The 2026 Oscars have come and gone and now all we have left to do is reminisce on the night’s biggest moments, cheer on our favorite winners and, of course, engage in online discourse around who should or should not have won Best Picture.
From host Conan O’Brien opening the night dressed as Aunt Gladys from Weapons to Michael B. Jordan making history as the sixth Black man to win the award for Actor in a Leading Role, the ceremony was truly as eventful as ever. As I look back on Sunday night’s awards, it’s hard to pinpoint just ten of the best moments from the night—but that won’t stop me from trying.
Here are the top 10 moments from the 98th Academy Awards.
10. Aunt Gladys O’Brien
Sunday’s awards ceremony could not have started in a more wild way. The award for jump scare of the century has been revoked from the lipstick demon in Insidious (iykyk) and handed over to none other than Conan O’Brien, who opened the 98th Academy Oscars in full Aunt Gladys drag. In an incredible callback to one of 2025’s most memorable movie moments, O’Brien is chased by a group of children through scenes of some of the night’s nominated films. It is the perfect mix of chaos and humor and was the perfect way to introduce the night and the only reason it ranks so low on this list is because Aunt Gladys O’Brien will be in my nightmares for the foreseeable future.
9. Anna Wintour Proves The Devil Wears Prada is a Documentary
To promote the highly anticipated (it’s me, I’m anticipating it) The Devil Wears Prada 2 sequel, Anna Wintour — who, of course, inspired Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly — and Anne Hathaway partnered up to presented the awards for Costume Design and Makeup & Hairstyling (obviously). In a cheeky moment between where Wintour embodies Priestly, the former Vogue editor-in-chief shades Hathaway by calling her “Emily” (as in Blunt) and when Hathaway asks Wintour’s opinion on her outfit, Wintour responds by simply ignoring the question and moving on. The interaction was a fun way to remind the world that the sequel is coming and show us that Wintour is all in on the joke.
8. AI Is Made the Butt of the Joke
It’s no surprise that Hollywood—people whose livelihoods and passions rely on human creativity and creation—hates generative AI, the thing that is making moves to steal all of their jobs from animators to screenwriters to even actors. O’Brien masterfully wove in anti-AI jokes all night in between his jabs at Timothee Chalamet. With their stories of triumph against all odds like the creators of Documentary Feature winner Mr. Nobody Against Putin and ones of grief and loss like Empty Rooms, winner for Documentary Short, real-life humans proved all night long why human-led creativity is so damn important.
7. Javier Bardem Speaks Truth to Power
In a time where celebrities’ ideas of activism are wearing teeny-tiny pins with vague political statements and the ones who do speak up verbally are censored on award show stages, it’s refreshing to see that some are still willing to use their voice for what’s right. While presenting the award for International Feature Film alongside Priyanka Chopra, Javier Bardem decided to be the only person on the Oscars stage to speak up on the situation in Southwest Asia.
“No to war and Free Palestine,” the actor said firmly into the microphone to raucous applause from the audience. It was a simple statement, but one that was particularly pertinent as the Motaz Malhees, the lead in The Voice of Hind Rajab—which was nominated in the category Bardem presented—could not attend the ceremony as he was barred from entering the country due to his Palestinian nationality.
6. Teyana Taylor Embodies True Joy All Night
Though Teyana Taylor, who was nominated in the Supporting Actress category for her performance as Perfidia in One Battle After Another, might not have taken home the trophy on Sunday, she still had a damn good time—and made sure everyone around her knew it. When Amy Madigan, the original Aunt Gladys, beat out Taylor for the Oscar, in a moment of true sportsmanship, Taylor jumped to her feet and burst into cheers for her fellow nominee. Later in the night, while accompanying Paul Thomas Anderson to the stage to receive the award for Best Picture, Taylor in a moment of unbridled joy pulls Anderson into a hug and headlock while screaming. Both of these were wholesome moments that the internet, of course, found negative things to say about because, God forbid, a Black woman is expressive. But Taylor so eloquently clapped back at the haters on X and reminded us, Sunday night and beyond, that Black woman joy should be loud and celebrated, and never diminished.
5. Miles Caton, Raphael Saadiq and Special Guests Bring the Juke Joint to Hollywood
To be asked to put on just one of two performances to represent the Original Song category is a lot of pressure. Luckily, Miles Caton and Raphael Saadiq were up to the challenge. The duo are the two of the three musical geniuses behind “I Lied to You,” the blues Oscar-nominated track that backs one of the most pivotal scenes in Sinners. Saadiq, who co-wrote the track with Sinners score composer Ludwig Göransson, opened the performance with a quick guitar moment and callback to the song’s title before Caton, who sang the song in the film and on the soundtrack, took over. Caton, also guitar-in-hand, wove through a recreation of the infamous juke joint from the film as familiar moments from the original “I Lied to Scene” played out. The duo were joined by surprise guests Brittany Howard, Alice Smith, Buddy Guy (who played the older version of Caton’s character in the film) and Shaboozey for the performance. The ultimate surprise came at the end, though, when ballerina Misty Copeland came out of retirement to dance on stage just weeks after getting hip surgery. Though Copeland’s cameo was a nod to the homage Sinners paid her in this scene and was definitely planned long in advance, it was made a little more sweet with infamous ballet-shittalker and three-time Oscar loser Timothée Chalamet sitting front row.
4. Autumn Durald Arkapaw Makes Women’s Cinematic History
It took 98 whole years for a woman to finally—finally—win the Academy Award for Cinematography. On Sunday night, Autumn Durald Arkapa took home the trophy for her incredible visual work in Sinners. In a particularly wholesome moment, the cinematographer starts her speech by calling out for her son just as Sinners writer and director runs to the front of the crowd, kid in tow, screaming, “Over here.” From there, Arkapaw shouts out great women cinematographers who came before her and led the way to her historic win. May Arkapaw be the first of very many women to be recognized for their contributions behind the scenes and in shaping the visual identities of the movies we hold dear. Happy Women’s History Month.
3. K-Pop Demon Hunters Slay the Music Competition
Considering it is one of the biggest and fastest growing genres of music in the world, it only makes sense that K-pop would start earning awards at some of the biggest ceremonies in entertainment. Alongside taking home the gold for Animated Feature, the creators of K-Pop Demon Hunters also made history when the hit song “Golden” won the award for Original Song, marking the first K-pop track to ever win an Oscar. In a tearful speech, the song co-writer and one-third of HUNTER/X (the fictional K-pop band at the center of the film) Ejae said that the win was “not about success, it’s about resilience.” The resilience paid off.
2. Ryan Coogler Finally Gets His Flowers
The Black community collectively let out one big sigh of relief Sunday night when Ryan Coogler—a man we all long knew was it but had to wait for the rest of the world to catch up—finally won his first Academy Award. Coogler, who wrote and directed Sinners, the most Oscar-nominated film in the history of the awards, took home the award for Original Screenplay. Coogler proved Sunday night two major things: there is a place for horror in prestige filmmaking, and, more importantly, there is a place for Black stories. With this win, Coogler undoubtedly opened doors for young aspiring Black filmmakers who hope to one day walk in his shoes and I’m sure he’s inspired many to do just that. It is a moment that Black film fans will never forget—one that was made even more iconic by the guitar and treble clef expertly braided into Coogler’s hair.
1. Michael B. Jordan Joins an Epic Lineage of Black Actors
If Coogler got a sigh of relief from us, Michael B. Jordan got the world’s loudest applause. Jordan took home the Academy Award for Actor in Leading Role for his dual performances as Smoke and Stack in Sinners. With this much-deserved award—again, he played TWO distinct roles simultaneously—Jordan joins a list of only six Black men and seven Black people total, to win a lead acting award at the Oscars in the award’s 98 year history. Understanding the legacy he has just joined, Jordan graciously named the five men (Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker and Will Smith) who came before him in his acceptance speech. The “B.” now stands for “bag” as the price just went up for Michael B. Jordan, and Hollywood better be ready to pay it.