By Emily-Rose Toohey
It happened, it finally happened: the 94th Academy Awards took place in Los Angeles on Monday after months and months of anticipation.
However, there’s never an Oscars ceremony without controversy.
In an attempt to draw in viewers, the Academy was making some very stranger announcements in the lead up.
From DJ Khalid presenting to a fan voted award (spoiler: Spider-Man did not win, hilariously), many weren’t holding much hope for a smooth sailing ceremony.
Despite these baffling decisions, the most controversial announcement was deciding to present eight crafts awards before the live telecast, during the red carpet – absolutely appalling.
But no one could have expected what was to happen during the event, an act that would forever go down in Oscars history.
Will Smith walked on stage and slapped comedian Chris Rock for insulting his wife, then proceeded to yell profanities at him from his seat.
Thirty minutes later, Smith won Best Actor for his role in King Richard (2021), and boy let me tell you, his publicity team was likely in major damage control mode.
In a way, it’s sad that Smith’s much anticipated win has been tainted by a dumb decision, because it took away from the moment.
What should have been a career highlight turned into a messy situation.
The 94th Academy Awards will now be remembered as ‘the year of The Slap’ instead of Best Picture winner CODA (2021) defying the odds and claiming victory.
Not since the 2017 Moonlight-La La Land debacle has something this wild happened at the Oscars.
It shows that no matter how hard the Academy tries to generate more viewers, it’s the organic stuff that sparks the most conversation and breaks the internet.
Nonetheless, here are the full list of winners (Dune came away with the most wins of the night, with six Oscars):
Best Picture
CODA (Philippe Rousselet, Fabrice Gianfermi and Patrick Wachsberger, Producers)
Best Director
Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog)
Best Actress
Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye)
Best Actor
Will Smith (King Richard)
Best Supporting Actress
Ariana DeBose (West Side Story)
Best Supporting Actor
Troy Kotsur (CODA)
Best Costume Design
Cruella (Jenny Beavan)
Best Sound
Dune (Mac Ruth, Mark Mangini, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill and Ron Bartlett)
Best Original Score
Dune (Hans Zimmer)
Best Adapted Screenplay
CODA (screenplay by Siân Heder)
Best Original Screenplay
Belfast (written by Kenneth Branagh)
Best Animated Short
The Windshield Wiper (Alberto Mielgo and Leo Sanchez)
Best Live-Action Short
The Long Goodbye (Aneil Karia and Riz Ahmed)
Best Film Editing
Dune (Joe Walker)
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
The Eyes of Tammy Faye (Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram and Justin Raleigh)
Best Animated Feature
Encanto (Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Yvett Merino and Clark Spencer)
Best Documentary Feature
Summer of Soul (Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent and David Dinerstein)
Best Documentary Short
The Queen of Basketball (Ben Proudfoot)
Best Original Song
“No Time to Die” — Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell (No Time to Die)
Best Cinematography
Dune (Greig Fraser)
Best International Feature
Drive My Car (Japan)
Best Production Design
Dune (production design: Patrice Vermette; set decoration: Zsuzsanna Sipos)
Best Visual Effects
Dune (Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor and Gerd Nefzer)
