The 98th Academy Awards delivered a night packed with landmark moments — a record-shattering nomination run, a jaw-dropping tie, and an emotional Best Actor win — as the film industry gathered Sunday to honor its finest work of the year.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another took home the evening’s top prize, Best Picture, capping an acclaimed awards season run. Presenters Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor — co-stars of Moulin Rouge — reunited on stage to hand over the honor.
In his acceptance speech, Anderson offered a candid moment of self-deprecation. “I really blew it when I won the best director award and I forgot to thank my cast,” he told the audience.
The evening’s most emotionally charged moment came when Michael B. Jordan accepted the Best Actor award for his role in Sinners.
“God is good,” Jordan said as his opening words at the podium. He went on to thank his mother — who accompanied him as his date for the night — and his father.
Jordan plays twin brothers, Smoke and Stack, in Sinners, a 2025 action-horror film set in Clarksdale, Mississippi, where the siblings return home hoping to open a juke joint for their community, only for their opening night to spiral into chaos when a supernatural force arrives at their door.
This marks Jordan’s first Academy Award. He previously took home the Screen Actors Guild Award for the same role. “I’m gonna keep stepping up and I’m gonna keep being the best version of me,” he said in his speech. Sinners entered Sunday’s ceremony having already made history. The film received 16 nominations — surpassing the previous record of 14 shared by All About Eve, Titanic, and La La Land.
Beyond Jordan, the film earned acting nominations for Wunmi Mosaku and Delroy Lindo, while director Ryan Coogler received nods for both directing and best original screenplay.
Mosaku also claimed a BAFTA for her supporting performance in the film.
Historic Tie in Live-Action Short Leaves Audience Speechless
One of the night’s most unexpected moments came when presenter Kumail Nanjiani announced the Live-Action Short Film category — and revealed a tie.
“It’s a tie! I’m not joking! It’s actually a tie, so everyone calm down!” Nanjiani told the crowd, before awarding statuettes to both The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva.
It is only the seventh tie in the 98-year history of the Academy Awards. The last occurred in 2012, when both Skyfall and Zero Dark Thirty shared the Sound Editing award.
Audiences at home erupted on social media. “There can be a TIE at the #Oscars??!” one user wrote on X. Another asked: “Is having a tie for an Oscar even allowed?”
KPop Demon Hunters claimed the Best Original Song award for “Golden,” but the moment quickly soured for fans watching at home.
The Academy’s orchestra played off the acceptance speakers before the KPop Demon Hunters writers could finish their remarks, prompting immediate backlash online.
“Bit rude to cut the acceptance speeches so harshly when we have to sit through so many unfunny sketches,” one viewer wrote on X. Another added: “They did the Kpop Demon Hunter writers so DIRTY.”
Representatives for the Academy did not respond to a request for comment.
This year’s acting categories featured a striking number of newcomers to the Oscar stage. Eleven of the 20 acting nominees were first-time Oscar nominees.
Among them: Teyona Taylor, nominated for Best Supporting Actress for One Battle After Another, who had already won both the Critics Choice Award and the Golden Globe for the role. Elle Fanning, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, and Wunmi Mosaku also received their first nominations in the supporting actress category.
On the male side, Jacob Elordi earned his first nomination for Frankenstein, and Brazilian actor Wagner Moura received his first nod for The Secret Agent. Delroy Lindo and Michael B. Jordan were both first-time nominees for Sinners.
Norwegian film Sentimental Value put two first-timers in contention — lead actress Renate Reinsve and supporting actor Stellan Skarsgård. Rose Byrne rounded out the first-time group with her nomination for If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.
Fashion Flashpoint: DiCaprio’s Mustache, Pascal’s Bare Face
Off the red carpet, the biggest style talking point of the night had nothing to do with gowns.
Leonardo DiCaprio arrived at the ceremony sporting a mustache, while Pedro Pascal — known for his facial hair since filming Wonder Woman 1984 in 2019 — appeared completely clean-shaven for the occasion. Pascal paired the new look with a white shirt, an oversized feather brooch, and a black cummerbund.
Fans did not take it quietly. “Give Pedro Pascal’s mustache back IMMEDIATELY,” one user posted. Another quipped: “They took Pedro Pascal’s mustache and gave it to Leonardo DiCaprio, I’m sick.”
The ceremony’s annual In Memoriam tribute drew criticism after fans noticed that James Van Der Beek and Eric Dane were absent from the segment.
Van Der Beek, best known for Dawson’s Creek, died from cancer in February. Dane, beloved for his role on Grey’s Anatomy, passed away from ALS complications the same month.
“So no James VanDerBeek or Eric Dane tributes in the memorial? Or did I miss them?,” one viewer wrote on X.
A source told Fox News Digital that the Academy receives hundreds of requests for inclusion in the segment, and that an executive committee makes final decisions based on limited available time. All submissions are listed on Oscars.org and remain accessible throughout the year.
Diane Keaton, Robert Redford, and Catherine O’Hara were among the entertainment icons honored in the segment.
The 98th Academy Awards will be remembered as a night of firsts and history — a record-breaking run for Sinners, a long-overdue win for Michael B. Jordan, and an Oscar tie that genuinely shocked the world. As the dust settles on Hollywood’s biggest night, the stories behind the winners and the controversies surrounding the ceremony are likely to fuel conversation well beyond the red carpet.
