Oscars 2025 Highlights: Best and Worst Moments From the Ceremony

Adam Sandler, John Lithgow, Raye performing "Skyfall" and Daryl Hannah ABC/Getty

Whether it was Zoe Saldaña calling out her husband’s beautiful hair during her acceptance speech or June Squibb claiming that she’s really Bill Skarsgård in drag, the 97th Oscars on Sunday were chock-full of good, bag and fugly moments (and we mean that in the nicest way, Sand Worm. Well, maybe not for you, Kylie Jenner).

Here are all the moments that made us go hmmm.

So Good: Oscar gave a collective hug to fire victims by opening the show with a chill-inducing ode to our beloved L.A. with iconic moments from Rocky III, La La Land, Grand Canyon, La Bamba and The Big Lebowski, followed with gorgeous performances by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.

So bad it was good: It felt a little strange to transition out of such a sentimental opener to the image of “four-time Oscar viewer” Conan O’Brien crawling out of Demi Moore’s corpse. But that didn’t make the sight of him diving back into her open cavity (because he forgot his shoe) any less funny.

Fugly: Adam Sandler showing up in a hoodie and gym shorts for a bit about proper awards-show attire. Hey, at least he finally got invited to the big party!

Bad: S&P knuckleheads censoring Kieran Culkin. It’s the end of another long-ass awards season, guys. If there was ever a more appropriate time to let the f-bombs drop, it’s at the goddamn Oscars.

Good: O’Brien promises to cut to John Lithgow looking “slightly disappointed” if speeches go too long. And if they go even longer, O’Brien threatened to flash old headshots. Too bad this wasn’t enforced; who doesn’t miss Lithgow after watching The Old Man?

Fugly, but Funny: Sand worm playing chopsticks on the piano for no reason whatsoever during that “I Won’t Waste Time” dance opener by O’Brien and during the shout-out to the orchestra later in the show.

Surprise: Did you know that Jeremy Strong, aka “irrefutably the most serious actor on earth,” slept on the Oscar bleachers the night before Downey Jr. attended his first Academy Awards for starring in Chaplin? I didn’t, either.

SO bad: When the nominees were announced for Original Screenplay — SCREENPLAY, of all categories! — the line of dialogue that was flashed from September 5 contained a typo. Its whose, guys, not who’s.

Bad: Bravo to Shirin Sohani and Hossein Molayemi for winning the Animated Short Film Oscar for In the Shadow of the Cypress. Boo to Hossein Molayemi for wasting time over who should read the acceptance speech off the iPhone.

Good on you, Daryl Hannah, for declaring “Slava Ukraini.”

Good for the Latvians!

Good: Nick Offerman doing the Oscar voiceovers!

Bad: No offense to the superb costume designers — including Paul Tazewell, the first Black man to receive an Oscar in the category for Wicked — but this category really didn’t need the Best Actor treatment of years past by having five different celebs introduce the nominees and their accomplishments. Sadly, John Lithgow wasn’t available to give his slightly disappointed look because he introduced the designer for Conclave.

Good Times: Sean Baker, renaissance man, thanked the sex worker community in the first-ever shout out to the sex-worker community at the Academy Awards.

Fugly: A Kardashian holding court in the front-row corner where Jack Nicholson used to sit? Isn’t the world depressing enough right now without having to see that?

Oh Good. Here I was worrying that we’ll never get to enjoy a good Tommy Lee Jones scowl ever again at an awards show. Thanks for bringing it back, Ralph Fiennes! And during the firefighters presentation, no less!

Bravo: O’Brien’s interstitial for CinemaStreams was both hysterical and, sadly, apropos (for a more serious version of this, cut to Baker’s acceptance speech for Best Director). How do you hold it? You don’t. The building holds it! This is why you were hired, Conan (that and for that swell line about Anora‘s good night and how “Americans are excited to see somebody finally stand up to a powerful Russian.”)

Good: Look at Mick Jagger yukking it up in the Original Song category! We’re gonna fact-check tomorrow with the producers to see if what he said is true: that Bob Dylan was truly the first choice to give away the Oscar here.

Bad: Didn’t you think to yourself that this telecast was going to go way over the minute that old-fashioned dance tribute to Bond kicked off? Raye performing “Skyfall” would have been enough.

Bad: Didn’t you think to yourself that this telecast was going to go way over the minute that Queen Latifah started singing “Ease On Down the Road” as a tribute to Quincy Jones? Oprah and Whoopi’s Color Purple reunion would have been enough.

Fugly: Gee, what to call out here … the image of Adrien Brody throwing his gum to his galpal Georgina Chapman before taking the stage to accept his second Oscar OR his telling the orchestra to stop trying to play him off because “I’ve been here before” and “It’s not my first rodeo.” I guess it’s both!

Good for the producers for kicking off the In Memoriam segment with a Morgan Freeman tribute to Gene Hackman before continuing with the film montage without some fancy guest performer sucking up oxygen. Just an orchestra and a choir. That’ll do, Oscars. That’ll do.