Will Smith slapping Chris Rock after the latter made an insensitive ‘joke’ about the actor’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s medical condition will go down as an infamous moment in the history of the Academy Awards. The unscripted moment led to the Oscars muting the segment in some regions and an uncomfortable silence at the venue. However, the Oscars have a history of unscripted (sometimes) moments, and here are a few:
1. 1973 Oscars: ‘Six Security Guards Had to Hold Back John Wayne’
The Godfather is considered to be a landmark in filmmaking and thus, it came as no surprise when lead actor Marlon Brando won ‘Best Actor’ in 1973. However, Brando declined to accept the award himself and instead sent Sacheen Littlefeather to accept the trophy. She mentioned that she was the Apache President of the National Native American Affirmative Image Committee.
Talking of Brando, Sacheen informed that he “very regretfully cannot accept this very generous award. And the reasons for this being are the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry.” Sacheen’s address received both boos and applause from the audience.
In the documentary Sacheen: Breaking The Silence, Sacheen revealed, “I later learned six security guards had to hold back John Wayne, who was in the wings and wanted to storm on the stage and drag me off.”
2. 1974 Oscars: The Streaker (and Activist) Robert Opel
Perhaps the most famous ‘infamous’ moment from Oscar history is from the year 1974 when Robert Opel, a photographer and gay rights activist, streaked naked past David Niven who was on stage to introduce Elizabeth Taylor. Robert also flashed the peace sign.
Niven added to the most with his quip, “Isn’t it fascinating to think that probably the only laugh that man will ever get in life is by stripping off and showing his shortcomings?” Several people have theorised that this act wasn’t unscripted and business manager Robert Metzler had told Los Angeles Times in 1993 that Niven had written that little quip down two hours before the stunt.
3. 1989 Oscars: Rob Lowe and ‘Snow White’
The 1989 Oscars featured an act that caused irreparable damage to Allan Carr’s career, who was chosen as the producer for that edition. He had decided to do away with hosts and instead pepper the night with performances from celebrities. The first performance was ‘Snow White’ with newcomer Eileen Bowman playing the lead and Rob Lowe playing the role of her blind date.
Among other things, the duo performed a version of ‘Proud Mary’ on stage. The entire spectacle was awkward and has often been described as ‘cringeworthy’. In a later interview, Rob recalls seeing filmmaker Barry Levinson from stage, “I could see him very clearly pop-eyed and mouthing, ‘What the [expletive]?’ But to be a successful actor, you have to have a big dollop of self-denial, so I managed to convince myself that I’d killed it.”
Disney had then sued the Academy for the unauthorised use of ‘Snow White’. 17 Hollywood stars had also signed an open letter calling the performance “an embarrassment to both the Academy and the entire motion picture industry.”
If you want to sit through the entire performance, here:
4. 2014 Oscars: The ‘Adele Dazeem’ Moment
The 2013 Disney flick Frozen was a smashing success and so was the song 'Let It Go' by Idina Menzel. The song was nominated for and won the award for 'Best Original Song' and Idina also performed the song live at the 2014 Oscars ceremony. However, the moment people remember more clearly is John Travolta's introduction when he botched the pronounciation of Idina's name, introducing her as 'Adele Dazeem' instead.
Years later, In a segment of The Late Late Show, Idina said, “First, I felt really sorry for myself,” Menzel said. “Like Meryl Streep’s out there, it’s my big break, and he just f**ed up my name. And then eight seconds the band starts, I was like, ‘Get your s— together. Come on, this is your moment.”
John Travolta later claimed that the faux pas was a result of ‘miscommunication’ backstage and Idina’s name being changed to a ‘phonetic spelling’. Also, Idina got her revenge at the 2015 Oscars where she introduced Travolta as ‘Glom Gazingo’.
5. 2015 Oscars: Sean Penn’s ‘Joke’ Irks Netizens
At the 2015 Oscars, Sean Penn made a ‘joke’ about a green card before he handed the award for ‘Best Picture’ to filmmaker Alejandro González for Birdman. Before announcing the win, Sean remarked, “Who gave this (expletive) a green card?"
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The comment caused outrage on social media with several people calling it racist and insensitive to the plight of immigrants. While both Sean and González defended the statement as an ‘inside joke’ between friends, social media users including journalists argued that the comment was inexcusable considering the lived experience of immigrants in America.
6. 2017 Oscars: The ‘Moonlight’ Mix-up
The ‘Best Picture’ is one of the most coveted and awaited awards at the Oscars and the 2017 Oscars got the highly-anticipated moment wrong! Labeled ‘Envelopegate’ by media in the US, the incident is easily one of the most memorable mix-ups at the Academy awards.
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At the 89th Academy Awards, Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty announced La La Land as the ‘Best Picture’. The crowd was jovial, the producers were ecstatic and celebrating on stage when producer Jordan Horowitz announced, “There's a mistake. 'Moonlight,' you guys won best picture. This is not a joke."
The mix-up was attributed to the presenters having the wrong envelope as Beatty later explained, “I wanted to tell you what happened. I opened the envelope, and it said, 'Emma Stone, La La Land.' That’s why I took such a long look at Faye, and at you, I wasn’t trying to be funny."
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