20+ Most Awkward And Memorable Moments In Oscar History
Here's a look back at some of the most memorable moments to have graced the Academy Awards
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On May the 16th, 1929, the very first Oscars were held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in California.
Stars attended, gold statues flashed, and the best of the best turned out to celebrate their peers and their achievements.
It's been a long time since the very first Oscars ceremony, and it's come a long way. Red carpets have been rolled in, dresses have gotten bigger and more glamorous, reporting has gotten more extensive and more comprehensive and with each passing year, the prestige of the Oscars has grown.
As a nod to the 94th anniversary of the very first Academy Awards, The Weekly looks back at the most memorable (and awkward) moments to have graced the live telecast of the Academy Awards:
The most shocking and already meme-making moment this year goes to when Will Smith stormed up the stage and gave presenter Chris Rock a slap across the face for cracking a joke about Smith's wife Jada Pinkett Smith looking like the star of "G.I. Jane 2" due to her low fade cut. The joke wasn't all in good taste, given how Jada Pinkett Smith has been open about having a hair loss condition, alopecia.
Smith also yelled at Chris Rock to "keep my wife's name out of your f*cking mouth," all of which was censored.
That wasn't the end of it. Just a short while later, Will Smith was back on stage to receive his award for Best Actor for his role in King Richard. In a tearful acceptance speech, Smith made an apology to the Academy as well as his fellow nominees. He added, "I know to do what we do, you gotta be able to take abuse and have people talk people about you. In this business, you gotta have people disrespecting you. And you gotta smile and pretend that's ok," he added.
He then ended his speech by saying he hoped he was invited back to the Oscars.
Neil Patrick Harris stripping down for the 2015 Oscars
Stripping to his tighty-whities and walking from the dressing room to the stage, the host of the 2015 Oscars re-enacted the scene from nominated film Birdman in which Michael Keaton gets locked outside a theater in Times Square donning only his underwear.
The actress's truly weird clapping technique was seen around the world and meme'd shortly after. During an interview with an Australian radio show, she explained that she clapped that way because she didn't want to damage the rings on loan to her: "I was like gosh, I want to clap, I don’t want to not be clapping, which would be worse, right? ‘Why isn’t Nicole clapping?' So therefore I’m clapping but it was really difficult because I had a huge ring on that was not my own, but it was absolutely gorgeous, and I was terrified of damaging it!”
John Travolta seemingly made two gaffes at the 2014 Oscars. The first was when he tried to kiss former co-star Scarlett Johansson on the red carpet making for an awkward montage of photos; and the second was when he completely butchered Idina Menzel's name while announcing her performance during the telecast. He called her Adele Dazeem instead.
However, ScarJo came to his defense, releasing a statement that said, “There is nothing strange, creepy or inappropriate about John Travolta. She wrote, “The image that is circulating is an unfortunate still-frame from a live-action encounter that was very sweet and totally welcome. . . . That still photo does not reflect what preceded and followed if you see the moment live."
Leave it to Chrissy to show us what's what. The model and mom of two was caught snoozing on her husband John Legend‘s shoulder at the 89th Academy Awards as Casey Affleck accepted the Best Actor award for his role in Manchester by the Sea. “Chrissy Teigen sleeping during the Oscars is my 2017 mood,” one Twitter user wrote alongside a photo of her sleeping.
As if making out with him on the red carpet wasn't surprising enough, Angelina said some weird stuff about her brother James Haven when she won the award for Best Supporting Actress in Girl, Interrupted. "I'm in shock, and I'm so in love with my brother right now," she giggled. "He just held me and said he loved me and I know he's so happy for me."
In an attempt to appeal to a younger demographic, the Academy took a risk on a hilariously mismatched pair of hosts. Anne Hathaway and James Franco presented polar-opposite energies and senses of humour, and literally everything that they did or said while hosting in 2011 was a flop. The pair had no chemistry and it showed on stage making it a night of uncomfortable viewing for the audience.
Moana star Auli'i Cravalho was hit in the head with a flag during her performance with Lin-Manuel Miranda at the 2017 Academy Awards but she took it like a champ. The 16-year-old singer and actress was performing 'How Far I'll Go' when the the snafu occured but she kept on singing and hitting all her high notes perfectly.
After pretending that La La Land won the award for best picture, Warren Beatty brought the cast on stage and after they all gave their speeches, it was discovered that MOONLIGHT HAD ACTUALLY WON. Warren misread the envelope or something.
This has to be the strangest moment in Oscars history and you have to feel bad for the La La Land team who looked understandably crestfallen.
Everyone were stunned when Björk showed off her bizarre fashion sense on the red carpet by wearing a frilly swan dress. She then proceeded to "lay" a bunch of eggs during her appearance too. The now infamous dress sits in the Museum of Modern art.
At just 11 years of age, Anna Paquin became the second youngest Oscar winner in history for her work in The Piano.
For the first time ever, in 1968, Barbra Streisand and Katharine Hepburn became the first two actors two ever be tied for an Oscar. The two got their own statuettes and read out separate speeches.
Time magazine named the photo Ellen DeGeneres orchestrated at the 2014 Oscars to its list of 100 most influential images of all time. However, a little-known fact about the image, for which DeGeneres takes credit on her show, is that the photo was actually snapped by actor Bradley Cooper, who had a longer arm and was able to get more people in the frame.
Grace Kelly was the picture of elegance as she accepted her Oscar for The Country Girl in 1954. The actress married Prince Rainier of Monaco two years later, and became Princess Grace.
Gwyneth Paltrow's acceptance speech for Shakespeare in Love was short and sweet - because Gwyneth couldn't get the words out. The actress was so teary, her speech had to be cut short.
When dark horse Adrien Brody's name was called out in the Best Actor category, no one was as stunned as he. Daniel Day Lewis was thought to be the front runner for Gangs of New York. Adrien strode onto the stage, he pulled presented Halle Berry in by the waist and gave her a kiss that has gone down in history.
Halle Berry was understandably teary when she went on stage to accept the Best Actress Oscar for Monster's Ball. She was the very first African-American woman to do so - and the grandeur of such a moment was not lost on her. "This is so much bigger than me," she cried.
In a moving ceremony and speech, Heath Ledger's family were welcomed onstage to accept his Oscar for The Dark Knight on his behalf. The 28-year-old had died just a few months earlier.
Joe Pesci won the Oscar for Best Actor in Good Fellas in 1991, and wasn't one for long speeches. His lasted 4 seconds, and said simply, "It was my privilege. Thank you."
In contrast, Julia Roberts had one of the longest speeches. She couldn't hold it back when she won for Erin Brockovich in 2001. She thanked in her words "everyone in my life", and jumped up and down in her almost 5 minute speech.
For her work on Hurtlocker, Kathryn Bigelow became the very first woman to ever win a Best Director Oscar.
After being nominated five times and losing every one, it was a moment of triumph when Leonardo Dicaprio was finally, finally given the recognition he deserved for his work in The Revenant.
When Marlon Brando won his Oscar for The Godfather in 1973, it was not the man himself who came onstage to accept it. Sacheen Littlefeather, a Native American woman, came onstage at his request and made a statement about the 'Wounded Knee' incident. The host told her if she wasn't off the stage in 60 seconds, he would have her arrested. She was booed off stage.
Melissa Leo made Oscar history in 2011 by blurting the F-word, which amazingly had never been uttered in the previous 82 years.
In a surprising move, the Academy proved they did know what a rapper was, and gave 'Best Original Song' to the Three 6 Mafia for their song 'Hard Out Here for a Gangsta' in the movie Hustle & Flow.
(Text by bauersyndication.com.au / Additional Reporting by Natalya Molok)