Oscars season is finally upon us! The 2023 Ceremony will be the 95th Academy Awards, hosted by the hilarious late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel. The nominees this year are all unbelievably fabulous, and each has a strong fanbase. Over the years, however, there have been a variety of culture-making moments that were pretty embarrassing.
So, in celebration of the 95th Academy Awards, it’s time to take a look at some of the weirdest, most uncomfortable moments of Hollywood’s best.
1 ‘La La Land’ and ‘Moonlight’
At the 89th Academy Awards in 2016, a grave mistake was made when the Best Picture category winner was announced. The popular film La La Land was among the nominees. Being a fan favorite, it was met with loud cheers when the name was announced.
However, the actual winner was Moonlight, which is easily one of the most awkward moments for a multitude of reasons — one being that the cast and creative team of La La Land were already on stage celebrating and had to walk off when they realized they did not win.
2 The 1974 Streaker
That’s right, a naked person at the Oscars. At the 46th Oscars in 1974, the host, David Niven, was in the middle of Elizabeth Taylor when he received a bit of a surprise. A man named Robert Opel posed as a journalist to sneak backstage at the Oscars and then streaked onstage while flashing a peace sign to the crowd.
The crowd roared with laughter, and Opel became a bit of a celebrity and was even asked to streak at a famous person’s party in the future.
3 Idina Menzel and John Travolta
At the 86th Academy Awards in 2014, John Travolta presented Broadway actor, screen actor, and singer Idina Menzel to perform the hit song from Frozen, “Let It Go.” While reading the cue cards or screen they used to present, he pronounced her name as “Adele Dazeem.”
The public took that and ran, with the incident becoming a viral meme online. Menzel playfully got revenge on him in the future when she purposely butchered his name at another award show.
4 James Franco in Drag
The 2011 Academy Awards were co-hosted by Anne Hathaway and James Franco. Franco thought it would be a good idea to dress up in drag as icon Marilyn Monroe for one of their bits. The joke was not taken as well as it was intended, and their hosting was reviewed as fairly awkward in general.
There’s even been statistics saying that viewership decreased by 9% when they hosted. Even though they are a hilarious pair, their bits were not as strong as they wanted.
5 Seth MacFarlane’s Song
When Seth MacFarlane hosted the Oscars in 2013, he decided to spend some of his monologue with a song. A song about…women’s breasts? He sang a song titled “We Saw Your Boobs” about all of the movies and public incidents in which audiences saw female breasts.
The song was a bit uncomfortable and outright objectified some of Hollywood’s biggest and brightest female-identifying voices. Needless to say, MacFarlane has not been invited to host the Oscars again.
6 Jennifer Lawrence’s Tumble
At the 2013 Academy Awards, star Jennifer Lawrence won the award for Best Actress. On her way up to receive her award, she took a bit of a tumble up the stairs.
Though incredibly awkward, the moment went viral quickly and gained a huge amount of media attention. Lawrence, of course, laughed it off. However, this goes to show that even the best Hollywood actors can fall on their way to the top, too.
7 In Memoriam Mix-Up
One of the most emotional parts of the Oscars is the “In Memoriam” segment, where members of the film industry who passed that year are honored.
However, in 2017, there was a bit of a misunderstanding. Australian Producer Jan Chapman was accidentally pronounced dead when her picture appeared among the other deceased: what a shocking and painstakingly awkward position to be in.
8 Michael Moore Gets Booed
Michael Moore won an Oscar for Bowling for Columbine in 2003. When accepting the award, the crowd seemed to be cheering and applauding for him.
However, as he began his speech and criticized President Bush, the crowd quickly turned against him. There were boos and then cheers for stopping the boos, and it became an awkward mess. Then again, that is usually the case in political matters —especially at that time.
9 Rob Lowe’s Duet with Snow White
In the 1989 Oscars’ opening number, Rob Lowe was paired with Snow White for a musical number. That musical number, however, was not quite as cheery as the two of them. Lowe performed an oddly-sexual cover of “Proud Mary.” The lyrics were written about Walt Disney, and Lowe attempted to do his best rocker voice.
That did not turn out too well — with both the weird lyrics and even weirder concept; the song goes down as a historically awkward moment in Oscars history.
10 Will Smith and Chris Rock
One of the most shocking moments in the few years in the entertainment industry is the physical altercation between Will Smith and Chris Rock at the 94th Academy Awards in 2022. Rock was presenting the nominees for Best Documentary Feature and made an offensive joke that made fun of Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett.
Smith yelled at Rock and then proceeded to walk onstage and slap him. This event led to Smith resigning his membership and being banned from attending Academy events for 10 years. Both the joke and slapping were surely awkward, offensive, and uncomfortable.