History was made at the Oscars Sunday night in Hollywood. CODA, a heartwarming family film with a cast of mainly deaf actors won Best Picture, bringing home the coveted trophy for the first time ever to a streamer, Apple TV+. It also became only the third film directed by a woman ever to win the top prize.
Cast member Troy Kotsur won the Academy Award for supporting actor, becoming the first deaf man ever to win an acting prize, 35 years after deaf castmate Marlee Matlin won her historic Oscar.
Jane Campion made history as the second woman in a row to be awarded the directing Oscar for helming The Power of the Dog.
Ariana DeBose was the first openly gay actress of color and the first Afro-Latina performer to win an acting award for her supporting role as Anita in West Side Story.
Will Smith’s best actor win for King Richard was notable in that he’s only the fifth Black man to be so honored.
But no one will remember much of any of that because it was Smith himself who hijacked the entire ceremony by turning the Oscars stage into a personal vendetta of violence and profanity against Chris Rock, who was presenting an award for best documentary.
During his intro. Rock made a couple of trademark comedic quips including one directed at Javier Bardem and his wife Penelope Cruz, both nominees in the leading actor categories, who were shown enjoying the joke. He said Bardem was praying for Smith to win best actor, so he would be good with his wife if she didn’t also take home a trophy.
Rock then turned his attention to the Smiths, saying “Love you Jada. Can’t wait to see you in ‘GI Jane 2,’” a reference to a 1997 Demi Moore film directed by Ridley Scott in which she rocked a buzz cut and as most people would agree, was a total badass and looked hot as hell.
Will Smith was first seen laughing at the joke but his wife was not amused and rolled her eyes. Rock may or may not have known that Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia, a disorder which causes hair loss.
Next thing you knew, at least what American audiences saw on ABC’s live broadcast, was Smith striding up on stage from his front row seat and smacking Rock in the face.
It turned out to be the slap seen and heard around the world, one which will almost certainly be seen as the craziest thing to ever happen at an awards show. (Sorry, Kanye West, you lost that title.)
Because the network sensors completely silenced the audio, at first most people in the television audience thought it was a planned stunt until the camera showing a close-up of Smith back in his seat screaming– again, in silent mode – as actress Lupita N’yongo looked on, horrified.
The gravity of what went down only became clear when international outlets began posting the uncensored clip, after #whatjusthappened began trending on Twitter.
Rock was remarkable in his composure in continuing on with presenting the Oscar for best documentary after remarking that “this was the greatest night on television ever.”
That trophy went to Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson for Summer of Soul (Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised).
And just about half an hour after Smith’s shocking display of violence and anger, for which many wondered why he was not escorted out of the theater by security, he was back on stage accepting the best actor award for his role in King Richard.
Smith gave a tearful, nearly six-minute long speech in which he apologized to the Academy and his fellow nominees but pointedly not to Rock.
He said he was a protector, and that “love makes you do crazy things,” an excuse that many domestic abusers use to justify their actions.
Smith actions overshadowed just about everything else about the ceremonies, but here are some of the highlights that did occur.
Host Amy Schumer Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes had some funny bits. Hall’s frisking of Jason Momo and Josh Brolin was rather cringe worthy but Sykes had a funny segment in which she visited the new Academy museum.
Producer Will Packer packed in some fun classic movie reunions, most notably with Francis Ford Coppola, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro for the 50th anniversary of The Godfather. Key cast members of White Men Can’t Jump, Juno and Pulp Fiction also made memorable appearances, and went on to present some of the awards.
Here is a complete list of 2022 Oscar winners:
Best Picture
Belfast
WINNER: CODA
Don’t Look Up
Drive My Car
Dune
King Richard
Licorice Pizza
Nightmare Alley
The Power of the Dog
West Side Story
Best Director
Kenneth Branagh, Belfast
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Drive My Car
Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza
WINNER: Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog
Steven Spielberg, West Side Story
Best Actress in a Leading Role
WINNER: Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter
Penélope Cruz, Parallel Mothers
Nicole Kidman, Being the Ricardos
Kristen Stewart, Spencer
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Javier Bardem, Being the Ricardos
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog
Andrew Garfield, Tick, Tick… Boom!
WINNER: Will Smith, King Richard
Denzel Washington, The Tragedy of Macbeth
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter
WINNER: Ariana DeBose, West Side Story
Judi Dench, Belfast
Kirsten Dunst, The Power of the Dog
Aunjanue Ellis, King Richard
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Ciarán Hinds, Belfast
WINNER: Troy Kotsur, CODA
Jesse Plemons, The Power of the Dog
J.K. Simmons, Being the Ricardos
Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog
Best Original Screenplay
WINNER: Kenneth Branagh, Belfast
Adam McKay and David Sirota, Don’t Look Up
Zach Baylin, King Richard
Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza
Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier, The Worst Person in the World
Best Adapted Screenplay
WINNER: Siân Heder, CODA
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Takamasa Oe, Drive My Car
Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve, and Eric Roth, Dune
Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter
Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog
Best Cinematography
WINNER: Greg Fraser, Dune
Dan Lausten, Nightmare Alley
Ari Wegner, The Power of the Dog
Bruno Delbonnel, The Tragedy of Macbeth
Janusz Kaminski, West Side Story
Best Film Editing
Hank Corwin, Don’t Look Up
WINNER: Joe Walker, Dune
Pamela Martin, King Richard
Peter Sciberras, The Power of the Dog
Myron Kerstein and Andrew Weisblum, Tick, Tick… Boom!
Best Animated Feature
WINNER: Encanto
Flee
Luca
The Mitchells vs. The Machines
Raya and the Last Dragon
Best Animated Short
Affairs of the Art
Bestia
Boxballet
Robin Robin
WINNER: The Windshield Wiper
Best Live-Action Short
Ala Kachuu — Take and Run
The Dress
WINNER: The Long Goodbye
On My Mind
Please Hold
Best International Feature
WINNER: Drive My Car (Japan)Flee (Denmark)
The Hand of God (Italy)
Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (Bhutan)
The Worst Person in the World (Norway)
Best Documentary Feature
Ascension
Attica
Flee
WINNER: Summer of Soul
Writing with Fire
Best Documentary Short
Audible
Lead Me Home
WINNER: The Queen of Basketball
Three Songs for Benazir
When We Were Bullies
Best Original Score
Nicholas Britell, Don’t Look Up
WINNER: Hans Zimmer, Dune
Germaine Franco, Encanto
Alberto Iglesias, Parallel Mothers
Jonny Greenwood, The Power of the Dog
Best Original Song
“Be Alive” from King Richard — Music and Lyric by DIXSON and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter”Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto — Music and Lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda”Down to Joy” from Belfast — Music and Lyric by Van MorrisonWINNER: “No Time to Die” from No Time to Die — Music and Lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell“Somehow You Do” from Four Good Days — Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
Best Sound
Denise Yarde, Simon Chase, James Mather, and Niv Adiri, Belfast
WINNER: Mac Ruth, Mark Mangini, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill, and Ron Bartlett, Dune
Simon Hayes, Oliver Tarney, James Harrison, Paul Massey, and Mark Taylor, No Time to Die
Richard Flynn, Robert Mackenzie, and Tara Webb, The Power of the Dog
Tod A. Maitland, Gary Rydstrom, Brian Chumney, Andy Nelson, and Shawn Murphy, West Side Story
Best Costume Design
WINNER: Jenny Beavan, Cruella
Massimo Cantini Parrini and Jacqueline Durran, Cyrano
Jacqueline West and Robert Morgan, Dune
Luis Sequeira, Nightmare Alley
Paul Tazewell, West Side Story
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Mike Marino, Stacey Morris and Carla Farmer, Coming 2 America
Nadia Stacey, Naomi Donne and Julia Vernon, Cruella
Donald Mowat, Love Larson and Eva von Bahr, Dune
WINNER: Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram and Justin Raleigh, The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Göran Lundström, Anna Carin Lock and Frederic Aspiras, House of Gucci
Best Production Design
WINNER: Dune — Production Design: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Zsuzsanna SiposNightmare Alley — Production Design: Tamara Deverell; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau
The Power of the Dog — Production Design: Grant Major; Set Decoration: Amber Richards
The Tragedy of Macbeth — Production Design: Stefan Dechant; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh
West Side Story — Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Rena DeAngelo
Best Visual Effects
WINNER: Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor, and Gerd Nefzer, Dune
Swen Gillberg, Bryan Grill, Nikos Kalaitzidis, and Dan Sudick, Free Guy
Charlie Noble, Joel Green, Jonathan Fawkner, and Chris Corbould, No Time to Die
Christopher Townsend, Joe Farrell, Sean Noel Walker, and Dan Oliver, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Kelly Port, Chris Waegner, Scott Edelstein, and Dan Sudick, Spider-Man: No Way Home
