The 98th Academy Awards took place on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, hosted by Conan O’Brien. What was expected to be a standard celebration of 2025 films quickly drew significant controversy and chaotic moments, fueling widespread backlash online and in media coverage.

The most prominent flashpoint was a joke made by presenter Kumail Nanjiani during the introduction for Best Live Action Short Film. While riffing on shortening long movie titles for brevity, he quipped by renaming classics: “It’s a Wonderful Life” became “It’s a Wonderful Month,” “The King’s Speech” to “The King’s Tweet,” and then Schindler’s List (Steven Spielberg’s 1993 Holocaust drama about Oskar Schindler saving over 1,000 Jews during the Nazi genocide) to “Schindler’s Post-It”. The punchline landed poorly with many viewers, who called it tasteless, insensitive, and even antisemitic given the film’s grave subject matter. Social media erupted with criticism, including comments like “Hollywood is now joking about the Holocaust at the Oscars” and calls for Nanjiani not to be invited back. Some defended it as harmless wordplay in a bit about film lengths, but the backlash dominated discussions, with outlets labeling it a “horrific” or “inappropriate Holocaust joke.”

Adding to the drama in the same category: Best Live Action Short Film ended in a rare tie—only the seventh in Oscars history (and the first in that category since 1994). The winners were The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva, both receiving Oscars. Nanjiani announced it live, saying, “It’s a tie, I’m not joking. It’s actually a tie, so everyone calm down.” Host O’Brien joked it ruined “22 million Oscars pools.” The winners gave acceptance speeches (with some surprise—”I didn’t know that was a thing, a tie”), but the telecast awkwardly cut off one speech midway, prompting O’Brien to comment on the microphone retraction. This unusual result caused on-stage confusion and online debate about Academy voting ties.

Regarding a “winner vanishing from the stage”: Sean Penn won Best Supporting Actor for his role in One Battle After Another (directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, which also took Best Picture and other awards). However, Penn did not appear to accept the award. A stand-in (reportedly Kieran Culkin in some accounts) accepted on his behalf, stating Penn “couldn’t be here this evening or didn’t want to,” leading to confusion in the audience and speculation online about why he skipped it—possibly personal reasons or a deliberate snub. This fueled the sense of disarray, with some tying it to broader ceremony unpredictability.

Other elements contributed to the “chaos” narrative: O’Brien’s monologue and skits drew mixed reactions (some called them “painful” or awkward, including a bum drum joke targeting Timothée Chalamet amid his separate ballet/opera controversy), political moments (e.g., Javier Bardem saying “No to war, Free Palestine” while presenting), and a largely predictable night despite the surprises. Films like Sinners (with Michael B. Jordan winning Best Actor) and One Battle After Another dominated wins, but the controversies overshadowed much of the glamour.

Overall, the ceremony wasn’t total meltdown-level chaos like the 2017 La La Land/Moonlight mix-up, but these moments—especially the joke and tie—sparked real outrage, confusion, and heated online arguments about taste, sensitivity, and Academy execution. Social media clips spread rapidly, turning Hollywood’s big night into a lightning rod for debate.