel toasts Will Smith’s Chris Rock clap in the opening monologue
The late-night host took no prisoners with his razor-sharp opening monologue: toasting Brad Pitt’s “Babylon” for bombing at the box office, Nicole Kidman for her viral AMC Theaters ad and the Academy for snagging female filmmakers in the year’s best director category. He also took aim at Will Smith for beating Chris Rock at last year’s ceremony.
This year, “we have strict policies in place,” Kimmel explained. “If anyone in this theater commits an act of violence at any time during the performance, you will be awarded an Oscar for Best Actor and allowed to give a 19-minute speech.” Later in the sleazy broadcast, he joked, “It kind of makes you miss the smack a little bit, doesn’t it?”
An emotional Ke Huy Quan wins best supporting actor: ‘This is the American dream’
After a near-sweeping awards season, the “Everything Everywhere” star took home his first Oscar for Best Supporting Actor to a standing ovation. Quan, 51, who was born in Vietnam, honored his mother at the top of his speech.
“My mother is 84 years old and she is at home watching,” said an emotional Quan. “Mom, I just won an Oscar! My journey started on a boat. I spent a year in a refugee camp. And somehow I ended up here on Hollywood’s biggest stage. They say stories like these only happen in movies . I can’t believe this is happening to me. This — this is the American dream.”
Quan made a Hollywood comeback last year with “Everything Everywhere,” after starring in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and “The Goonies” as a child. He thanked his “Goonies” co-star, Jeff Cohen, who is also the actor’s entertainment attorney. “My ‘Goonies’ brother for life!” Quan said before urging viewers not to give up on their dreams.
Jamie Lee Curtis cries, remembers Janet Leigh, Tony Curtis: ‘I just won an Oscar!’
After surprising at the Screen Actors Guild Awards with a win for Best Supporting Actress, Curtis repeated at the Oscars in the category, beating fellow nominees Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”) and Kerry Condon (“The Banshees of Inisherin” ). in one of the tightest races of the night. In his acceptance speech, Curtis reflected on his eclectic career, which includes comedies “A Fish Called Wanda” and “Freaky Friday” and the “Halloween” horror franchise.
“To all the people who have supported the genre films I’ve made over the years, the thousands and hundreds of thousands of people, we just won an Oscar together!” Curtis, 64, said. She also paid tribute to her late parents, actors Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis. “And to my mom and dad, who were both nominated for Oscars in different categories — I just won an Oscar!”
John Travolta tearfully honors late ‘Grease’ co-star Olivia Newton-John
Returning to the Oscars stage to introduce the In Memoriam tribute, Travolta teared up as he remembered his “Grease” co-star Olivia Newton-John, who died last year at 73 after a long battle with breast cancer.
“In this business, we have the rare luxury of getting to do what we love for a living, and sometimes getting to do it with people that we get to love,” said Travolta, 69. “Then tonight is a celebration of the work and achievements of our community, and this past year, it is only fitting that we celebrate those we have lost who have dedicated their lives to their craft, both in front of and behind the camera.”
He referenced a line from one of Newton-John’s best-loved “Grease” songs: “They’ve touched our hearts,” Travolta said. “They have made us smile and have become dear friends to whom we will always remain hopelessly devoted.”
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