‘White People’s Choice Awards’
Host Chris Rock lost no time in commenting on the lack of color for the nominees at the Oscars after a second straight year of all-white acting nominees.
“Man, I counted at least 15 black people on that montage,” said Rock. “Well I’m here at the Academy Awards, otherwise known as the White People’s Choice Awards. You realize if they nominated the host, I wouldn’t even get this job, so y’all be watching Neil Patrick Harris right now.”
Rock said 2016’s Oscars was one of the craziest shows to host because there was so much controversy. Spike Lee and Jada Pinkett Smith both announcing they would sit out this year’s ceremony and #OscarsSoWhite protesters took to the streets.
“No black nominees, people are like, ‘Chris you should boycott’ … How come it’s only unemployed people who tell you to quit? I thought about quitting … [but] they are not going to cancel the Oscars ’cause I quit. The last thing I need is to lose another job to Kevin Hart.”
He closed his monologue by saying, “It’s not about boycotting anything, we want opportunity. We want the black actors to get the same opportunities as white actors.”
Following Rock’s introduction was a taped comedy segment on how some of the best picture nominees could have been more diverse. It featured Leslie Jones of “Saturday Night Live” attacking Leonardo DiCaprio in “The Revenant,” Tracy Morgan wearing a dress in “The Danish Girl” and Chris Rock in “The Martian.”
Biden introduces Lady Gaga’s performance
To a standing ovation, Vice President Joe Biden introduced Lady Gaga’s performance of her song from the documentary ‘The Hunting Ground.’
After joking about trying to find the teleprompter, Biden turned to a serious note asking Americans to change the culture around sexual assault, particularly on college campuses.
“Let’s change the culture, so that no abused woman or man ever feels they have to ask themselves ‘What did I do?’ They did nothing wrong,” said Biden. The Vice President asked viewers to take a pledge at ItsOnUs.org.
Of course Lady Gaga’s performance was nothing short of powerful. Women and men stood on stage holding hands as she sang.
The Kid from ‘Room’
Jacob Tremblay won a lot of hearts Sunday night.
Like many other 9-year-old boys, Trembley is a huge fan of Star Wars. In fact, Tremblay even showed off his Star Wars Cuff Links and Darth Vadar socks on the red carpet.
So when Star Wars’ C-3PO, 42-d2 and Bb-8 made a surprise appearance to give a nod to music composer John Williams, Tremblay couldn’t help jumping out of his seat.
Of course Tremblay stole the show later in the night when he presented Best Live Action Short with Abraham Attah from Beats of No Nation. “Thanks Chris, loved you in Madagascar. He’s the Zebra, he’s hilarious,” said the boy to Rock as he brought out a box for him to stand on so he could reach the microphone.
The kids from the Oscars also had a little bit of fun when they weren’t on stage.
Later in the show, Trembley has a moment with his co-star Brie Larson, who won Best Actress. She gave him a high-five and a big hug when it was announced she had won.
“I’d like to thank Jacob Trembley, my partner in every way possible,” said Larson in her acceptance speech. The nine-year-old gave Larson a big grin from his seat.
Even the Oscars had to make a joke about the Revenant Bear
The bear from The Revenant has been a topic of jokes and memes prior to Oscars Sunday night, but after Jennifer Garner and Benicio del Toro honored the Best Picture nominee the camera cut from Leanoardo DiCaprio to show a person in a bear suite clapping from the audience.
The Revenant’s official trailer was revealed by 20th Century Fox on September 29, 2015. About 50 seconds in to the trailer an angry bear is shown attacking DiCaprio. Several months after the trailer’s release the Drudge Report reported that DiCaprio was raped by the bear, but Kyle Buchanan, who had already seen the movie said it did not rape DiCaprio.
The film’s star, DiCaprio, later talked about the “absurd” bear rape rumors, saying “I have no idea where these ridiculous things come from, and what you do when you hear stuff like that?”
After the movie came out others joked that the bear should have won the Oscar. Motions by stuntman Glen Ennis were tracked to create the life-like look of the computer generated bear in the movie.
Chris Rock sells his daughters’ Girl Scout cookies
Pizza is two years ago. It’s Girl Scout cookie season and Chris Rock helped his daughter’s trooped by letting them sell cookies at work. Of course his “work” just happened to be the Oscars.
“I want you to reach into your millionaire pockets and I want you to buy some of my daughters’ girl scout cookies,” he pleaded to the audience.
Of course celebrities, including Kate Winslet, Michael B. Jordan, Tina Fey, Charlize Theron, Matt Damon, Julianne Moore and Mindy Kaling lost no time in opening up boxes of Thin Mints and sharing between the aisle. Even Vice President Biden spent $20 for cookies.
“Are you going to deny by Princesses some cookies? Alright Tina Fey, get that money girl,” said Rock as the troop came out on stage. “Leo you made 30 million, come on, come on!”
Not everyone was permitted to buy cookies. Rock warned the girls not to sell cookies to Louis Gossett Jr. “Louis Gossett, you can’t have these. You have diabetes,” he joked.
Tallying up sales, Rock later said the stars spent a whopping $65,243 on Girl Scout cookies.
Woody and Buzz present Best Animated Feature Film
Twenty years after the first feature-length computer-animated film was released, it was only fitting that characters from the film presented the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film.
“Wow Buzz, can you believe it’s been 20 years since you and I met in Andy’s room,” said Woody. “You mean 20 years since you tried to terminate me in Andy’s room?,” said Buzz.
Pixar’s “Inside Out” took home the Oscar. The film tells the story of a young girl’s emotions as her family relocates from Minnesota to San Francisco. Director Pete Docter has said the film, which mixes science with his experience, has also resonated with the parents of special needs children.