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Conan O’Brien leaves people shocked with controversial Oscars opening skit
Home>Film & TV>News
Updated 00:48 3 Mar 2025 GMTPublished 00:22 3 Mar 2025 GMT

Conan O’Brien leaves people shocked with controversial Oscars opening skit

The 2025 Oscars host has been praised as the 'presenter of the year' by some but others weren't quite as keen...

Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck

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Featured Image Credit: ABC

Topics: Film and TV, Oscars, Celebrity, Social Media, Twitter, Conan O'Brien, Los Angeles, Entertainment

Poppy Bilderbeck
Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck is a freelance journalist with words in Daily Express, Cosmopolitan UK, LADbible, UNILAD and Tyla. She is a former Senior Journalist at LADbible Group. She graduated from The University of Manchester in 2021 with a First in English Literature and Drama, where alongside her studies she was Editor-in-Chief of The Tab Manchester. Poppy is most comfortable when chatting about all things mental health, is proving a drama degree is far from useless by watching and reviewing as many TV shows and films as possible.

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The 97th Annual Awards Ceremony is off to a bang with Conan O'Brien's opening skit already seeing viewers left divided.

The 2025 Oscars is being held tonight (March 3) at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles and kicking off the action is none other than late-night talk show host Conan O'Brien.

And the action has barely even kicked off and O'Brien's opening skit has already caused quite the stir online with social media users flooding to weigh in.

It was certainly something (ITV)
It was certainly something (ITV)

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O'Brien opened the night by spoofing Demi Moore's The Substance, coming out of what appeared to be the actor's body before joking the whole ceremony started a bit early alongside clarifying the awards didn't use artificial intelligence (AI) within the show.

"We would never do that," he said. "We use child labor."

O'Brien then pointed out Adam Sandler sat in the audience wearing basketball shorts and a hoodie, joking: "You're dressed like a guy playing video poker at 2am."

And it's not taken long for viewers to weigh in.

One Twitter user said: "This opening with Conan coming out of Demi Moore’s body in The Substance is brilliant."

However, a second commented: "I don’t know how I feel about Conan’s opening for the #Oscars2025."

"Oscar’s Conan opening was awful," a third even said.

Although many loved the host's opening, another user stating: "Credit to who’s due, #ConanOBrien is doing a FANTASTIC job as #Oscars host this year. All feels real fun, dynamic, enjoyable to watch, the guy is killing it, a rarity at the #Oscars."

Conan O'Brien opened the 97th Oscars (Rich Polk/Penske Media via Getty Images)
Conan O'Brien opened the 97th Oscars (Rich Polk/Penske Media via Getty Images)

"Ive seen enough. Conan O'Brien is the presenter of the year," a final said.

O'Brien's opening skit did go on to take a more serious moment seeing him acknowledge the Los Angeles fires and recognize the behind-the-scenes crews in the film industry.



He said: "In moments such as this, any awards show can seem self-indulgent and superfluous. But what I want us to do is remember why we gathered here tonight.

"Yes, we will honor many beautiful and talented A-list stars. But the Oscars also shines a light on an incredible community of people you will never see: craftspeople, technicians, artisans, costumers, hard-working men and women behind the camera who have devoted their lives to making film."

Oh and O'Brien even performed a little song and dance, repeatedly singing "I won’t waste time" poking fun at how the Oscars tend to run, well, just a touch late.

Oscars 2025 results: the nominees and winners announced so far

Best supporting actor

Yura Borisov - Anora

Kieran Culkin - A Real Pain - WINNER

Edward Norton - A Complete Unknown

Guy Pearce - The Brutalist

Jeremy Strong - The Apprentice

Best animated feature

Flow - WINNER

Inside Out 2

Memoir of a Snail

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

The Wild Robot

Best costume design

Wicked

Nosferatu

A Complete Unknown

Conclave

Gladiator II

Best original score

The Brutalist

Conclave

Emilia Pérez

Wicked

The Wild Robot

Best make-up and hairstyling

A Different Man

Emilia Pérez

Nosferatu

The Substance

Wicked

Best adapted screenplay

A Complete Unknown - Jay Cocks and James Mangold

Conclave - Peter Straughan

Emilia Pérez - Jacques Audiard

Nickel Boys - RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes

Sing Sing - Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar

Best original screenplay

Anora - Sean Baker

The Brutalist - Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold

A Real Pain - Jesse Eisenberg

September 5 - Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum, Alex David

The Substance - Coralie Fargeat

Best supporting actress

Monica Barbaro - A Complete Unknown

Ariana Grande - Wicked

Felicity Jones - The Brutalist

Isabella Rossellini - Conclave

Zoe Saldaña - Emilia Pérez

Best original song

'Never Too Late' - Elton John: Never Too Late

'El Mal' - Emilia Pérez

'Mi Camino' - Emilia Pérez

'Like A Bird' - Sing Sing

'The Journey' - The Six Triple Eight

Best international feature

I'm Still Here - Brazil

The Girl with the Needle - Denmark

Emilia Pérez - France

The Seed of the Sacred Fig - Germany

Flow - Latvia

Best film editing

Anora

The Brutalist

Conclave

Emilia Pérez

Wicked

Best production design

Wicked

The Brutalist

Dune: Part Two

Nosferatu

Conclave

Best sound

A Complete Unknown

Dune: Part Two

Emilia Pérez

Wicked

The Wild Robot

Best visual effects

Alien: Romulus

Better Man

Dune: Part Two

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Wicked

Best cinematography

The Brutalist

Dune: Part Two

Emilia Pérez

Maria

Nosferatu

Best actor

Adrien Brody - The Brutalist

Timothée Chalamet - A Complete Unknown

Colman Domingo - Sing Sing

Ralph Fiennes - Conclave

Sebastian Stan - The Apprentice

Best director

Jacques Audiard - Emilia Pérez

Sean Baker - Anora

Brady Corbet - The Brutalist

Coralie Fargeat - The Substance

James Mangold - A Complete Unknown

Best actress

Cynthia Erivo - Wicked

Karla Sofía Gascón - Emilia Pérez

Mikey Madison - Anora

Demi Moore - The Substance

Fernanda Torres - I'm Still Here

Best picture

Anora

The Brutalist

A Complete Unknown

Conclave

Dune: Part Two

Emilia Pérez

I'm Still Here

Nickel Boys

The Substance

Wicked

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