6 “Dark” Stories at the Oscar Ceremonies

The Oscars are one of the most important and prestigious events in the world. Everyone in the film industry (and even us mere mortals) wants to be at this ceremony and even take home a statuette, which recognizes work and excellence in the seventh art.

However, there have been quite uncomfortable and even “dark” moments that make us think that we are better off this way, without rubbing shoulders with all those stars. And it is no secret to anyone that at the Hollywood Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards ceremony there have been moments that went down in the history books because of how infamous and rare they were.

Let’s review some dark stories at the Oscars ceremony

And beyond the emotional speeches and iconic moments, everything has happened at the Oscars ceremony. From errors when announcing the winners, to attacks and even other things that are a little more murky . In fact, many situations have been seen that were not within the script.

That is why here we took on the task of remembering some “dark” moments and controversial stories that completely stained several of the Hollywood Academy Awards. So sit down, make some popcorn and get comfortable, because the gossip is going to get good.

Marlon Brando rejected the Best Actor Award in 1973

One of the first controversies seen at the Oscars occurred at the 1973 ceremony when Marlon Brando refused to accept his Best Actor award for playing Vito Corleone in The Godfather. The actor rejected the recognition as a protest against the problem of the representation of Native Americans in cinema and Hollywood. 

Not only was Brando not present at the ceremony, he instead sent Sacheen Littlefeather, a Native American activist and actress, to reject the award, prompting a mixed response from those present (mostly boos). However, this moment did not end there, as things got more tense backstage.

Sometime later, Littlefeather stated that security guards detained John Wayne because he was trying to attack her. For her part, Clint Eastwood also mocked her and Marlon Brando by saying that he  would “present [an] award on behalf of all the cowboys filmed in all of John Ford’s westerns over the years.” The speech this actress gave at the 1973 Oscars was respectful, which made the mockery of her and the danger she faced afterward even more troubling.

Adrien Brody kissing Halle Berry without consent at the 2003 Oscars

Just one year after winning the Oscar, Halle Berry returned to present the award for Best Actor. After announcing Adrien Brody as the winner for his role in  The Pianist, the actor went on stage very excited and at the moment, it became easy for him to kiss Berry as if nothing had happened, without prior notice or consent. 

Although Brody’s action could be “justified,” with all the euphoria after winning the most important award an actor can win, the reality is that what happened surprised and confused Halle. In an interview with Andy Cohen in 2017, the actress stated the following: “I thought, ‘What the fuck is going on?!’”. And Adrien’s kiss was not consensual and, looking back, it was somewhat inappropriate. That is why it has gone down in history as one of the strangest and most shocking moments at the Oscars.

Roman Polanski winning the Oscar for Best Director in 2003

Wow, 2003 was a dark year for the Oscars. As if Adrien Brody’s shocking moment with Halle Berry wasn’t enough, in that same edition of Hollywood’s biggest ceremony another moment occurred that left everyone with their mouths open. The Academy is known to be somewhat correct and conservative, but in the past they have made exceptions, such as when they gave the Best Director award to Roman Polanski.

After the tragic murder of his wife, Sharon Tate, controversy followed the filmmaker. In 1977, after being arrested for drugging and raping a young girl, Polanski pleaded guilty to the charge of unlawful sexual relations with a minor. However, before he could be sentenced, he fled to Paris to avoid prison. From abroad, he continued his career as a director.

Finally, in 2003 the Academy nominated him for the Oscar for Best Director for The Pianist and in the end, Roman Polanski won the golden statuette but could not accept it because he could not return to the United States due to his problems with the law. So as you can imagine, everything got a little awkward.

While Polanski has since been expelled from the guild and created a code of conduct for its members in the wake of numerous allegations of sexual misconduct in the entertainment industry, the director’s victory made it clear that Hollywood sometimes turned a blind eye. and he let go of the bad actions of some important figures.

The lack of black nominees for two consecutive years at the Oscars

After the nominees for the 87th Academy Awards (held in 2015) were announced, many realized that the vast majority of names considered in the major categories were of Caucasian descent. All of this started a conversation on the internet about the lack of diversity in Hollywood and the Academy’s cover-up of this situation.

Thanks to this discovery, the hashtags “#OscarsSoWhite” and “#WhiteOscars” were born, which were at the center of a huge movement on the blessed social networks. This, in turn, led to calls for the Academy to make adjustments to be more diverse and better represent all people working in the film industry. And after all the criticism, it was thought that they would take those comments very seriously.

However, for the following Oscars in 2016, the Academy repeated the mistakes of the previous year: all 20 actors and four of the five directors were Caucasian. This led to a boycott of the ceremony led by Jada Pinkett Smith and director Spike Lee. From his trench, Chris Rock, who was the presenter of that edition – also joined this protest, as he made a joke about the lack of diversity within the ceremony that left many with their mouths open. 

Definitely, this is one of the most obvious examples that diversity was not in the Hollywood Academy’s priorities. Although they have tried to change that and take this point into account within the Oscars, the truth is that they still have a long way to go before they can talk about true inclusion in the greatest festival of cinema.

And the Oscar goes to… ‘La La Land’. Oh no, ‘Moonlight’

It’s time to review one of the most controversial moments in Oscar history that no one could believe. As with any live show, there’s always bound to be some confusion at the Academy Awards, but the mistake from the 2017 edition is still alive and well in the minds of millions of people around the world (even if they’re not the biggest movie buffs). ).

After introducing the Best Picture nominees, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway announced with great fanfare that La La Land was the winner. Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, Damien Chazelle, and the entire film team took the stage to receive the recognition and celebrate this achievement. But it was the producers themselves who realized there was a mistake while giving their acceptance speech.

In reality, Moonlight was the film that won the Oscar for Best Picture of 2017, to the surprise of everyone present. The glitch was cleared up, but the mistake became one of the biggest, most awkward and memorable mishaps in the history of the ceremony. While it may not have been the darkest or most shocking moment, it was something completely unexpected, confusing, and embarrassing for everyone involved.

Will Smith’s slap to Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars

To close with a flourish with this list of dark Oscar moments, it is time to talk about something that is still fresh for us since it happened at the 2022 edition of the Academy Awards. After joining together to boycott the 2016 ceremony, Chris Rock and Jada Pinkett Smith were the protagonists of a moment that left us speechless, because we did not believe what was happening.

After Rock made a joke about Pinkett Smith’s condition, Will Smith went up on stage and slapped the comedian in the face, shocking both those in attendance and those of us who saw him live on television. As if this wasn’t enough, Will returned to his seat, completely angry and shouting a bunch of profanities without even caring that he was being recorded.

The most ironic thing about all this was that minutes later, Will Smith won the Oscar for Best Actor for his role in  King Richard. During his acceptance speech – in addition to crying his eyes out – he apologized to everyone (except Chris Rock) for the moment he starred in. However, his actions brought consequences, as he was banned from attending Academy events for a decade and he brought down the industry. Outright, this was something completely unexpected and that messed up that edition of the ceremony.