The 2026 Oscars ceremony is the crescendo that ends awards season: the crowning glory for which the A-listers save their most eye-popping looks, teariest speeches, and biggest on-stage surprises. From the red carpet shenanigans and candid interviews, to Conan O’Brien’s opening monologue, the rousing musical performances, hilarious reunions, and most jaw-dropping plot twists: here are all of the moments you might have missed from the 98th Academy Awards.
Couples got cozy
Timothee Chalamet and Kylie Jenner, Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale, Paul Mescal and Gracie Abrams, Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons, Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani, Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee, Amy Madigan and Ed Harris—as date nights go, the 2026 Oscars was a corker.
Buddy Guy warmed our hearts
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The 89-year-old blues legend, who appears at the end of Sinners, was iconic on the Glambot, and told ABC News: “You never get too old for something like this…I’m more excited than anybody else. This is a dream come true.” I’m not crying, you’re crying.
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Hudson Williams dished on Heated Rivalry Season 2
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And his one-word response on what to expect broke us all into a sweat.
Kevin O’Leary went full Marty Supreme
After Timothée Chalamet’s comments about the irrelevance of opera and ballet made the Josh Safdie-directed romp a late-in-the-game awards season villain, O’Leary, who plays the movie’s antagonist, leaned in via a bedazzled suit and $13 million sports card necklace. Jafar Panahi, the dissident Iranian director of It Was Just An Accident, summed up our feelings.
Diane Warren was refreshingly honest
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The best original song contender for “Dear Me” from Diane Warren: Relentless (a 17-time Oscar nominee, who still has no competitive wins) was asked who she was rooting for at the ceremony. Her answer: “Me!” A rare and highly meme-able bit of red carpet honesty.
Traffic-stopping red was the shade of the night
As seen on Renate Reinsve, Kylie Jenner, Sinners’s Li Jun Li, and Jessie Buckley, who wore pale pink and bright red Chanel.
Feathers and fringe were the accents du jour
Sported by Nicole Kidman, Demi Moore, and 2026’s awards season MVP Teyana Taylor.
Conan O’Brien paid tribute to Aunt Gladys in his opening monologue
And raced through the sets of F1, Marty Supreme, Hamnet, One Battle After Another, KPop Demon Hunters, Sinners, and Sentimental Value (speaking Norwegian, no less), before ascending to the Oscars stage. Jokes followed about opera and ballet, Ted Sarandos, and the Epstein files, after which he (accompanied by Josh Groban) broke into song.
Amy Madigan teared up
Upon winning the best supporting actress prize for Weapons, the 75-year-old laughed wildly, talked about shaving her legs last night (“I’ve got pants on, I didn’t need to worry about that”), and got emotional after paying tribute to her husband, fellow legendary actor Ed Harris. “He’s been with me forever, it’s a long-ass time. And none of this would mean anything if he wasn’t by my side.”
The KPop Demon Hunters team made Korea proud
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“This is for Korea and Koreans everywhere,” said KPop Demon Hunters director Maggie Kang after collectsing her best animated feature Oscar. “For those of you who look like me, I’m so sorry that it took us so long to see us in a movie like this, but it is here. And that means that the next generations don’t have to go longing.” Later, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami belted “Golden,” and took home the best original song Oscar.
There was a Devil Wears Prada moment
Joining Anne Hathaway to present the Oscars for best costume design and best makeup and hair, sunglasses and all, she was a deadpan delight—and even got in a “Thank you, Emily” dig. The Devil Wears Prada 2 press tour clearly starts now.
There was a tie
No, presenter Kumail Nanjiani wasn’t joking—the best live action short Oscar went to both The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva. “Ironic that the short film Oscar takes twice as long,” the comedian grinned. This is now the seventh tie in Oscars history.
There was a supersized In Memoriam segment
Leading that portion of the show, Billy Crystal honored the genius of Rob Reiner, and was then joined on stage by Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Kathy Bates, Demi Moore, et al. Then, Rachel McAdams paid tribute to Catherine O’Hara and Diane Keaton, after which Barbra Streisand came on stage to talk about Robert Redford. “I miss him now more than ever,” she said, before crooning the final bars of “The Way We Were.”
Politics wasn’t entirely ignored
In a ceremony largely devoid of politics, the documentary categories were an urgent reminder of the current state of the world. Jimmy Kimmel, who presented both documentary feature and documentary short, quipped: “Oh is he gonna be mad his wife wasn’t nominated for this,” as he opened the envelope for the former. The short prize went to All the Empty Rooms, about children killed in school shootings. That team’s speech included a plea from the mother of a girl lost in such an incident, who said of her daughter: “Jackie is more than just a headline, she is our light and our life. Gun violence is now the number one cause of death in kids and teens. We believe that if the world could see their empty bedrooms, we’d be a different America.”
Then, Mr Nobody Against Putin took best documentary feature. In a powerful speech, received with wild applause, the filmmakers said: “Mr Nobody Against Putin is about how you lose your country. You lose it through countless small little acts of complicity. When we act complicit when a government murders people on the streets of our major cities, when we don’t say anything when oligarchs take over the media… We all face a moral choice. But even a nobody is more powerful than you think. In the name of our future, in the name of all of our children, stop all of these wars now.”
Later, Javier Bardem, on stage to present best international feature, echoed this sentiment, adding, “No to war. And free Palestine.” Its recipient, Sentimental Value’s Joachim Trier, added, “All adults are responsible for all children. Let’s not vote for politicians who don’t take this seriously into account.”
Autumn Durald Arkapaw made history
The Sinners cinematographer became the first woman to take the best cinematography Oscar. “I’m so honored to be here, and I want all the women in the room to stand up,” she said. “Because I don’t get here without you guys.” Beautiful. (Bonus points to Coogler for carrying her son down to her seat to watch her speech.)
Sinners shone
Miles Caton gave a goosebump-inducing rendition of best original song nominee “I Lied to You”— with help from Shaboozey and Misty Copeland—and later, Ryan Coogler took the best original screenplay prize. To his wife, Zinzi, he said: “You’re the best wife and mom in the world. To my babies at home watching, I apologize for all the time away. Dad loves you. Memories are all we have. I hope I’ve given you some great ones. When you’re blessed to live a long life and dad becomes just a memory, I want you to remember this one thing: I love you more than anything.”
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Then, Ludwig Göransson took best score, calling Coogler “one of the best storytellers of our time. Thank you for making a movie that resonated with the whole world.”
Michael B. Jordan triumphed
Besting best actor favorite, Marty Supreme’s Timothée Chalamet, the Sinners star looked genuinely stunned. “God is good,” he said. “Mama, wassup? Hey pops, where you at? Thank you Warner Brothers for betting on original ideas and artistry. I stand here because of the people that came before me, Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Jamie Foxx, Will Smith, and to be amongst those giants, those greats, amongst my ancestors, thank you, everybody in this room and everybody at home for supporting me over my career. I feel it. I know you guys want me to do well, and I want to do that because you guys bet on me, so thank you for keeping betting on me.” (Oh, and Adrien Brody proved to be a very funny presenter.)
Jessie Buckley’s awards season dominance continued
The Hamnet star looked overwhelmed, telling the crowd: “This is really something. My Irish family, they’re all here. Ireland bought them flights!” To her husband, she said, “I want to have 20,000 more babies with you.” She continued, “It’s Mother’s Day in the UK today, so I’d like to dedicate this to the beautiful chaos of a mother’s heart. This is the greatest honor. I can’t even believe it.” She ended her speech with a few words in Irish—fitting, given she’s the first Irish woman to take home the best actress statuette.
One Battle After Another prevailed
The power of Paul Thomas Anderson’s revolutionary saga was apparent early on in the night, when it scooped the Academy’s inaugural best casting prize in a shock victory over the favorite, Sinners’s prolific Francine Maisler. “10 movies, we’ve done this for over 30 years, we grew up together,” the recipient, Cassandra Kulukundis, said to Anderson. “This is freaking insane and I have one of these before you, which is also crazy. I hope you get one tonight.”
Sean Penn then won best supporting actor, his third Oscar, but failed to show up. (“He couldn’t be here this evening or didn’t want to, so I’ll be accepting this on his behalf,” said presenter Kieran Culkin.) After that, Anderson collectsed his very first Oscar after 14 nominations, for best adapted screenplay. “I wrote this movie for my kids, to say sorry for the housekeeping mess we left in this world that we’re handing off to them,” he told the crowd. “But also, with the encouragement that they will be the generation that hopefully brings us some common sense and decency.”
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One Battle went on to take best editing, and PTA best director. “You make a guy work hard for one of these,” he joked. “There will always be some doubt in your heart that you deserve it, but there is no question at the pleasure of having it for myself.” When it was also announced as the best picture winner, Teyana Taylor got the director in a headlock. “Let’s have a martini,” he said. “This is pretty amazing.”
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See Every Look From the 2026 Oscars Red Carpet:
