A host dressed as a witch. A winner who wasn't there. K-pop making Oscar history. A tie nobody saw coming. And Timothée Chalamet losing to Michael B. Jordan. The 98th Academy Awards had no right to be this entertaining — and yet here we are. Here is everything that happened last night, in the order it deserves to be remembered.
Conan Opens as Aunt Gladys
Conan O'Brien kicked off the night by dressing up as Aunt Gladys — the creepy witch villain from Weapons — and sprinting through the sets of every nominated film in a pre-taped sketch. The F1 race track, the Sinners juke joint, the Marty Supreme ping-pong table — all of it, all at once, earning a standing ovation before a single award was handed out. His monologue then went harder politically than he'd promised in interviews. He opened: "I'm Conan O'Brien and I'm honored to be the last human host of the Academy Awards. Next year it's going to be a Waymo in a tux." He ribbed Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos for being in a theater for the "first time," joked about an alternate Oscars "hosted by Kid Rock at the Dave & Busters down the street," and took aim at Timothée Chalamet's viral ballet and opera controversy — "They're just mad you left out jazz." The biggest laugh of the night came when he noted it was the first time since 2012 that no British actor was nominated in either acting category: "A British spokesperson said, 'Yeah, well, at least we arrest our pedophiles.'" The room went wild for over ten seconds.
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The Upset of the Night: Michael B. Jordan Wins Best Actor
Timothée Chalamet was the frontrunner. Michael B. Jordan had other plans. His win for playing twins — Smoke and Stack — in Ryan Coogler's Sinners was the biggest surprise of the ceremony, and his speech was the most emotional moment of the night. He opened with "God is good," then invoked the giants who came before him: Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Forest Whitaker, Jamie Foxx. "To be up amongst those greats, amongst my ancestors — thank you." He turned to Coogler in the audience: "You gave me the opportunity and space for me to be seen. I love you, bro." The room was on its feet. Chalamet was among the first.
The Ghost Winner
Sean Penn won Best Supporting Actor for One Battle After Another — his third career Oscar — and wasn't there to collect it. He'd skipped the BAFTAs and the Actor Awards too, both of which he also won in absentia. Presenter Kieran Culkin stepped to the podium and delivered the line of the night: "Sean couldn't be here this evening — or didn't want to — so I'll be accepting the award on his behalf." The room laughed. Delroy Lindo, a fellow nominee, was visibly not clapping. Penn was reportedly en route to Ukraine.
One Battle After Another Takes the Night
Paul Thomas Anderson's film walked away with six Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor, Best Film Editing, and the inaugural Best Casting award. Anderson became only the ninth person in history to win Best Picture, Director, and Screenplay on the same night — after 11 previous nominations dating back to 1998. Accepting Best Picture, presented by Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor in a Moulin Rouge! 25th anniversary reunion, Anderson said: "In 1975, the Best Picture nominees were Dog Day Afternoon, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Jaws, Nashville, and Barry Lyndon. There is no best among them, there is just what the mood might be that day." He closed the show: "What a night, you guys. Let's have a martini."
Jessie Buckley Wins Best Actress for Hamnet
Jessie Buckley won Best Actress for her role as Agnes Shakespeare in Chloé Zhao's Hamnet, becoming the first Irish woman to win in the category. She immediately broke into tears when her name was announced. She dedicated the win to mothers — fitting, since it was Mother's Day in the UK. "It's the beautiful chaos of a mother's heart," she said, also thanking her husband and mentioning their 8-month-old daughter: "I can't wait to discover life beside you."
The Reunions: Avengers, Bridesmaids, and Moulin Rouge
The show was stacked with reunion energy. Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans presented the screenplay awards together — Evans gifted Downey a signed original Avengers script, Downey responded with Channing Tatum's Magic Mike thong, and Tatum called from the audience that he needed it back because he had to work later. The Bridesmaids cast — Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne and Ellie Kemper — reunited 15 years after the film to present, earning a partial standing ovation. Anna Wintour and Anne Hathaway presented the craft awards in full Devil Wears Prada energy, with Wintour responding to Hathaway's "How does my dress look?" with a terse: "Here are the nominees."
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Sinners Makes History
Sinners came in as the most nominated film in Oscar history with 16 nominations and left with four wins. Ryan Coogler became only the second Black writer to win Best Original Screenplay, following Jordan Peele's Get Out. Autumn Durald Arkapaw became the first woman ever to win Best Cinematography in the award's nearly 100-year history. She said backstage she wanted to thank "all the women in the room, because moments like this don't happen without women standing up for you and advocating for you." Ludwig Göransson took his third career Oscar for Best Score, paying tribute to his father.
K-Pop Makes Oscar History
KPop Demon Hunters won both Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for "Golden" — the first K-pop song to ever win an Oscar. EJAE was cut off before she could finish thanking her collaborators, and told reporters backstage: "I wanted to thank Rei Ami and Audrey Nuna. They killed it."
The Tie Nobody Saw Coming
Presenter Kumail Nanjiani opened the envelope for Best Live Action Short and stood there looking genuinely stunned before declaring: "It's a tie. I'm not joking. It's actually a tie." Both The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva won — only the seventh tie in Oscar history.
An In Memoriam That Actually Moved People
Billy Crystal spoke about his friend Rob Reiner. Rachel McAdams paid tribute to Diane Keaton and Catherine O'Hara. Barbra Streisand closed the segment honoring Robert Redford, speaking about their friendship before singing part of "The Way We Were." The room went quiet in the best possible way.
THE FULL WINNERS LIST — 98th Academy Awards
Best Picture
✦ One Battle After Another
Best Director
✦ Paul Thomas Anderson — One Battle After Another
Best Actor
✦ Michael B. Jordan — Sinners
Best Actress
✦ Jessie Buckley — Hamnet
Best Supporting Actor
✦ Sean Penn — One Battle After Another
Best Supporting Actress
✦ Amy Madigan — Weapons
Best Adapted Screenplay
✦ Paul Thomas Anderson — One Battle After Another
Best Original Screenplay
✦ Ryan Coogler — Sinners
Best Cinematography
✦ Autumn Durald Arkapaw — Sinners (first woman ever to win this award)
Best Original Score
✦ Ludwig Göransson — Sinners
Best Original Song
✦ "Golden" — KPop Demon Hunters (first K-pop song to win an Oscar)
Best Animated Feature
✦ KPop Demon Hunters
Best Film Editing
✦ Andy Jurgensen — One Battle After Another
Best Casting (inaugural award)
✦ Cassandra Kulukundis — One Battle After Another
Best Costume Design
✦ Frankenstein
Best Makeup & Hairstyling
✦ Frankenstein
Best Production Design
✦ Frankenstein
Best Sound
✦ F1
Best International Feature Film
✦ Sentimental Value (Norway)
Best Documentary Feature
✦ Mr. Nobody Against Putin
Best Documentary Short
✦ All the Empty Rooms
Best Live Action Short
✦ The Singers & Two People Exchanging Saliva (tie)
Best Animated Short
✦ The Girl Who Cried Pearls
— LadysReviews
