The Academy Awards occurred on Sunday, and were hosted by Regina Hall, Wanda Sykes and Amy Schumer. The famous award ceremony occurred in the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. The ceremony began around 8 p.m. EST and went on until roughly 11:30 p.m., about a half hour after they were supposed to end.  

This could have been due to the talk that took over social media, news and radio shows.  

Prior to announcing the nominees for Best Documentary, comedian Chris Rock made a crack at Jada Smith’s bald look with a G.I. Jane joke. Smith clearly was not a fan of the joke and responded with a not-so-subtle eye roll. In response, Will Smith took it a step further by getting out of his seat and slapping Rock across the face.  

After Will Smith returned to his seat, Rock clarified that it was simply a joke, and was not meant to be taken out of context as malicious. Will Smith proceeded to defend his wife and yelled loudly at Rock, using profane language in the process. While American broadcasts muted this interaction, Japanese broadcasts did not, and documentation of this altercation can be found on Twitter.  

Before the Smith-Rock interaction, many comedians had been poking fun at the Smiths’ “entanglement” and “open relationship,” and both Smiths just laughed at them, appearing not to be bothered at all. 

The red-carpet event of the night began at 4 p.m. Stars stunned the Oscars audience with their glamorous looks. Some honorable mentions that caught my eye were Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Vanessa Hudgens, Uma Thurman, Elizabeth Olsen and Andrew Garfield.  

The opening performance was done by Beyonce, which was “Be Alive.” Everything in the performance was lime green, which was certainly a choice color. But some fans believe this was done as tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams honor their hometown and Beyonce.  

DJ Khaled interrupted the classic introduction to the three hosts, by offering them what he considered a proper introduction that was delivered in a comedic way.  

Schumer made a joke toward common sexism at the beginning of the night by saying the academy hired three women to host because it is cheaper than one man.  

The three hosts took a lighthearted jab at Florida with the recent “don’t say gay” bill by saying those in Florida watching were going to have a gay night.  

H.E.R and Daniel Kalua presented the first award of the night for the category of best performance by an actress in a supporting role and the winner was Ariana DeBose from “West Side Story.” 

Regina Hall made jokes about being single during the show, asking for a group of men to go backstage for a “COVID-19 test,” saying that theirs got misplaced. Then, when she introduced Jason Momoa and Josh Brolin, she gave them a “pat down” and called it COVID-19 procedure.  

Momoa and Brolin presented the award for achievements in sound, and the winner was “Dune,” which also received the award for cinematography. That award was presented by Woody Harrelson, Rosie Perez and Wesley Snipes, who were also celebrating their 30th anniversary for their film “White Men Can’t Jump.” 

“Dune” wound up winning six Oscars altogether, also taking the award for editing, score, visual effects and production design. 

Tiny Hawk, Shawn White and Kelly Slater presented their 60 years of Bond, highlighting key moments from each “007” movie.  

Disney princess live action stars Lily James, Naomie Scott and Haley Bailey presented the award for best animated feature film and this year’s winner was “Encanto.” 

During the breaks, the following categories and their winners were announced, including:  

Animated Short Film: “The Windshield Wiper.”  

Best Documentary Short Subject: “The Queen of Basketball.”  

Best Live Short Action: “The Long Goodbye.”  

Achievement in Makeup and Design: “The Eyes of Tammy Faye.” 

Yuh-Jung Youn presented the award for Best Performance by a Supporting Actor. The winner was Troy Kostur from “CODA.” This makes him the second deaf actor to win an award, the first being Marlee Beth Matlin for “Children of a Lesser God” in 1987. 

Tiffany Haddish and Simu Liu presented Best International Feature Films together, and the winner was “Drive my Car.” 

Mila Kunis brought light to the unimaginable happenings in the world today, leading her to introduce Reba McEntire, who performed “Somehow You Do.” This offered a bit of hope for the devastating state the world seems to be in the wake of COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine.  

Lupita Nyong’o and Ruth E. Carter presented the Award for Achievement in Costume Design, the winner being Jenny Beavan from her work in “Cruella.” 

John Leguizamo then moved on to introduce the first ever live performance of “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” with Megan Thee Stallion rapping throughout.  

Jennifer Gardner, Elliot Paige and J.K Simmons celebrated the 15th anniversary of the movie “Juno” before presenting the award for the Original Screenplay, which went to Kenneth Branagh for “Belfast.” 

Shawn Mendes and Tracy Ellis Ross presented the award for Best Adapted Screenplay, which went to Sian Heder for the movie “CODA.” 

Rami Malek introduced Billie Eilish and Finneas to perform their song, “No Time to Die,” which they co-wrote for the hit film of the same name. 

Moving on to the excitement of the night which has gone viral on social media platforms, mostly in the form of a meme, Rock presented the award for the Best Documentary, with the winner as “Summer of Soul.” This was all delivered after Rock was assaulted by Will Smith on the stage. 

Moving forward, Sean “Diddy” Combs honored the 50th anniversary of “The Godfather” with a small video tribute. The three Godfathers made their way to the stage to honor one another, as well as those who could not be there with them.  

Diddy attempted to lighten the mood prior to the video tribute by saying that Rock and Smith would settle the dispute with love at the “Golden Party.”  

Immemorial touched audiences’ hearts with the choir singing, “I Will Remember You” and “Spirit in the Sky,” which led into a special tribute for the late Betty White, which was given to the tune of the “Golden Girls” theme song. Jamie Lee Curtis additionally paid her a verbal tribute.  

Zoe Kravitz and Jake Gyllenhaal presented the award for Best Original Song, which to no surprise was awarded to Billie Eilish and Finneas for “No Time to Die.” This is the first nomination and win for the brother-sister duo at the Oscars.  

Kevin Costner presented the Best Director Award, which went to Jane Campion, the first woman to be nominated and to have won this category.  

John Travolta, Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson celebrated the 28th anniversary of “Pulp Fiction,” and then presented the award to Will Smith for Best Actor in a Lead Role. Smith became very emotional during his thank you speech, and even began to cry as he preached how he would like to be a vessel for love and added that love and God are always the answer.  

During his speech, Smith also said how he was in a role that was a protector. He went on to say that “love makes you do crazy things.” Fans were frustrated that Smith got a lot of time to give a thank you speech, while others were cut off mid speech. At the end, he made a quick remark about how he hoped to be invited back to future ceremonies, especially after his violent outburst.  

Schumer returned to the stage and made a joke about how she had been undressing out of her “spiderman suit,” and she wanted to know if she missed anything because the “vibe is weird.” 

Anthony Hopkins then presented the Best Actress in a Leading Role award to Jessica Chastain.  

Lady Gaga and Liza Minnelli presented the award to “CODA” for best picture. The audience showed its support of Minnelli — celebrating the 50th anniversary of “Cabaret” — by demonstrating the sign for “applause.” 

The three hosts closed the award show by coming on stage in pajamas, saying it is time for everyone to go to bed.  

Looking back, it’s no surprise that “Dune” took home the most Oscars. Since the film’s debut, “Dune” has won 20 awards in all. 

In my opinion, the film “Tick, Tick… Boom!” and actor Andrew Garfield should have won in the categories Movie of the Year and Best Lead Actor. The popular Netflix musical has a wide fan base, so it was no surprise that there were several nominations. It was a shock that it failed to win any awards, though.  

This Academy Awards was definitely an event to remember. Hall, Sykes and Schumer were perfect choices for hosting and I would love to see women present award shows more.

CHARLIZE HARDING
[email protected]