Because the 97th Academy Awards draw close to, it’s lastly time to stroll down Hollywood’s most scandalous purple carpet, unveiling 5 of essentially the most controversial moments in Oscars historical past. The world will watch because the movie business crowns its most interesting on Sunday, March 2, 2025, however whispers of snubbed masterpieces and neglected performances are already setting the web ablaze.
But, past the golden glow of Oscar evening lies moments marked by controversies, a few of that are tied to debatable wins whereas others to incidents that had nothing to do with the golden statuette itself. So, let’s pull again the velvet curtain and revisit essentially the most talked-about moments within the historical past of this grand spectacle.
Listed here are this yr’s 10 Finest Image #Oscars Nominations.
For the complete checklist of #Oscars2025 Nominees: https://t.co/xCtDTc3tT4 pic.twitter.com/4yWLco5nU6
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5. Angelina Jolie’s Passionate Kiss With Her Brother (2000)
Let’s start with Angelina Jolie, who, regardless of getting widespread popularity of her newest movie, Maria, was notably snubbed from this yr’s nominations. Some speculate this determination could also be on account of her ongoing authorized battle together with her ex-husband Brad Pitt.
However this isn’t the primary time Jolie has made headlines regarding Hollywood’s greatest evening. Rewind to 2000, when a single kiss sparked one of the talked-about moments in Academy Awards historical past. Whereas she was solely 24, Jolie arrived on the ceremony alongside her brother, James Haven, to have fun her nomination for Woman, Interrupted.
Although nonetheless an rising title within the business, she had already garnered crucial reward, profitable a Golden Globe and incomes an Emmy nomination for Gia. That evening, she cemented her standing as a Hollywood power, taking house the Oscar for Finest Supporting Actress.
Whereas standing earlier than a room stuffed with Hollywood legends reminiscent of Russell Crowe, Denzel Washington, Julianne Moore, Meryl Streep, and Tom Cruise, Jolie opened her acceptance speech with a contact of humor, “I’m shocked no one’s ever fainted up right here.”
Nonetheless, she turned her consideration to Haven, declaring, “I’m in shock, and I’m so in love with my brother proper now.” The assertion, paired with a heartfelt acknowledgment of his assist, might need gone unnoticed if not for what adopted.
Later that night, on the Self-importance Truthful afterparty, Jolie and Haven posed for photographers, her golden statuette in a single hand and her brother by her facet. In a fleeting second, the siblings shared a kiss on the lips, a gesture that despatched tabloids right into a frenzy and have become an prompt popular culture phenomenon.
In June 2000, Jolie addressed her eyebrow-raising evening out with Haven, telling Leisure Weekly that they’d nothing “greater than brotherly” love for one another.
Can we discuss the truth that this kiss occurred between Angelina Jolie and her buddy on the Oscars in 2000??? pic.twitter.com/XJhGhSAPnM
— Mitra🌞 (@persianmama111) March 30, 2022
4. The Envelopegate Incident (2017)
The 89th Academy Awards in 2017 will endlessly be remembered for one of the surprising blunders in Oscars historical past, the mistaken announcement of La La Land as Finest Image as a substitute of the rightful winner, Moonlight.
Because the grand finale approached, veteran actors Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway took the stage to current essentially the most coveted award of the evening. Beatty hesitated upon opening the envelope, seemingly puzzled, earlier than handing it to Dunaway, who confidently declared La La Land the winner.
The workforce behind the dazzling musical took to the stage, basking in what they believed was their crowning achievement. Speeches have been properly underway when confusion rippled by way of the manufacturing crew. Certainly one of La La Land’s producers, Jordan Horowitz, was discreetly proven an envelope by a stagehand. The envelope bore a completely totally different title: Moonlight.
“There’s a mistake,” Horowitz informed the viewers as his confused crew members appeared on. “Moonlight, you guys gained Finest Image. This isn’t a joke,” he repeated, taking the right envelope from Beatty and exhibiting the digital camera its inscription.
The error stemmed from a mix-up in envelopes. Beatty had unknowingly been handed a replica of the Finest Actress card, which bore the title of La La Land’s Emma Stone, whose victory had been introduced moments earlier.
3. Marlon Brando Turns Down His Oscar Award (1973)
In 1973, the Academy Awards witnessed one in every of its most unforgettable moments. Marlon Brando, a frontrunner for Finest Actor on account of his highly effective efficiency in The Godfather, was declared the winner.
But, as a substitute of stepping onto the stage to simply accept his Oscar, he orchestrated an sudden protest. Not like George C. Scott, who had outright refused his award a couple of years earlier, Brando took a extra dramatic method. He despatched Apache actress and activist Sacheen Littlefeather in his place.
Brando’s determination wasn’t simply an act of defiance towards Hollywood. By the early ’70s, he had turn into deeply concerned within the American Indian Motion, and his refusal was meant to carry consideration to a brewing disaster: the Wounded Knee incident.
Only a month earlier than the Oscars, round 200 Oglala Lakota and AIM activists had occupied the city of Wounded Knee, holding their floor for 71 tense days. With the FBI imposing a media blackout, Brando noticed the Oscars as a chance to interrupt the silence.
After reaching out to AIM leaders, it was determined that Littlefeather would ship Brando’s message. Stepping onto the stage in a standard costume, she carried a prolonged fifteen-page speech penned by Brando himself.
However the second she started, the environment turned tense. A producer allegedly warned her that she could be forcefully eliminated and presumably arrested if she exceeded a minute. With no selection however to improvise, she made a quick but impactful assertion, politely declining the golden statuette.
In the meantime, Roger Moore, who had offered the award, discovered himself holding onto Brando’s Oscar. The statue remained in his possession for years till the Academy finally despatched an armed guard to retrieve it.
2. Will Smith And Chris Rock’s Notorious Oscars Slap Incident (2022)
The 2022 Academy Awards witnessed a second so surprising that it rapidly turned one of the talked-about incidents in Oscar historical past, an occasion now broadly known as “the slap.”
The sudden altercation unfolded when comic Chris Rock took the stage to current the award for Finest Documentary Function. He joked about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head in his introduction, suggesting she might star in a sequel to G.I. Jane. Whereas the viewers laughed, Jada’s response was markedly totally different together with her eyes rolled in seen displeasure.
Initially, Will Smith appeared amused, however inside moments, the environment modified. Rising from his seat, he strode onto the stage and struck Rock throughout the face, leaving each the viewers and viewers at house in shocked silence. Many questioned whether or not the confrontation was staged or an unscripted second of uncooked emotion.
Rock, visibly shocked, acknowledged the slap in disbelief, whereas Smith, now again at his seat, erupted in anger, repeatedly demanding that Rock chorus from mentioning his spouse. The surreal alternate left a long-lasting mark on the awards present, sparking intense debate and dialogue that will proceed lengthy after the evening had ended.
1. The Notorious Adrien Brody & Halle Berry Kiss (2003)
Greater than 20 years after their unforgettable Academy Awards attendance, Adrien Brody and Halle Berry are set to attend the 2025 Oscars. Brody arrives because the Finest Actor nominee for The Brutalist, whereas Berry takes the stage as one of many evening’s presenters.
Although they doubtless gained’t cross paths underneath the highlight, their presence on the ceremony inevitably stirs reminiscences of Brody’s sudden kiss with Berry on the 2003 Oscars.
Contemporary off her historic Finest Actress win for Monster’s Ball in 2002, Berry returned the next yr to current the Finest Actor award, per custom. She playfully hinted on the status awaiting the following honoree as she launched a montage of previous winners. Moments later, she referred to as Brody’s title, making him, at simply 29, the youngest actor to ever win within the class for his position in The Pianist.
Overwhelmed with emotion, Brody embraced his mom earlier than bounding onto the stage, however then got here the second that also lingers in Oscar lore: sweeping Berry right into a dramatic dip, he planted a protracted, sudden kiss on her lips.
The printed briefly lower to Berry, who appeared momentarily shocked as she discreetly wiped her lips, whereas Brody lightheartedly quipped concerning the shock gesture as he launched into his speech.
Years later, in 2009, Berry seemingly turned the tables when Jamie Foxx offered her with the “Decade of Hotness” award at Spike TV’s Guys Alternative Awards whereas playfully locking lips with him in a transfer some interpreted as a nod to the Brody incident.
Nonetheless, as time handed, criticism of the 2003 kiss grew, with many declaring the obvious lack of consent. In a 2017 interview, Berry lastly addressed the second candidly, admitting she had no thought it was coming. In her phrases, she was merely caught within the second, pondering, “What the f— is occurring proper now?” but finally selecting to go together with it, given the chaos of the evening. Even in any case these years, that Oscar kiss stays one of many ceremony’s most talked-about moments.
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