What. A. Night. After what is definitely the most interesting Oscars night since 2017’s infamous Best Picture mishap, the 2022 Academy Awards championed diversity, equality, and inclusion with its newest batch of winners—and an incredibly uncomfortable and violent onstage confrontation broadcasted all around the world.
CODA won the prestigious Best Picture award, edging out the eight other juggernaut films in the category. The Apple TV+-distributed movie is the first streaming-exclusive film in history to bag the trophy, beating Netflix’s Don’t Look Up for the unique feat.
Actor Troy Kotsur won Best Supporting Actor, making him the first deaf male actor to win the award. The CODA star dedicated his win to the deaf community, his CODA family, and the disabled community, claiming, “this is our moment.” The veteran actor received a standing ovation and applause in sign language from the star-studded crowd.
CODA won in all of the three categories it was nominated in, also taking home the writing award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
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Ariana DeBose, the first televised winner of the night, earned the Best Supporting Actress trophy for her role as Anita in West Side Story, making her the first queer woman of color to nab the Oscar. Winning the same award as her predecessor, the musical’s 1961 film treatment’s Rita Moreno, she thanked the EGOT recipient in her speech.
“Your Anita paved the way for tons of Anitas like me, and I love you,” she expressed her adoration for Moreno’s trailblazing work.
“Now you see why Anita says ‘I want to be in America,’ because even in this weary world that we live in, dreams do come true, and that’s a really heartening thing right now,” she added.
Becoming the third woman to win the Oscar for Best Director, The Power of the Dog’s Jane Campion dedicated her acceptance speech to her fellow nominees, as well as the cast and crew and the “whole awesome team” behind the universally acclaimed drama. She also thanked Thomas Savage, author of the 1967 novel on which the movie was based on.
The Questlove-directed documentary, Summer of Soul, which chronicled the 1969 Harlem Culture Festival, won the award for Best Documentary Feature. The Spanish-American short film, The Windshield Wiper, also earned the Best Animated Short Film accolade.
Academy Award for Best Actress winner Jessica Chastain used her acceptance speech to talk about the controversial “Don’t Say Gay” Bill in Florida, which looks to ban sexual orientation and gender identity discussion in schools.
“We’re faced with discriminatory and bigoted legislation that is sweeping our country with the only goal of further dividing us.” The actress stated while accepting her award for the titular role in The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Her jab against the bill is the second of the night, with Oscars co-host Wanda Sykes taking the time to show her support for the LGBTQIA+ community in the opening monologue, saying “We’re going to have a great night tonight. And for you people in Florida, we’re going to have a gay night.”
But amidst the night of celebration and cheers, one particular event piqued the whole world’s interest and thrust the program into viral status: Will Smith smacking Chris Rock onstage as he presented the Oscar for Best Documentary.
The altercation happened after Chris Rock joked about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, who has alopecia, and her updated hairdo, saying that he couldn’t wait to see the bald actress star in “G.I. Jane 2”, referencing Demi Moore’s shaved head look in the 1997 movie. Smith then swiftly got up the stage, approached Rock, and slapped the presenter.
The actor, who would eventually win the Best Actor award for his titular role in the King Richard biopic, then returned to his seat and shouted, “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth!”
The audience, who assumed that the event was a skit at the beginning, was visibly stunned, and a palpable sense of cringe could be felt afterward as Rock powered through with his duties.
Smith, teary-eyed, then took the time to apologize to the Academy and his fellow nominees in his best actor speech, defending his actions by saying “This is a beautiful moment and I’m not crying for winning an award. It’s not about winning an award for me. It’s about being able to shine a light on all of the people…I want to be a vessel for love.”
Here is the complete list of winners of the 94th Academy Awards:
Best Picture
- WINNER: CODA
- Belfast
- Don’t Look Up
- Drive My Car
- Dune
- King Richard
- Licorice Pizza
- Nightmare Alley
- The Power of the Dog
- West Side Story
Best Director
- WINNER: Jane Campion,The Power of the Dog
- Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza
- Kenneth Branagh, Belfast
- Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Drive My Car
- Steven Spielberg, West Side Story
Best Actress
- 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
- WINNER: Will Smith, King Richard
- Javier Bardem, Being the Ricardos
- Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog
- Andrew Garfield, Tick, Tick…Boom!
- Denzel Washington, The Tragedy of Macbeth
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
- WINNER: Ariana DeBose, West Side Story
- Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter
- Judi Dench, Belfast
- Kirsten Dunst, The Power of the Dog
- Aunjanue Ellis, King Richard
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
- WINNER: Troy Kotsur, CODA
- Ciarán Hinds, Belfast
- 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
- Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza
- Adam McKay and David Sirota, Don’t Look Up
- Zach Baylin, King Richard
- Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier, The Worst Person in the World
Best Adapted Screenplay
- WINNER: Sian Heder,CODA
- Ryûsuke Hamaguchi and 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 Animated Feature
- WINNER: Encanto
- Flee
- Luca
- The Mitchells vs. the Machines
- Raya and the Last Dragon
Best Production Design
- WINNER: Zsuzsanna Sipos and Patrice Vermette, Dune
- Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau, Nightmare Alley
- Grant Major and Amber Richards, The Power of the Dog
- Stefan Dechant and Nancy Haigh, The Tragedy of Macbeth
- Adam Stockhausen and Rena DeAngelo, 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 Cinematography
- WINNER: Greig Fraser,Dune
- Dan Laustsen, Nightmare Alley
- Ari Wegner, The Power of the Dog
- Bruno Delbonnel, The Tragedy of Macbeth
- Janusz Kaminski, West Side Story
Best Editing
- WINNER: Dune
- Don’t Look Up
- King Richard
- The Power of the Dog
- Tick, Tick…Boom!
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
- WINNER: The Eyes of Tammy Faye
- Coming 2 America
- Cruella
- Dune
- House of Gucci
Best Sound
- WINNER: Dune
- Belfast
- No Time to Die
- The Power of the Dog
- West Side Story
Best Visual Effects
- WINNER: Dune
- Free Guy
- No Time to Die
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
- Spider-Man: No Way Home
Best Score
- WINNER: Hans Zimmer, Dune
- Nicholas Britell, Don’t Look Up
- Germaine Franco, Encanto
- Alberto Iglesias, Parallel Mothers
- Jonny Greenwood, The Power of the Dog
Best Original Song
- WINNER: “No Time to Die,” No Time to Die
- “Be Alive,” King Richard
- “Dos Oruguitas,” Encanto
- “Down to Joy,” Belfast
- “Somehow You Do,” Four Good Days
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
- WINNER: Summer of Soul
- Ascension
- Attica
- Flee
- Writing With Fire
Best Documentary Short
- WINNER:The Queen of Basketball
- Audible
- Lead Me Home
- Three Songs for Benazir
- When We Were Bullies
Best Live-Action Short
- WINNER:The Long Goodbye
- Ala Kachuu
- The Dress
- On My Mind
- Please Hold
Best Animated Short
- WINNER: The Windshield Wiper
- Affairs of the Art
- Bestia
- Boxballet
- Robin Robin
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