On Sunday night, Troy Kotsur became the first deaf actor to win an Oscar after his acting partner Marlee Matlin won an equally historic one in 1987. Ditto for actress Ariana DeBose, the first woman to openly queer and self-described Afro-Latino to receive an Oscar. Without forgetting Jane Campion, only the third woman to win the Oscar for best director, in addition to being the only director to have been nominated twice in this category. However, all these accomplishments were overshadowed by the slap that Will Smith flanked Chris Rock in front of a dumbfounded audience. Undoubtedly, the altercation will lengthen the list of shock moments that have punctuated the history of the Oscars. Overview.
One of the most famous episodes came in 1973 when Marlon Brando won in absentia Best Actor Oscar for The Godfather, by Francis Ford Coppola. Through activist Sacheen Littlefeather, the star refused the statuette by denouncing the treatment of First Nations by the American film industry. For the record, this was not just a mood swing on the part of Brando, who had worked in the American Indian Movement since the 1960s. A neighbor of Francis Ford Coppola, Sacheen Littlefeather had been able to contact Marlon Brando thanks to the filmmaker.
The following year, host David Niven was about to introduce Elizabeth Taylor when a blazing naked man came up behind him and walked across the stage making the peace sign. In front of an audience that remained silent, the phlegmatic English actor remarked, tongue-in-cheek: “The only thing we will remember him for are his faults. The man in question was Robert Opel, an artist and gay rights activist. Opel had already stripped in public for the cause and, after the 1974 ceremony, she was invited to a plethora of shows.
The policy and the envelope
The public was much more responsive, even booing for some, when in 1978, winning the Oscar for best supporting actress for Julia, Vanessa Redgrave thanked the Academy for having the courage to stand up to the “Zionist thugs”. For the record, the actress had just participated in the documentary The Palestinian. In this case, the actress was referring to members of the Jewish Defense League who had burned her in effigy, in addition to putting a price on her head, as recalled by the HollywoodReporter in a 2018 interview.
“I had to do my part. Everyone has to do their part, try to change things for the better. To stand up for what’s right and not be dismayed if you don’t see results immediately,” Vanessa Redgrave concludes without regret.
Thereafter, there was hardly any wave for a long time. In 1986, he found himself raising eyebrows at Cher’s daring outfit, designed by Bob Mackie. But still ? No, we had to wait, so to speak, until 2011 for another genuine shock, this one prolonged.
Indeed, on this occasion James Franco and Anne Hathaway, who did not share any chemistry, provided the worst animation in the history of the Oscars. From uneasiness to unease, we had the impression of witnessing, during the evening, a derailment in slow motion. In an anniversary throwback published by The Ringer in 2021, one of the screenwriters on the night, David Wild, admits:
“It was like the arranged meeting [blind date] world’s most uncomfortable between the cool potty rocker and the loveable theater group cheerleader. »
Then, in 2017 came what was later called the “ envelopegate “. After being handed the wrong envelope, actress Faye Dunaway and her partner Bonnie and Clyde Warren Beatty awarded the Best Picture Oscar to La La Land rather than Moonlight. Reason for the blunder? Excited to be backstage at the Oscars, Brian Cullinan, a representative from PricewaterhouseCoopers, tweeted his impressions rather than focusing on the simple task of delivering the envelope.
A sad first
Until this year, however, no assault had come to taint the ceremony. That was before, irritated by a very bad joke made at the expense of his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith (who can nevertheless be seen laughing at the said joke a few seconds before) went on stage and hit the presenter Chris Rock in the face. You should know that Jada Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia and that she sported a magnificent shaved head on Sunday. Hence Chris Rock’s ill-advised tip comparing her to GI Jane, a role for which Demi Moore famously shaved her head once.
Back in his place, Will Smith handed it over: “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth,” he told a stunned Chris Rock. Prohibited, the room then understood that the altercation was not planned. Which didn’t stop her from applauding Smith when he soon after went for the Best Actor Oscar for King Richard. Moreover, during her excellent well-cooked opening, the host Amy Schumer had launched: “While we are still struggling to bring women’s stories to the cinema, it is good to see a film devoted… to the father of tennis legends Serena and Venus Williams. »
In a rambling speech, Will Smith claimed to have “protected” his female co-stars and, drawing parallels with his character, spoke of the importance of “protecting” his family, referring to a divine mission, then declaring that he wanted to be a “vessel of love” and “a river for his own”, arguing that “Love can make you do crazy things”. Hubris too.