The biggest upset at the 94th Academy Awards had nothing to do with any of the nominated films competing for honors. It came roughly three hours into the telecast, when Will Smith stepped on stage and slapped Chris Rock after he made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith. It was a stunning unscripted moment that left viewers and the audience in the Dolby theater slack-jawed. Rock, looking stunned at what had just transpired on live television, pulled himself together and announced “Summer of Soul” as the winner of Best Documentary Feature.
Smith accepted his statuette for Best Actor shortly after the incident, during which he tearfully apologized to the Academy and his fellow nominees, but not Rock.
The rest of the evening played out very much as expected. “Dune” won six categories, the most of any of the nominated films: Sound, Editing, Score, Production Design, Best Cinematography and Visual Effects. Best Supporting Actress Ariana DeBose made history as the first Afro-Latina and openly queer woman to take home an acting prize, while Best Supporting Actor Troy Kotsur became the first deaf male actor to win. Eight-time nominee Kenneth Branagh finally won an Oscar, for his original screenplay for the semi-autobiographical “Belfast.” In her acceptance speech for Best Actress, fellow first-time winner Jessica Chastain paid tribute to Tammy Faye Bakker and her “radical acts of love” towards the LGBTQ community.
In the end, the neck-and-neck race for Best Picture between “The Power of the Dog” and “CODA” went the way of “CODA,” while Jane Campion took home Best Director, her first Oscar since winning Best Original Screenplay for “The Piano” in 1994.
Hosts Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes kept the show moving forward at an energetic clip, from the opening monologue, in which they alluded to Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill (“Well, we’re gonna have a great night tonight and for you people in Florida, we’re gonna have a gay night,” Sykes said) to a zany bit where they appeared on stage as Richard Williams (Sykes), Tammy Faye Bakker (Hall) and Spider-Man (Schumer).
And yes, Rachel Zegler did indeed appear at the ceremony and we for sure are still talking about Bruno.
The complete list of winners is below, with links to stories.
BEST PICTURE
- “Belfast”
- “CODA” **WINNER
- “Don’t Look Up”
- “Drive My Car”
- “Dune”
- “King Richard”
- “Licorice Pizza”
- “Nightmare Alley”
- “The Power of the Dog”
- “West Side Story”
BEST DIRECTOR
- Kenneth Branagh, “Belfast”
- Ryusuke Hamaguchi, “Drive My Car”
- Paul Thomas Anderson, “Licorice Pizza”
- Jane Campion, “The Power of the Dog” **WINNER
- Steven Spielberg, “West Side Story”
BEST ACTOR
- Javier Bardem, “Being the Ricardos”
- Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Power of the Dog”
- Andrew Garfield, “tick, tick…BOOM!”
- Will Smith, “King Richard” **WINNER
- Denzel Washington, “The Tragedy of Macbeth”
BEST ACTRESS
- Jessica Chastain, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” ** WINNER
- Olivia Colman, “The Lost Daughter”
- Penélope Cruz, “Parallel Mothers”
- Nicole Kidman, “Being the Ricardos”
- Kristen Stewart, “Spencer”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
- Ciaran Hinds, “Belfast”
- Troy Kotsur, “CODA” **WINNER
- Jesse Plemons, “The Power of the Dog”
- J.K. Simmons, “Being the Ricardos”
- Kodi Smit-McPhee, “The Power of the Dog”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
- Jessie Buckley, “The Lost Daughter”
- Ariana DeBose, “West Side Story” **WINNER
- Judi Dench, “Belfast”
- Kirsten Dunst, “The Power of the Dog”
- Aunjanue Ellis, “King Richard”
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
- “CODA” **WINNER
- “Drive My Car”
- “Dune”
- “The Lost Daughter”
- “The Power of the Dog”
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
- “Belfast” **WINNER
- “Don’t Look Up”
- “King Richard”
- “Licorice Pizza”
- “The Worst Person in the World”
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
- “Dune” **WINNER
- “Nightmare Alley”
- “The Power of the Dog”
- “The Tragedy of Macbeth”
- “West Side Story”
BEST FILM EDITING
- “Don’t Look Up”
- “Dune” ** WINNER
- “King Richard”
- “The Power of the Dog”
- “tick, tick…BOOM!”
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
- “Dune” ** WINNER
- “Nightmare Alley”
- “The Power of the Dog”
- “The Tragedy of Macbeth”
- “West Side Story”
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
- “Cruella” **WINNER
- “Cyrano”
- “Dune”
- “Nightmare Alley”
- “West Side Story”
BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
- “Coming 2 America”
- “Cruella”
- “Dune”
- “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” ** WINNER
- “House of Gucci”
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
- “Don’t Look Up”
- “Dune” ** WINNER
- “Encanto”
- “Parallel Mothers”
- “The Power of the Dog”
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
- “Be Alive,” “King Richard”
- “Dos Oruguitas,” “Encanto”
- “Down to Joy,” “Belfast”
- “No Time To Die,” “No Time to Die” **WINNER
- “Somehow You Do You,” “Four Good Days”
BEST SOUND
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
- “Dune” **WINNER
- “Free Guy”
- “No Time to Die”
- “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”
- “Spider-Man: No Way Home”
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
- “Drive My Car” **WINNER
- “Flee”
- “The Hand of God”
- “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom”
- “The Worst Person in the World”
BEST ANIMATED FILM
- “Encanto” **WINNER
- “Flee”
- “Luca”
- “The Mitchells Vs. The Machines”
- “Raya and the Last Dragon”
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
- “Ascension”
- “Attica”
- “Flee”
- “Summer of Soul…or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised” **WINNER
- “Writing With Fire”
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
- “Audible”
- “Lead Me Home”
- “The Queen of Basketball” ** WINNER
- Three Songs for Benazir”
- “When We Were Bullies”
BEST ANIMATED SHORT
- “Affairs of the Art”
- “Bestia”
- “Box Ballet”
- “Robin Robin”
- “The Windshield Wiper” ** WINNER
BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT
- “Ala Kachuu – “Take and Run”
- “The Dress”
- “The Long Goodbye” ** WINNER
- “On My Mind”
- “Please Hold”
