Oscars 2025 host Conan O’Brien had fans all saying the same thing as he kicked off his wild opening monologue on Sunday.
O’Brien, 61, who was keen to impress in his debut hosting Hollywood’s biggest night, made a shock dig at Emilia Perez star Karla Sofia Gascon’s tweet scandal and Timothee Chalamet’s outfit during his opening monologue.
O’Brien personally called out the Best Actress nominee, who has been embroiled in social media controversy after her racist and anti-Muslim tweets resurfaced and went viral.
He later quipped about A Complete Unknown Best Actor nominee Chalamet, 29, who was sat next to his baffled girlfriend Kylie Jenner, 27, claiming his yellow suit would ensure ‘no bikes hit him.’
O’Brien said: ‘Anora uses the f-word 479 times. That’s more than the record set by Karla Sofía Gascón’s publicist…YOU TWEETED WHAT!’
‘Karla Sofia Gascon is here tonight. And… Karla, if you’re going to tweet about the Oscars, remember, my name is Jimmy Kimmel.’
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Oscars 2025 host Conan O’Brien had fans all saying the same thing as he kicked off his wild opening monologue on Sunday
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O’Brien, 61, who was keen to impress in his debut hosting Hollywood’s biggest night, made a shock dig at Emilia Perez star Karla Sofia Gascon’s tweet scandal
Gascon feigned a smile as she placed her hands together in a prayer gesture while making her return to the awards circuit amid the controversy.
O’Brien continued: ‘Before we go any further, I want you to know, we did not use A.I. To make this show. No A.I. Yeah. No A.I. Yeah. We would never do that, we use child labor.
‘Hey. Timothee Chalamet is up for best actor tonight. You are amazing. And you look amazing. I bow to you. Love that suit. You will not get hit on your bike tonight. Amazing actor. He’s nominated for his portrayal of Bob Dylan. Yeah. Yeah. Bob Dylan wanted to be here tonight, but not that badly.’
Moving on to Best Picture nominee Dune: Part Two, O’Brien mistakenly said the film had won a Best Director nomination for Denis Villeneuve,
He said: ‘Dune 2 is dominated for Best Picture and Director, and guess what? I’m told he banned smartphones on the set of Dune 2. Did you know that? Yeah. Apparently his actors kept googling, “What is this movie about? We’ll hang after, it’s going to be fun. That was a no.
‘You know, one of my favorite movies didn’t get nominated this year, Baby girl. Yeah, I loved that film. Yeah. In the film Babygirl Antonio Banderas plays a man who doesn’t know how to give his wife an orgasm.
‘He described it as the most challenging role of his career. Should have come to me, man. Should have come to me.’
He quipped about A Complete Unknown Best Actor nominee Chalamet, 29, who was sat next to his baffled girlfriend Kylie Jenner , 27, claiming his yellow suit would ensure ‘no bikes hit him’
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O’Brien was lauded by fans for his whimsical approach
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The monologue was briefly interrupted by Adam Sandler running through the audience to hug Timothee and plant a loss on him..
After showcasing some early headshots of stars like Zoe Saldana, Guy Pearce and even himself, O’Brien then mentioned how everyone was ‘properly dressed,’ before pausing awkwardly.
He then turned to Sandler, who was donning an aqua blue hoodie, basketball shorts and sneakers, sitting in an aisle seat at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
‘Conan. What’s up my brother? What’s going on, man?’ Sandler said, before O’Brien chided him and asked, ‘Adam, what are you wearing?’
‘What are you doing right now?’ Sandler asked, as O’Brien repeated, ‘I’m asking you what are you wearing?’
Sandler responded, ‘Nobody even thought about what I was wearing until you brought it up!’ as the crowd laughed.
‘You’re dressed like a guy playing video poker at 2 AM, Adam,’ O’Brien added, as Sandler insisted, ‘You know what, I like the way I look, because I’m a good person.’
‘I don’t care about what I wear or what I don’t wear. If my snazzy gym shorts and fluffy sweatshirt offend you so much that you had to mock me in front of my peers, I’m going,’ Sandler said.
O’Brien apologized as Sandler reiterated that he was leaving, adding, ‘I have to,’ as some in the crowd shouted, ‘No’ to try and get him to stay.
The funnyman insisted, ‘No, it’s not you, it’s him,’ while pointing at the Oscar host on stage, as O’Brien was caught laughing.
‘You caused this!’ he said to O’Brien, who tried to stifle another laugh, as Sandler gave the Oscar crowd a special invitation.
‘You are all welcome to join me for a game of five-on-five basketball at Veteran Park tonight. Midnight tip-off. The guy from Nosferatu, he’s on my team,’ Sandler joked.
He then approached Chalamet and said, ‘And one more thing, CHALAMET!’ while giving him a hug before leaving to applause.
O’Brien also addressed the LA wildfires which ripped through Pacific Palisades and surrounding areas last month.
He said: ‘The people of Los Angeles have clearly been through a devastating ordeal, and this needs to be addressed and should be addressed. In moments such as this, any award show can seem self-indulgent and superfluous.
‘But what I want to do is have us all remember why we gather here tonight, okay? Yes, we will honor beautiful and talented a-list stars, but the Oscars also shines a light on an incredible community of people you will never see. Craftspeople. Artisans, technicians, costumers.
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Conan’s hilarious opening skit saw him parody The Substance
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He crawled out of Demi Moore’s body in the gory scenes
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The monologue was briefly interrupted by Adam Sandler running through the audience to hug Timothee
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The 58-year-old comedian has typically never been one to dress up for most awards shows, a fact O’Brien pointed out in a very humorous fashion, causing Sandler to leave, but not before giving Oscar nominee Chalamet a kiss
‘That’s right. I can’t name them all, there are too many. Hard-working men and women behind the camera who have devoted their lives to making film. Now, yes, many people we celebrate tonight are not famous, they’re not wealthy. But they are devoted to a craft that can in moments bring us all a little closer together.
‘Now, for almost a century, we have paused every spring to elevate and celebrate an art form. It has the power at its very best, to unite us. So, yes, even in the face of terrible wildfires and divisive politics, the work, which this is about, the work continues.
‘And next year, and for years to come, through trauma and joy, this seemingly absurd ritual is going to be here. I will not. I’m leaving Hollywood to run a bed and breakfast in Orlando. And I’d like to see you there. But the magic, the madness, the grandeur and joy of film worldwide is going to be with u.’
O’Brien also Amazon taking creative control of the James Bond franchise: ‘They just announced the next James Bond. It’s Amazon Senior Vice President of Global Affairs Steve Belsky! Ladies love him!
Fans lauded O’Brien for rising to the occasion and begged for him to ‘host every year.’
One fan wrote of the Gascon dig: ‘dragging her in the opening monologue with her sitting right in front of you, conan i’m so fond of you! #oscars.’
Others wrote: ‘conan is absolutely killing it.’
‘Eating dinner and watching Conan coming out of Demi moore was hard, but I gotta say, he is doing a great job!’
‘Conan should host the Oscars next year, he’s very good!’
O’Brien had earlier shocked fans with a The Substance parody as he dove out of Demi Moore’s body and then jumped back in to find his shoe.
The 97th Academy Awards are honoring the best films of 2024, with the star-studded ceremony being held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
O’Brien previously joked: ‘I only agreed to host so that I could get invited.’
This year’s ceremony has an unusually unsettled field in many of the most high-profile categories, including best picture and most of the acting categories.
Emilia Pérez leads the nominations this year with 13, including for best picture, actress (for Karla Sofía Gascón), supporting actress (for Zoe Saldaña), director (for Jacques Audiard), adapted screenplay and original song.
Gascón stars as the title character, a former Mexican drug lord who comes out as a transgender woman and fakes her own death in order to reinvent herself as a pro-social force, while Saldaña plays an ethically challenged lawyer who helps set up her new identity.
The Brutalist landed in second place with 10 nominations, including for best picture, director (for Brady Corbet), actor (for Adrien Brody), supporting actor (for Guy Pearce), supporting actress (for Felicity Jones), and original screenplay.
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Emilia Pérez leads this year’s Oscar nominees with 13 nominations, including for best picture, actress (for Karla Sofía Gascón), supporting actress (for Zoe Saldaña) and director
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The Brutalist landed in second place with 10 nominations, including for best picture, director (for Brady Corbet), actor (for Adrien Brody), supporting actor (for Guy Pearce), supporting actress (for Felicity Jones), and original screenplay
Brody stars as a Jewish Hungarian architect who immigrates to the US after surviving the Holocaust. The epic historical drama follows his character László Tóth’s attempts to realize his creative vision even as it conflicts with the petty desires of his wealthy benefactor (Pearce).
Wicked tied it for 10 nominations, including for best picture, actress (for Cynthia Erivo), and supporting actress (for Ariana Grande).
The blockbuster musical is an adaptation of only the first half of the musical of the same name, a reimagined prequel to The Wizard Of Oz starring Erivo as Elphaba, future Wicked Witch of the West, and Grande as Galinda Upland, who becomes Glinda the Good
Other best pictures nominees include Anora, A Complete Unknown, Conclave, Dune: Part Two, I’m Still Here, Nickel Boys and The Substance.
The closely watched race for best actor in a leading role got a major shakeup just a week before the Oscars at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, when Timothée Chalamet scored a shock win for his Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown.
Prior to that win, Brody was seemingly the favorite after winning best actor awards at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards, the BAFTAs, the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Movie Awards.
Ralph Fiennes has also doggedly stayed in the running for his role as a British Cardinal struggling to keep a secretive papal election from dissolving into competition and intrigue.
The critically acclaimed film has scored multiple actor wins at smaller ceremonies and festivals for Fiennes, as well as multiple awards for the entire acting ensemble, which Fiennes has accepted on more than one occasion.
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Wicked tied it for 10 nominations, including for best picture, actress (for Cynthia Erivo), and supporting actress (for Ariana Grande)
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This year’s best lead actor race is up in the air after Timothée Chalamet’s recent SAG win for A Complete Unknown
Brody is also a favorite for The Brutalist, but Ralph Fiennes has gotten plenty of awards-season attention for the papal-selection drama Conclave
Those three co-frontrunners are competing against Colman Domingo for Sing Sing and Sebastian Stan for his performance as a young Donald Trump in The Apprentice.
The best actress category also has no clear frontrunner. Demi Moore has been lauded for her comeback performance in the satirical body-horror film The Substance, which earned her best actress honors from the Critics Choice Awards and the Golden Globes, as well as several critics’ organizations.
But her win a week before the Oscars at the SAG Awards suggests she may be in a prime spot to snatch the Oscar after being nominated for the first time.
Anora star Mikey Madison, who plays an adult dancer who impetuously marries the son of a Russian Oligarch, was widely acclaimed and was honored by several critics’ organizations early in the season.
Her chances increased significantly after she won the BAFTA for best lead actress, which she followed up with an Independent Spirit Award win in the gender-neutral lead performance category.
Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón was once a favorite for the award, but she was widely criticized after racist and Islamophobic tweets — some quite recent — that had somehow gone unremarked upon were translated into English and reported on.
Since then, Gascón has sat out awards ceremonies after her posts came to light. After multiple half-hearted apologies, Netflix reportedly opted to stop paying for Gascón’s travel and accommodations for awards shows, though a source told People that she still plans to attend the Oscars.
Before the controversy, her nomination was seen as historic, as she is the first openly transgender woman to be nominated in the best actress category.
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Anora’s Mikey Madison is a late-breaking best actress co-frontrunner after recent wins and controversy that erupted after offensive tweets from Emilia Pérez’s Karla Sofía Gascón resurfaced
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Demi Moore is the other major frontrunner for the satirical body-horror film The Substance. She has won multiple major awards this season
The other nominees are Wicked star Cynthia Erivo, who has failed to capture any major awards, and the Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres, who stars in the historical drama I’m Still Here. She had her own controversy after a clip of her appearing in blackface in a comedy sketch from a Brazilian TV series 17 years ago resurfaced in January.
In the supporting actress category, the nominees including Monica Barbaro for A Complete Unknown, Ariana Grande for Wicked, Felicity Jones for The Brutalist, Isabella Rossellini for Conclave and Zoe Saldaña for Emilia Pérez
Saldaña appears to be the current favorite after a string of wins at the Golden Globes, BAFTA Awards, SAG Awards and Critics Choice Awards.
But some of those early awards had voting periods that cut off prior to the controversy around Gascón surfacing, which could potentially harm her chances from voters who were turned off of Emilia Pérez altogether.
The supporting actor category seems the easiest to predict, Kieran Culkin’s string of wins for A Real Pain making him the favorite.
The other nominees include Yura Borisov for Anora, Edward Norton for A Complete Unknown, Guy Pearce for The Brutalist and Jeremy Strong for The Apprentice.
Among the best picture nominees, Emilia Pérez once seemed like the most likely winner, but Gascon’s offensive posts have threatened its chances.
The Palme d’Or–winning Anora got a late boost with wins for best picture at the Directors Guild of America Awards and the Producers Guild of America Awards, which are considered two of the best predictors of Oscars success by awards-season prognosticators, and its win at the Independent Spirit Awards didn’t hurt.
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Saldaña appears to be the favorite in the supporting actress category after a string of wins
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Kieran Culkin has dominated the supporting actor categories in recent weeks for Jesse Eisenberg’s drama A Real Pain
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After Gascón’s offensive tweets surfaced, Emilia Pérez’s best picture frontrunner status seemed in question, and Anora has snatched up the top award at multiple ceremonies considered major predictors of the Oscars
The best director category seems likely to be a three-man race between Anora’s Sean Baker, The Brutalist director Brady Corbet and Emilia Pérez’s Jacques Audiard.
This year’s original song category features two cutes from Emilia Pérez, El Mal and Mi Camino, the new Elton John song Never Too Late, from the documentary of the same name about him, Like a Bird from Sing Sing, and the latest Diane Warren effort The Journey.
The Academy Awards begin at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT and can be watched on ABC and, for the first time, on a streaming service, Hulu.
Subscribers to premium services including Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, AT&T TV and FuboTV can also also catch the ceremony live.
Oscar winners 2025 full list – see who received honors for this year’s Academy Awards
Best Picture
Anora
The Brutalist
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
I’m Still Here
Nickel Boys
The Substance
Wicked
Emilia Pérez leads this year’s Oscar nominees with 13, including for best picture, actress, supporting actress and director
Best Director
Jacques Audiard — Emilia Pérez
Sean Baker — Anora
Brady Corbet — The Brutalist
Coralie Fargeat — The Substance
James Mangold — A Complete Unknown
Actress in a Leading Role
Cynthia Erivo — Wicked
Karla Sofía Gascón — Emilia Pérez
Mikey Madison — Anora
Demi Moore — The Substance
Fernanda Torres — I’m Still Here
The Substance has been nominated for numerous Oscars, including Best Actress for Demi Moore
Actor in a Leading Role
Adrien Brody — The Brutalist
Timothée Chalamet — A Complete Unknown
Colman Domingo — Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes — Conclave
Sebastian Stan — The Apprentice
The Brutalist came in second place with 10 nods, including for best picture, actor (Adrien Brody), supporting actor (Guy Peare) and supporting actress (Felicity Jones)
Actress in a Supporting Role
Monica Barbaro — A Complete Unknown
Ariana Grande — Wicked
Felicity Jones — The Brutalist
Isabella Rossellini — Conclave
Zoe Saldaña — Emilia Pérez – WINNER
Actor in a Supporting Role
Yura Borisov — Anora
Kieran Culkin — A Real Pain – WINNER
Edward Norton — A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce — The Brutalist
Jeremy Strong — The Apprentice
Animated Feature Film
Flow – WINNER
Inside Out 2
Memoir of a Snail
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
The Wild Robot
Cinematography
The Brutalist — Lol Crawley
Dune: Part Two — Greig Fraser
Emilia Pérez — Paul Guilhaume
Maria — Ed Lachman
Nosferatu — Jarin Blaschke
Original Screenplay
Anora — Sean Baker – WINNER
The Brutalist — Brady Corbet & Mona Fastvold
A Real Pain — Jesse Eisenberg
September 5 — Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum; co-Written by Alex David
The Substance — Coralie Fargeat
Adapted Screenplay
A Complete Unknown — James Mangold and Jay Cocks
Conclave — Peter Straughan – WINNER
Emilia Pérez — Jacques Audiard with Thomas Bidegain, Léa Mysius and Nicolas Livecchi
Nickel Boys — RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes
Sing Sing — Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar; Story by Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence Maclin, John ‘Divine G’ Whitfield
Achievement in Production Design
The Brutalist
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Nosferatu
Wicked – Nathan Crowley and Lee Sandales – WINNER
