Oscars 2026: 29 Memorable Moments That Defined The Academy Awards

After an especially busy awards season that’s already gifted us all kinds of memorable moments, it’s time for the mother of them all, the Oscars.

Over the last 98 years, the annual Academy Awards ceremony has been the site of countless iconic scenes – although not every instance of the Oscars making headlines has been for the reasons organisers might have hoped for.

As we gear up for the 2026 ceremony, here are just some of the highs and lows that have defined the Oscars over the last century…

For those who were living under a rock in 2022, here’s what went down at that year’s Oscars.

Comedian Chris Rock presented one of the night’s big awards, during which he made an impromptu joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s buzzcut after spotting her in the audience, comparing her to “GI Jane”.

Jada had previously spoken about her experiences of living with alopecia, which inspired her to shave her head.

Unimpressed with the comic’s remarks, Jada’s husband Will Smith walked up to the comedian and slapped him in the middle of the broadcast, urging Chris to “keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth” upon returning to his seat.

What ensued was months of unescapable media furore and discourse, and although Will won his first ever Oscar just a few moments after the slap for his performance in the film King Richard, he eventually made the decision to resign from the Film Academy, and was later banned from the ceremony for a decade.

During the live broadcast in 2014, HuffPost fave John Travolta was recruited to welcome Frozen star Idina Menzel to the stage, so she could perform her character’s signature tune Let It Go.

Unfortunately, due to John’s apparent struggles reading from an autocue, he instead introduced “the wickedly talented, one and only Adele Dazeem” – a moment he’s still struggling to live down more than a decade later.

In a moment that saw the whole world holding its breath in unison, Jennifer Lawrence took a tumble as she went to accept her Best Actress prize, for her performance in Silver Linings Playbook.

After getting a standing ovation, she joked: “You guys are just standing up ’cos you feel bad that I fell, which is embarrassing, but thank you.”

A year later, Jennifer returned to the Oscars, where she was nominated again, this time for her role in American Hustle.

While she didn’t pull off the Oscars double, she did pull off the falling-over-at-the-Oscars double on the red carpet as she made her way into the event, which… is still something.

The story goes that Joan Crawford wasn’t feeling very well before the Oscars in 1946 and, perhaps sensing that she wasn’t going to win her category, decided to forego attending entirely.

Imagine her surprise, then, when she heard her name being read out as the Best Actress recipient on the radio for her performance in Mildred Pierce.

What followed was an impromptu press conference from the screen icon’s bed, where she was presented with her awards statuette in person (in full beat, naturally).

“You like me, you really, really like me,” is an oft-quoted awards show line, but as it turns out, that’s not what Sally Field actually said.

“I want to say thank you to you,” she told the audience at the 1985 Oscars. “I haven’t had an orthodox career, and I’ve wanted more than anything to have your respect.

“The first time [I won an Oscar], I didn’t feel it. But this time I feel it. And I can’t deny the fact that you like me! Right now! You like me!”

What’s also often overlooked is the fact she did actually make the crowd laugh along with her speech, even if audiences at home were seemingly less impressed.

After appearing in around 20 films, Gwyneth finally picked up an Oscar in 1999, for her performance in Shakespeare In Love, and struggled to get her words out through her tears.

Interestingly, this would prove to be Gwyneth’s only Academy Award nomination (so far!), but at least she managed to get the Oscar on her first try.

It’s fair to say Olivia Colman had not been expecting to beat her peers in the Best Actress category that year, judging from that acceptance speech – which showcased all of her signature charm and a fan-girl moment over Lady Gaga.

The 1989 Academy Awards went down in the history books for cooking up a chaotic opening number that felt like a bit of a fever dream. The performance saw Rob Lowe duetting with Snow White, as well as featuring appearances from stars as varied as Lily Tomlin and Vincent Price.

Without a host, the routine served in place of an opening monologue, but it went down so badly it would be a full 30 years before the Oscars would go ahead without a host.

After Miss Piggy warmed up the crowd (seriously, what an intro), there wasn’t a dry eye in the house when Kermit The Frog performed Rainbow Connection in 1980.

The Muppet Movie’s opening number had been nominated for Best Original Song, but lost out to It Goes Like It Goes from Norma Rae, a decision which was rubbished by many critics at the time.

Eventually, Kermit and co did finally win an Oscar, although it took more than 40 years, when Man Or Muppet scooped Best Original Song in 2011.

It was the performance the world had been waiting for when Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga finally sang Shallow from the A Star Is Born soundtrack together.

The pair had actually only performed the track live together once prior to the Oscars (when Bradley was a surprise guest at one of Gaga’s Las Vegas shows), but you wouldn’t know that from the sheer chemistry between the two of them while they sang to one another.

Back in 2000, Angelina won her first Oscar for her role in the film adaptation of Girl, Interrupted.

Her win was somewhat overshadowed on the night by her red carpet appearance with brother James Haven, who she kissed on the lips and declared she was “so in love with”.

Years later, she admitted she was “disappointed” with the “circus” that surrounded the incident, explaining that she and James had always relied on one another as the children of divorced parents.

Yeah, Ryan Seacrest really wasn’t loving this, was he?

Gone With The Wind star Hattie McDaniel’s Best Supporting Actress win at the 12th Academy Awards was a particularly important one, as she became the first African American performer to take home an Oscar.

While this is often referred to as a progressive moment in Oscars history, it should be noted that Hattie’s win came at a time when segregation was still in place. This meant she was not permitted to sit with her Gone With The Wind co-stars during the ceremony, with film producer David O. Selznick having to call in a favour for her to be allowed to attend at all.

Precious actor Mo’nique paid homage to Hattie McDaniel when she picked up the same award 70 years later, sporting a similar ensemble to the Gone With The Wind star.

“This moment is so much bigger than me,” Halle Berry began in her acceptance speech, before listing off the names of the Black women in the acting industry who had come before her, including Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Diahann Carroll, as well as her peers, Jada Pinkett, Angela Bassett and Vivica Fox.

She said she hoped her win might represent “a chance” for “every nameless, faceless woman of colour”.

Halle’s victory came 39 years after Sidney Poitier became the first Black winner in the Best Actor category. His successors have included Forest Whitaker, Jamie Foxx and Denzel Washington.

Sadly, the Monster’s Ball star remains in 2026 the only Black woman to have been been given the Best Actress title, lamenting 15 years later that she felt her win “meant nothing”, as so little had changed in the time that followed.

In 2023, Michelle Yeoh became only the second woman of colour in history to receive the Best Actress award – which was poignantly presented to her by its past recipient, Halle herself.

The Everything Everywhere All At Once star made history as the first Asian performer to win the award, and enthused during her speech: “For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities. It’s proof – dream big, and dreams do come true.”

“And ladies, don’t let anybody tell you you are ever past your prime,” she added. “Never give up.”

Kathryn’s efforts at the helm of The Hurt Locker, which also landed Best Picture that year, made her the only woman to have won in the Best Director category at that time.

In the years that have followed, only six more women – Greta Gerwig, Chloé Zhao, Emerald Fennell, Jane Campion, Justine Triet and Coralie Fargeat – have been nominated in this category.

Chloé became the second woman, and first woman of colour, to accept the accolade in 2021, while Jane became the third the following year.

Ahead of this year’s ceremony, Chloé is in the running once again for her work as the director of Hamnet.

Marlon Brando’s win for The Godfather was, without doubt, a Big Deal, so when he refused to show up to collect his award, it raised a lot of eyebrows.

Instead, the acting legend had Native American performer Sacheen Littlefeather collect the award on his behalf, explaining that he wasn’t present in protest of Hollywood’s portrayal of Native Americans on the big screen.

Who could forget him chucking his chewing gum in his partner’s direction on his way up to the stage, too?

Well, she was never going to pass by unnoticed, was she?

Björk was nominated for an Oscar in 2001, for her contribution to the Dancer In The Dark soundtrack.

As she made her way into the event that year, the Hyper-Ballad singer made headlines for her swan-inspired dress, leaning into her attire by dropping eggs along the red carpet.

We love when a star really knows how to turn heads, and that’s exactly what Pose actor Billy Porter did on the red carpet in 2019.

On the subject of his much-discussed tuxedo dress, Billy told Vogue that year: “We wanted to play between the masculine and the feminine. This look was interesting because it’s not drag. I’m not a drag queen, I’m a man in a dress.

“My aunt Dorothy used to always say, ‘Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.’ That’s why I look good every time I leave the house. I want to run shit. From this [Oscars] moment, I want people to understand that you don’t have to understand or even agree with other people’s authenticity or truths, but we must all respect each other.

“People are going to be really uncomfortable with my Black ass in a ball gown—but it’s not anybody’s business but mine.”

In hindsight, the reaction to Angelina Jolie’s so-called “leg-bomb” might have been a little OTT.

Back in 2012, though, her errant right leg really felt like a moment, inspiring countless memes in those halcyon early days of Twitter (as it was still known in those days).

There’s Angelina again, this time in a huge selfie with a star-studded cast including Meryl Streep, Lupita Nyong’o and Bradley Cooper (alongside some somewhat more regrettable inclusions).

The photo – shared on host Ellen Degeneres’ Twitter page – quickly broke records as the most retweeted image in the site’s history, beating an image previously shared by then-President Barack Obama.

Remember, even the word “selfie” was quite a new thing back in 2014, let alone the act of taking a group shot like this, so while the furore around this photo might seem a bit silly almost a decade later, we promise it genuinely was a big deal at the time.

In 2001, this unexpected shocker was voted the “most memorable” moment in Oscars history.

We’re particularly fond of host David Niven’s quick-thinking response, as he declared: “The only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping off and showing his shortcomings.”

British singer-songwriter Sam Smith made a huge blunder during their Academy Awards acceptance speech, erroneously describing themself as the “first openly gay man to win an Oscar” (they came out as non-binary a few years later).

Sam’s comments sparked a huge backlash, particularly from members of the LGBTQ+ community, including past Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black.

Many at the time called for the star to learn their LGBTQ+ history before speaking out on such a public platform – and to Sam’s credit, they’ve since proved they have done their homework on queer trailblazers.

No one could quite agree back in 2023 whether Hugh Grant was being outwardly rude or just a bit awkward when this exchange with Ashley Graham on the red carpet went viral.

Hugh did sort of make up for it during the ceremony, though, when he had the room howling by comparing his face to a “scrotum” while presenting an award with one-time co-star Andie MacDowell.

Many picked up on the fact that when presenting Casey Affleck with his Oscar in 2017, Brie Larson did not applaud for the actor, which many took as a response to the accusations of workplace sexual harassment that he’d faced years earlier.

She later told Vanity Fair: “I think that whatever it was that I did onstage kind of spoke for itself. I’ve said all that I have to say on that topic.”

Spoiler alert: It wasn’t La La Land.

Fancy watching it again? Oh, go on then…