Conan O’Brien’s return as Oscars host sparked mixed reactions from viewers, with several jokes during Sunday night’s ceremony drawing both laughter and criticism online.
The comedian, 62, hosted the 98th Academy Awards at Dolby Theatre, Hollywood, where Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another dominated the night, winning Best Picture along with five other awards. Anderson also took home Best Director, while Sinners emerged as another major contender.
The Best Actor race proved tense, with Michael B. Jordan winning for his role in Sinners, beating out Timothée Chalamet for Marty Supreme. The table‑tennis drama, which received nine nominations, ultimately went home empty-handed.
Chalamet, 30, had already been under scrutiny ahead of the ceremony, following backlash over comments he made about ballet and opera during a February 24 conversation with Matthew McConaughey for Variety and CNN. While discussing the future of cinema and shrinking attention spans, the actor contrasted mainstream film with what he described as struggling art forms.
“I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera, or things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive, even though no one cares about this anymore,’” Chalamet said at the time, before adding: “All respect to the ballet and opera people out there…I just took shots for no reason.”
O’Brien referenced the controversy, telling the audience: “Security is extremely tight tonight. I’m told there’s concern about attacks from both the opera and ballet community.”
Cameras cut to Chalamet laughing along beside his girlfriend, Kylie Jenner, as O’Brien continued: “They’re just mad you left out jazz.”
Later in the broadcast, O’Brien made Chalamet the butt of another gag, bringing out a sculpted “bum drum,” which he beat with drumsticks—a reference to a scene in Marty Supreme in which Chalamet’s character is spanked. Newsweek reached out to Conan O’Brien and Timothée Chalamet’s publicists for comment via email.
The host, known for his dark and absurdist humor, also delivered a gasp-inducing joke and delivered multiple political messages throughout the evening.
“It’s the first time since 2012 that there are no British actors nominated for best actor or best actress,” O’Brien said. He continued the joke: “A British spokesperson said, ‘Yeah, well, at least we arrest our pedophiles.’”
Reaction on social media was swift and divided.
“The bum drum was so unfunny can we just not do comedy bits about peoples bodies is it that hard,” wrote Liz Duff, @producerliz, on Threads.
Another viewer, Kimberly Eident Chytil, added: “Not even remotely funny.”
Others defended O’Brien’s performance.
“Conan is the only person alive who could roast Timothée Chalamet to his face at the Oscars and have him laugh about it. that’s a superpower,” wrote Evil Cass on X.
“It actually makes me sad to see people down on Conan. He’s one of the most sincere, genuine people that Hollywood has. If you don’t like his humor fine but in terms of his character, I won’t stand for Conan slander,” wrote Nicole Simone (@late.july) on Threads, a post that garnered more than 103,000 views.
Comedian Christopher Titus also weighed in, writing on Threads: “The most thankless job as a comic is hosting an awards show. The audience is worried about winning, not focused of having fun or laughing. Conan did an amazing, authentic job, in the most impossible place to do that. The bits were funny and weird enough. It took the Oscars into the future. (Like we have a future) This LAST Oscars was amazing.”
Another viewer said on Threads: “Conan O’Brien roasting Timothée Chalamet’s opera comments while Timothée and Kylie Jenner just sat there and took it is already the meme of the night. Conan is fearless this year. 10/10 opening monologue,” they wrote on Threads.
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