It’s all still a bit fresh, but it’s fair to assume that this year’s Oscars is going to be mainly remembered for that already-infamous exchange between Will Smith and Chris Rock.
Yes, following Sunday night’s ceremony, the UK is waking up to headlines about Will having taken issue with a joke Chris made about his wife, angrily confronting him on stage and appearing to strike the comic.
But while the incident is undoubtedly the water-cooler moment from this year’s Academy Awards, there were plenty of other things going on, including powerful speeches, milestone wins and some genuinely funny moments from the trio of hosts.
For those who didn’t fancy staying up to watch the whole thing, here’s what you missed...
1. Jessica Chastain gave us full movie star on the red carpet, ahead of winning her first ever Oscar
2. Lupita Nyong’o wasn’t even one of the nominees, but she was still a stand-out of the night
3. Nicole Kidman’s outfit was also a serve
4. Meanwhile, Timothée Chalamet shared his interpretation of ‘black tie’ (which evidently means ‘shirt optional’)
5. Kristen Stewart gave us shorts on the red carpet which we *think* we’re here for
6. And Ariana DeBose and Rita Moreno gave us the Anita reunion we’ve all been waiting for, and it was a lot of fun
7. Jason Momoa and Youn Yuh-jung both showed their support for Ukraine on the red carpet
8. While all that was going on, Lady Gaga was… actually down the street, seemingly swerving the red carpet after the Academy failed to nominate her
9. Beyoncé opened the show in style with a performance as epic and cinematic as we’ve come to expect from her
10. And after three years without a host, Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes and Regina Hall kind of killed it with their opening monologue
11. Ariana DeBose won the first award of the night, declaring: “Imagine this little girl in the back seat of a white Ford Focus. Look into her eyes, you see an openly queer woman of colour, an Afro-Latina, who found her strength in life through art. And that’s what we’re here to celebrate.”
12. Regina Hall hand-picked some of her male guests from the audience, joking she needed to take them backstage for a “Covid test”
13. Shortly after that, Jason Momoa burped. We still don’t really know what happened there, tbh, but he did, and we all have to live with that
14. Rachel Zegler poked fun at having only been invited to the Oscars at the eleventh hour. When Jacon Elordi said that he “never thought growing up in Australia that one day I’d be on this stage”, she pointed out: And I never thought that I would be here six days ago. Dreams really can come true. Pretty fast, too.”
15. The first of two Encanto performances was really rather lovely
16. Last year’s winner Youn Yuh-jung brought the jokes, telling the crowd: “My mother used to say, you reap what you sow. I should have listened to her. Last year I complained about people mispronouncing my name in public. And I’m so sorry because I looked at the nominees at the incredible people in this category. And now I have to announce...”
17. Then came one of the night’s most beautiful moments as Troy Kotsur signed his Best Supporting Actor acceptance speech
18. This was followed by a moment of silence for those whose lives have been affected by the war in Ukraine
19. When the show resumed, Encanto’s We Don’t Talk About Bruno received its debut live performance – including a verse from Megan Thee Stallion that truly no one saw coming
20. Billie Eilish then performed No Time To Die (and made us ponder… has it really been two years since she debuted this at the Brit Awards?)
21. Host Regina Hall’s advice for Dame Judi Dench made us laugh out loud: “We’ve got an inspirational quote for you, because you didn’t win tonight. It’s from Kim Kardashian. Work harder. That’s what we need you to do.”
22. Chris Rock’s introduction for Best Documentary got off to a strong start as he joked to the crowd: “No one’s wearing a mask. Just breathing raw dog tonight.”
23. Then some more stuff happened between Chris Rock and Will Smith that we’re guessing you’ve already heard a fair bit about
24. Billie Eilish then won her first Oscar and was very, very excited about it, which was lovely to watch, as she’s not one for celebrating her achievements
25. Jane Campion became the third woman in history to win Best Director, following in the footsteps of Kathryn Bigelow and last year’s recipient Chloe Zhao
26. John Travolta and Uma Thurman brought back the Pulp Fiction dance… and he wisely kept his autocue use to a minimum
27. Will Smith returned to the stage after winning Best Actor, and gave this tearful acceptance speech
28. Amy Schumer broke the tension in the room as the show started to run over, joking: “Did I miss anything? There’s like a different vibe in here.”
29. Jessica Chastain used her acceptance speech to raise awareness of issues close to her heart
30. And finally. Ladies and gentlemen… Lady Gaga and Liza Minnelli
Check out all the must-see looks from this year’s Oscars in the gallery below.
