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Oscars 2026: Must-See Moments You Might Have Missed From The Ceremony
The 2026 Oscars saw out awards season for another year on Sunday night.
Sinners and One Battle After Another went into this year’s ceremony vying for the top prizes, but in the end, it was the latter that would come out on top, with six wins in total, including the coveted Best Picture and Best Director for Paul Thomas Anderson.
It was still a strong showing for Ryan Coogler’s musical vampire thriller, though, which picked up four awards in total, while Frankenstein scooped three and KPop Demon Hunters managed to pick up two.
But, as usual, some of the night’s most memorable moments had nothing to do with who came away with what.
For those who didn’t feel like staying up until the wee small hours to follow the Academy Awards action live, here’s your quick guide to all of this year’s must-see moments…
Let’s start things off on the red carpet, where Best Supporting Actress nominee Teyana Taylor was undoubtedly one of the best-dressed of the night
Her fellow nominee Wunmi Mosaku was also glittering as she made her way into the event
Best Director contender Chloé Zhao brought plenty of drama to the red carpet
No one was having more fun on the red carpet than Marty Supreme star Odessa A’zion
Speaking of Marty Supreme, shall we take a moment to really take in all of Timothée Chalamet’s look, too?
Kate Hudson marked her Best Actress nod by walking the red carpet with her famous mum, Goldie Hawn
Sinners’ own Michael B Jordan also made the Oscars into a family affair, too
His Sinners co-star Jack O’Connell’s moment on the red carpet came with a surprise for fans of the film
And while Chase Infiniti may have been snubbed in the Best Actress category, she certainly made herself known on the red carpet with this fabulous outfit
Heated Rivalry star Hudson Williams kicked off 2026′s awards season with his first major red carpet at the Golden Globes, and rounded it off with an appearance at the Grammys
Conan O’Brien set the tone with an opening monologue referencing the current political climate and world news, as well as the threats of AI to the entertainment industry
Oh, and naturally, he couldn’t resist a pop at Timothée Chalamet, either
The first winner of the night was Amy Madigan for Weapons, and she was visibly delighted with the news, laughing to herself as she finally got to hold the Oscar in her hands
Sinners’ musical performance brought the film’s most memorable scene to life live on stage
There was a rare Oscars tie while presenting the award for Best Live-Action Short Film (‘it’s ironic that the short film Oscar is going to take twice as long,’ he then joked)
There was some awkwardness as producers tried to cut Two People Exchanging Saliva’s acceptance speech, but they prevailed
Kieran Culkin accepted Sean Penn’s third (third!) Oscar win on his behalf after he ‘couldn’t be here this evening – or didn’t want to’
Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans roped Channing Tatum into one memorable comedy sketch
Sinners director and writer Ryan Coogler celebrated his Best Original Screenplay win by celebrating the work of Sinners’ sprawling cast
Billy Crystal began the ‘in memoriam’ tributes by leading a star-studded homage to Rob Reiner
Lightening the mood after a break was this excellent exchange between sci-fi legends Sigourney Weaver and Pedro Pascal, featuring a cameo from Baby Yoda himself
Jimmy Kimmel wasn’t on stage for long, but managed to take a series of shots at Donald Trump and his administration
You could hear a pin drop after All The Empty Rooms’ win for Best Documentary Short, as the team behind it made an important point about gun violence
Mr Nobody Against Putin’s team then had a timely message for the whole world about ‘complicity’ and its effects on society
The cast of Bridesmaids – minus one! – then came together to mark 15 years since the film’s release (yes this would have been a lot funnier had their mics been working but as that’s not their fault we’re going to swiftly move on…)
Sinners’ own Autumn Durald Arkapaw made history with her win for Best Cinematography – and shared the moment with every woman in the room
There’ve been plenty of performances of Golden over the course of awards season this year, but the rendition at the Oscars was perhaps the most ambitious yet
Javier Bardem used his introduction to Best International Feature Film by declaring ‘free Palestine’
After winning Best Original Song, an emotional Ejae reflected on how far she’d come
Unfortunately, after Golden won Best Original Song for KPop Demon Hunters, one of its songwriters was cut off by producers, leading to widespread groaning from the studio audience
Michael B Jordan beat stiff competition from Timothée Chalamet and Leonardo DiCaprio to win his first Oscar, and the reaction from everyone around him was just wonderful to behold
Jessie Buckley then completed her awards season clean sweep with an Oscars victory, rounding off her heartwarming speech with an Irish-language sign-off
Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor weren’t ever going to get through their Moulin Rouge! reunion without a quick musical interlude, were they?
Paul Thomas Anderson then saw out One Battle After Another’s Best Picture win with a message for his fellow nominees
But not before…
And finally, Conan O’Brien’s final sketch of the night referenced the final moments of One Battle After Another