Al Pacino breaks silence after strange moment while announcing Oppenheimer’s win at Oscars
Don't ask me about the Oscars Kay.
The 96th Academy Awards reached its conclusion at LA’s Dolby Theatre in the most bizarre way when Al Pacino announced Oppenheimer as Best Picture.
On Sunday evening (10 March), late night presenter Jimmy Kimmel returned to host the famous event, as millions watch on from home.
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As expected though, Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer pretty much did a clean sweep of the awards, and I don't think anyone was shocked to see the film named as Best Picture...apart from Al Pacino.
The legendary actor took to the stage to skip past all of the 10 nominations, and instead named Oppenheimer as the winner.
He said: "I have to go to the envelope for that, and I will, here it comes.
"My eyes see Oppenheimer."
His read left a few viewers pretty baffled - leading to some to speculate why he might have chosen to not read out the other nominees.
Thankfully, Pacino let the media ask him 'about his business' as he explained what went down.
According to Variety, he said: "There seems to be some controversy about my not mentioning every film by name last night before announcing the Best Picture award. I just want to be clear it was not my intention to omit them, rather a choice by the producers not to have them said again since they were highlighted individually throughout the ceremony.
"I was honoured to be a part of the evening and chose to follow the way they wished for this award to be presented.
"I realize being nominated is a huge milestone in one’s life and to not be fully recognized is offensive and hurtful. I say this as someone who profoundly relates with filmmakers, actors and producers so I deeply empathize with those who have been slighted by this oversight and it’s why I felt it necessary to make this statement."
And Oscars producer Molly McNearney also told the publication that it was a 'creative decision' to have Pacino not read out the nominees as they were worried it would make the show 'long'.
“By the time you get to the end of the show, you’ve seen all 10 best picture clip packages,” she said.
"People just want to hear who wins, and they’re pretty ready for the show to be over. At least that’s what we anticipated. So, we did not give him a clip package. We did not give him nominations to read."
She also apologised if their decision 'placed him in a tough spot'.
On the night, Cillian Murphy won the Oscar for Best Actor for his incredible performance in Oppenheimer.
The Peaky Blinders star took centre stage as he played the role of theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer in devising the world's first atomic bomb during WWII.
The three-hour film was the director's first ever biographical drama, featuring the likes of Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon and Emily Blunt.
Downey Jr. also landed his first ever Oscar after picking up Best Supporting Actor.
Here are some of this year's Oscar winners:
Best director
Anatomy of a Fall - Justine Triet
Killers of the Flower Moon - Martin Scorsese
Oppenheimer - Christopher Nolan - WINNER
Poor Things - Yorgos Lanthimos
The Zone of Interest - Jonathan Glazer
Best actor
Bradley Cooper - Maestro
Colman Domingo - Rustin
Paul Giamatti - The Holdovers
Cillian Murphy - Oppenheimer - WINNER
Jeffrey Wright - American Fiction
Best actress
Annette Bening - Nyad
Lily Gladstone - Killers of the Flower Moon
Sandra Huller - Anatomy of a Fall
Carey Mulligan - Maestro
Emma Stone - Poor Things - WINNER
Best picture
American Fiction
Anatomy of a Fall
Barbie
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer - WINNER
Past Lives
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest
Best supporting actress
Emily Blunt - Oppenheimer
Danielle Brooks - The Color Purple
America Ferrera - Barbie
Jodie Foster - Nyad
Da'Vine Joy Randolph - The Holdovers - WINNER
Topics: Al Pacino, Oppenheimer, Oscars
Anish Vij