The 96th Academy Awards were presented on Sunday night in Los Angeles, where many of Hollywood’s biggest stars gathered to celebrate the year’s best in film.
Christopher Nolan’s sweeping epic about J. Robert Oppenheimer — the American physicist credited with being the “father of the atomic bomb” — came into the night with the most Oscar nominations (13) and won seven, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor.
“We made a film about the man who created the atomic bomb,” Cillian Murphy, who won Best Actor for his portrayal of Oppenheimer, said in his acceptance speech. “And for better or worse, we’re all living in Oppenheimer’s world. So I would like to dedicate this to the peacemakers everywhere.”
Here are some of the other best moments from the 2024 Academy Awards.
Robert Downey Jr. won his first-ever Oscar
The 58-year-old won the first Academy Award in his 40-plus year career, nabbing the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer.
“I’d like to thank my terrible childhood and the academy, in that order,” Downey Jr. said, before thanking his wife, Susan Downey.
“She found me a snarling rescue pet that loved me back to life,” he said. “That’s why I’m here.”
Ryan Gosling’s ‘I’m Just Ken’ performance broke Emma Stone’s dress
Gosling’s Oscar-nominated Barbie song didn’t win — the trophy went to the other Oscar-nominated Barbie song (“What Was I Made For?” by Billie and Finneas Eilish) — but his live performance brought the house (er, Dolby Theatre) down.
He wore a pink suit and gloves in what appeared to be an homage to the 1953 Marilyn Monroe classic Gentleman Prefer Blondes. And an army of other Kens joined Gosling on stage, as did director Greta Gerwig, co-stars America Ferrera and Margot Robbie — even Slash.
Poor Things star Emma Stone — who suffered a wardrobe malfunction sometime before taking to the stage to accept the Oscar for Best Actress, blamed Gosling. “My dress is broken,” Stone said. “I think it happened during ‘I’m just Ken.’”
Stone then gave a passionate, tearful speech thanking all of her fellow Best Actress nominees (Lily Gladstone, Carey Mulligan, Sandra Hüller and Annette Bening), the former Best Actress recipients who introduced them (Jamie Lee Curtis, Mary Steenburgen, Lupita N’yongo, Rita Moreno and Regina King), her husband, parents and daughter, Louise, who turns three this week.
She “has turned our lives technicolor,” Stone said.
A nearly-nude John Cena presented an Oscar
In a nod to the notorious 1974 Oscars streaking incident, Cena presented the Academy Award for Best Costume Design to Poor Things while wearing nothing but what appeared to be a skin-colored piece of cloth covering his nether region.
He used the envelope containing the winner’s name to cover himself up before swiftly changing outfits when the lights went down.
Geo-politics were on display — both inside and outside the theater
Mstyslav Chernov, director of 20 Days in Mariupol, delivered a powerful speech while accepting the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.
“I wish I would have never made this film,” Chernov said. “I wish to be able to exchange this [for] Russia never attacking Ukraine, never occupying our cities.”
“Cinema forms memories and memories form history,” he added. “Thanks to Ukraine.”
Outside the Dolby Theatre, a group of about a thousand protesters gathered a few blocks away from the red carpet, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the LAPD “had bolstered patrols in the area in anticipation of protests.” According to police, just one arrest was made.
Kimmel read Trump’s mean tweet
Just before the Oscar for Best Picture was (rather awkwardly!) presented to Oppenheimer, Kimmel told the audience he wanted to read aloud a review of his hosting performance he had seen online. It was a post from former President Donald Trump.
“Has there EVER been a WORSE HOST than Jimmy Kimmel at The Oscars,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “His opening was that of a less than average person trying too hard to be something which he is not, and never can be. Get rid of Kimmel and perhaps replace him with another washed up, but cheap, ABC ‘talent,’ George Slopanopoulos.”
I’m surprised you’re up this late,” Kimmel said in response. “Isn’t it past your jail time?”
Laura Davis is an entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to Broadway, she offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
