Michael Sun 

Conan’s Karla cracks and Timothée’s beaut zoot suit: Oscars 2025 viral moments

It was a deeply unpredictable year – and Conan O’Brien, Adrien Brody and Timothée Chalamet all pulled out the antics
  
  

Conan O'Brien on stage at the Oscars
Conan O’Brien during his opening monologue at the 97th Academy Awards in Los Angeles. Photograph: Rob Latour/Rex/Shutterstock

Halle and Adrien mack on

At the 2003 Oscars, Adrien Brody – who had just become the youngest best actor winner for his turn in The Pianist – planted an unplanned kiss on Halle Berry, the award’s presenter. The moment has stirred controversy in recent years, but the pair warded off any untoward discourse by recreating their lip-locking stunt at this year’s ceremony. Berry greeted Brody on the red carpet with a warm embrace before the pair smooched for the cameras. “Tonight I had to pay him back,” Berry told Variety. “He deserved that.” The academy, meanwhile, called it “a reunion 22 years in the making”.

Conan v Karla

In the sharpest moment of a gloriously piquant opening monologue, Conan O’Brien addressed Karla Sofía Gascón, the Emilia Pérez lead and one-time frontrunner whose Oscars chances were scuppered after a series of damning tweets. Despite the backlash, Gascón still attended the ceremony – though she skipped the red carpet.

“Anora has used the F-word 479 times, which beats the record of Karla Sofía Gascón’s publicist after seeing her tweets,” O’Brien cracked to raucous laughter in the room – before the camera cut to Gascón in the audience smiling and bowing. “If you tweet about the Oscars tonight,” O’Brien addressed Gascón, “my name is Jimmy Kimmel”.

Buttered up

Is it butter? Is it Tweety Bird? Is it Laffy Taffy? No! It’s Timothée Chalamet in a flash of flaxen – a head-to-toe yellow leather suit accompanied by a yellow shirt. The comparisons came thick and fast. Was he auditioning for Curious George’s similarly svelte man in the yellow hat? Was he in camouflage as a lump of Lurpak? It turned out it was a Givenchy ensemble. “You will not get hit on your bike tonight,” O’Brien joked.

Wrong notes

Emilia Pérez’s barnstormer El Mal was all but guaranteed best original song after a slew of other recent awards victories. What was less expected was the victory speech from songwriters Clément Ducol and Camille – who launched into a warbling a cappella performance of their track as director (and the song’s co-writer), Jacques Audiard, stood stiffly just behind the podium. Their rendition soared high into a completely silent audience; they bravely beat on, voices against the play-off music, borne back ceaselessly into the crowd.

Dance break

When the ceremony cut to an ad break, audiences in the Dolby theatre were treated to a much-needed intermission – courtesy of Colman Domingo, best actor nominee for Sing Sing and Hollywood’s suavest leading man. During a lull in the proceedings, Domingo rallied the audience to their feet while the Maze funk classic Before I Let Go echoed through the room. He bounced on stage in a cherry-red tux and a drink in hand – and soon the crowd was on their feet. Domingo was also one of the few celebrities letting loose to Queen Latifah’s musical tribute to Quincy Jones. Dancing king.

A flurry of firsts

When Flow, a cat’s odyssey without dialogue, took home the award for best animated feature, it became the first Latvian film to win an Oscar. “Ball’s in your court, Estonia,” O’Brien joked – before making way for a whole bevy of milestones at this year’s ceremony. Paul Tazewell was the first Black man to win the best costume design Oscar (for his work on Wicked), while Zoe Saldaña said she was the first American of Dominican origin to win an Oscar. “I know I will not be the last,” Saldaña gushed on stage.

Winning best documentary, No Other Land – a harrowing account of the destruction of villages in the West Bank – became the first Palestinian feature recognised by the academy, despite still lacking US distribution. In a stirring speech that roundly inveighed against the US government, the co-director (and new father) Basel Adra also dedicated the award to his daughter. “I hoped that she would not have to live the same life that I am living now,” he said.

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