On the night of March 11th, the Academy Awards – better known as the Oscars – will be presented for the 96th time. In the history of the renowned award ceremony there have often been absurd or even shocking moments. Will Smith’s (55) slap freak in 2022, which gave comedian Chris Rock (59) not only pain but also plenty of material for a stand-up program, is just one of them.
The biggest upset in the history of the Oscars to date is also the most recent: When laudator Chris Rock spontaneously made a mediocre, but ultimately quite harmless joke about Jada Pinkett Smith (52)’s bald head in 2022, her husband Will Smith couldn’t contain himself. He famously stormed onto the stage and punched the comedian in the face without warning. The incident was so unbelievable that the live audience on site and in front of the televisions initially thought it was a rehearsed number. It was only when Smith shouted poisons from his seat in the direction of the perplexed Rock that it became clear: a scandal had just happened here that would forever overshadow the entire evening, all the winners and, above all, Will Smith’s career.
How happy the makers of the musical “La La Land” were when their work was named “Best Film” of the year in 2017. But while they were still giving their acceptance speech on stage, an unprecedented shock followed: two envelopes were accidentally swapped. Not “La La Land,” but the drama “Moonlight” was the rightful winner. The denouement caused absolute horror for everyone present in the Dolby Theater. This embarrassment was the biggest faux pas to date in almost 100 years of Oscars and may have cost one or two unlucky people their jobs.
Actor Adrien Brody (50) had a real emotional outburst thanks to the golden boy. In 2003 he won the Best Actor category for the film The Pianist. At 29 years old, he is still the youngest winner in this category. To show his enthusiasm, it wasn’t enough for him to simply hug laudator Halle Berry (57), no, he threw his arms around her neck and unabashedly kissed her on the mouth. The completely taken by surprise actress played along, but years later revealed what was really going through her mind: “What the hell is happening here?”
The “Forrest Gump” star probably didn’t inform himself enough beforehand. When Tom Hanks (67) accepted his first Oscar in the “Best Actor” category in the film “Philadelphia” in 1994, he thanked his gay high school teacher in his speech. There was just one problem: He hadn’t made his homosexuality public until then. Luckily, the teacher didn’t take offense at Hanks for revealing his secret. On the contrary, he took advantage of his new fame and joined an organization that cares for HIV-infected children. A little later, Hank’s faux pas even inspired Hollywood to make the film “In
Michael Moore (69) delivered without a doubt one of the most controversial performances in recent years. When he was awarded the Oscar for “Best Documentary” in March 2003 for his film “Bowling for Columbine,” he used his acceptance speech to insult his favorite enemy, then US President George W. Bush (77): “We are against this war, Mr. Bush. Shame on you, Mr. Bush. Shame on you!” However, both television viewers and the guests present could hardly hear most of this speech on the occasion of the Iraq War at the time – the orchestra had started playing loudly shortly after Moore’s speech began in order to drown out the politically incendiary speech.
Many people will probably still remember Roberto Benigni’s (71) dance of joy when he received the Oscar for “Best Foreign Language Film” – “Life is Beautiful” – in 1999. When he was announced as the winner, Benigni climbed onto the backs of his chair in excitement and had to hold on to Steven Spielberg’s (77) shoulder. The Italian then hopped down the aisle onto the stage. To ensure that such an incident could not happen again, Oscar host Billy Crystal (75) had a giant butterfly net with him the following year to catch it.
Scandal at the 1974 Oscars: A man runs stark naked across the stage behind co-host David Niven (1910-1983, “The Curse of the Pink Panther”) while showing the peace sign. And on US television! At that moment, Niven actually wanted to announce Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011), who was supposed to introduce the nominees in the “Best Film” category. The Brit reacted quite calmly to the incident. As the audience enjoyed themselves, he commented, “The man gets the only laugh in his life for stripping off his clothes and showing the world where he fell short.” As it later turned out, the photographer and artist Robert Opel (1939-1979) was behind the speedster appearance.
Screen legend Marlon Brando (1924-2004) went down in Oscar history with his acceptance speech in 1973 when he was awarded the coveted award for his unforgettable performance as Vito Corleone in “The Godfather.” Instead of going on stage himself, he sent a replacement. Sacheen Littlefeather, said to be a woman from the Apache tribe, walked to the lectern and made a lengthy statement on discrimination against Native Americans on Brando’s behalf and to boos from the audience. As it later turned out, Littlefeather was the young New York actress Maria Cruz, who ended her Hollywood career with this appearance before it even began. By the way, Bond actor Roger Moore (1927-2017) secretly pocketed the remaining Oscar trophy. However, he later had to return it.
