By Mark Gray
3:00am PDT, Mar 16, 2024
The ratings are in!
The Academy Awards took place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood — marking the 96th year Oscars have been handed out — on March 10, 2024. What happened during the telecast that fired up social media? What were the big surprises? Join us as we revisit the most talked-about moments of the night and their aftermath… including the ratings…
Days after the show aired, Nielsen released the ratings for the 2024 telecast, revealing that nearly 19.5 million viewers tuned in — and that viewership grew about 4% compared to the 2023 Oscars telecast. It's been a while since the Oscars hauled in truly huge numbers, with Nielsen confirming that the last time the show commanded more than 40 million viewers was a decade ago when "12 Years a Slave" won best picture in 2014.
Keep reading for the most talked-about moments from the 2024 Oscars…
MORE: Follow Wonderwall on MSN for more fun celebrity & entertainment photo galleries and content
The real best performance of the night
A show stealer! Ryan Gosling provided THE moment of the Oscars with his hilarious performance of the Academy Award-nominated song "I'm Just Ken" from "Barbie."
Donning a bright pink suit and matching gloves, Ryan began the song from his seat and made his way onto the stage. At one point he was joined by Guns N' Roses guitar icon Slash. Ryan — who completely committed to the act — later descended from the stage and passed the microphone to "Barbie" director and co-writer Greta Gerwig and stars Margot Robbie and America Ferrera. He let his old pal and "La La Land" co-star Emma Stone sing a few words too. This is the moment that will be remembered from the 2024 Oscars.
MORE: The best and worst looks from the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party
Donald Trump critiques the Oscars
The Oscars became political again… but not in the way you think.
It seems that a certain former president was watching the show and wasn't happy with what he was seeing on his television screen. "Has there EVER been a WORSE HOST than Jimmy Kimmel at The Oscars. His opening was that of a less than average person trying too hard to be something which he is not, and never can be," Donald Trump posted on Truth Social. "Get rid of Kimmel and perhaps replace him with another washed up, but cheap, ABC 'talent,' George Slopanopoulos. He would make everybody on stage look bigger, stronger, and more glamorous."
Trump added, "Also a really bad politically correct show tonight, and for years — Disjointed, boring, and very unfair. Why don't they just give the Oscars to those that deserve them. Maybe that way their audience and TV ratings will come back from the depths. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
Toward the end of the show, Jimmy actually read Trump's social media post on the air. "Thanks for watching — isn't it past your jail time?" the comedian — who was hosting the Oscars for the fourth time — quipped.
MORE: All the 2024 Academy Awards performances ranked
Al Pacino's viral best picture moment
Awkward!
The final moments of the 2024 Oscars telecast went viral when 83-year-old acting icon Al Pacino walked on stage to present the Academy Award for best picture. Things got weird when, instead of reading the nominees aloud, he just opened the envelope and said, "And my eyes see 'Oppenheimer,' yes, yes."
Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel weighed in on the anticlimactic moment after the show in a chat with Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos on their show's annual post-Oscars "Live" special: "I guess he's never watched an awards show before," the comedy star quipped. "It seems like everyone in America knows the rhythm of how it's supposed to go… down to the 'And the Oscar goes to…' But not Al Pacino! God bless him."
MORE: The best and worst dressed stars at the 2024 Academy Awards
John Cena's birthday suit moment
John Cena gave everyone an eyeful during the Sunday night Oscars telecast. In a humorous bit, host Jimmy Kimmel spoke about the time a streaker interrupted the show in 1974. Shortly after, the wrestler-turned-actor sidled on stage wearing a pair of Birkenstocks (photos taken backstage show he also had on a tiny flesh-colored modesty garment, for anyone who was worried about it).
John used the envelope containing the name of the best costume design winner to cover up during the bit. Jimmy eventually gave John a gown. But make no mistake about it, the bit worked and it really did look like the muscled star was in the buff.
MORE: The best and worst looks from the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party
Making history
Pop star Billie Eilish and musician-producer Finneas are forces to be reckoned with. On March 10, the duo performed their "Barbie" hit and best original song nominee "What Was I Made For?" on stage during the Academy Awards and brought the audience to tears.
The brother-sister team made history, becoming the youngest people to win two Oscars: She's 22, he's 26. Billie and Finneas won their first Oscars — for best original song for "No Time To Die" from the James Bond film of the same name — at the 2022 Academy Awards. The kids are alright.
"Oppenheimer" ruled the night
No surprise here, but "Oppenheimer" had a very, very big night, taking home seven Academy Awards including best picture and best director. In addition, "Oppenheimer" stars Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr. won the Oscars for best actor and best supporting actor, respectively.
"Movies are just a little bit over 100 years old," filmmaker Christopher Nolan (seen here with the other producers who won best picture — his wife, Emma Thomas, and Charles Roven) said during his best director award acceptance speech. "We don't know where this incredible journey is going from here, but to know that you think that I'm a meaningful part of it means the world to me."
RDJ, meanwhile, brought some humor to the stage upon winning. "I'd like to thank my terrible childhood," he quipped, later adding, "Here's my little secret: I needed this job more than it needed me." He also made a reference to his past struggles with substance abuse and thanked his lawyer of 40 years. "Half of which he spent trying to get me insured and bailing me out," RDJ joked.
Fun fact: Robert became the first former "Saturday Night Live" cast member to ever win an Oscar. He was on the show in 1985 and 1986.
Keep reading to see him with Cillian, along with the two female acting victors, in the annual winners portrait…
The annual winners photo
The acting category winners — best support actor Robert Downey Jr. (for "Oppenheimer"), best supporting actress Da'Vine Joy Randolph (for "The Holdovers"), best actress Emma Stone (for "Poor Things") and best actor Cillian Murphy (for "Oppenheimer") — posed together in the press room at the 96th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood on March 10, 2024.
"In Memoriam" segment controversy
It unfortunately happens every year: Someone is left out of the Academy Awards' "In Memoriam" segment. On March 10, photos of actors, actresses and others who've worked in the film industry flashed across the screen during the Oscars telecast while Andrea Bocelli and his son, Matteo, beautifully sang "Time to Say Goodbye."
Matthew Perry, Carl Weathers and Tina Turner were some of the names and images shown on the big screen. But, in a change from previous years, not every person got an individual slide, as the Oscars instead decided to put a group of stars into one collective slide at the end of the moving segment rather than give them all their individual moment.
Ron Cephas Jones, Norman Lear, Suzanne Somers and Treat Williams were among those in the collective slide. "Euphoria" star Angus Cloud was omitted entirely.
Emma's big night — and what the internet thinks she really said about that Jimmy Kimmel joke
She's a stone cold winner again. Seven years after winning a best actress trophy for her work in "La La Land," Emma Stone took home her second best actress Oscar, this time for her performance in "Poor Things."
While basking in the win, Emma thanked her family, husband and the cast and crew of the film. She also sweetly thanked her daughter. Her little one, Emma said, is "gonna be 3 in three days and has turned our lives Technicolor." She then took a line from Taylor Swift's song "Bigger Than the Whole Sky," telling her daughter, "I love you bigger than the whole sky, my girl."
While the win was certainly the highlight of her evening, Emma's Oscars experience seemed to have one speed bump: During host Jimmy Kimmel's opening monologue, he made a quip about the lack of clothing in "Poor Things." A camera caught Emma's reaction — she wasn't smiling. She leaned toward her husband and said something. It may have been "Oh my God," but internet lip readers seem to think she really reacted with, "What a pr***."
Those little red pins: What they mean
Many celebrities who attended the Oscars on March 10 were wearing a red pin featuring a hand with a black heart in the middle. The pins support Artists4Ceasefire, a group that opposes the Israel-hamas war. Stars spotted in the pins include musicians Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell, her brother; actors Mark Ruffalo (the best supporting actor nominee is pictured here with his wife), Ramy Youssef and Mahershala Ali; and filmmaker Ava DuVernay.
"The pin symbolizes collective support for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the release of all of the hostages and for the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza," Artists4Ceasefire explained in a statement.
An emotional win
Da'Vine Joy Randolph was a heavy favorite to win the award for best supporting actress for her work in "The Holdovers," and that's exactly what happened. Da'Vine was tearing up before her name was even called. During her speech, the actress told a touching story about her mother, who encouraged her to pursue acting. "My mother said to me: Go across that street to that theater department — there's something for you there. I thank my mother for doing that. I thank all the people who have stepped in my path and have been there for me and ushered me and guided me — I am so grateful for all you beautiful people out there," the actress said. "I prayed for so long … I always wanted to be different, but now I realize that I just need to be myself. I thank you for you seeing me."
