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Oscars Host Conan O’Brien Reveals “Bad” Joke He's Already Cut Shading This Nominee
As expected, Conan O'Brien showed up slinging one joke after another at the 2026 Oscars.
The returning host made quite the entrance. He kicked off the 98th Academy Awards March 15 with a bit in which he sported Best Supporting Actress winner Amy Madigan's Aunt Gladys makeup from Weapons and then, as he was chased toward Hollywood's Dolby Theatre by entranced children, he made his way through almost every Best Picture nominee, from the F1 race track to the Sinners juke joint.
Though he did give up hope of nailing a Train Dreams zinger, the Best Picture nominee just too upsetting to lend itself to humor.
He was greeted with a standing ovation when he finally did reach the stage. (See all the stars in attendance at the 2026 Oscars.)
Though he kept his opening monologue mostly light, O'Brien did have to address the "concerns about attacks from both the opera and ballet communities," a dig at Timothée Chalamet's recent crack about nobody caring anymore about those art forms. The Best Actor nominee had a good chuckle along with date Kylie Jenner.
But in a move that will live in perpetuity, O'Brien took a moment to refresh the stock of evergreen Leonardo DiCaprio memes out there.
Surely "TFW You Didn't Agree to This," starring a mustache-sporrting Leo, will join the ranks of the Great Gatsby toast and his smarmy cheers from Django Unchained.
ABC
O'Brien also singled out the One Battle After Another star's fellow Best Actor nominee Michael B. Jordan, who played twins in Sinners and will be playing the part of all the seat fillers tonight, so adept as he is at portraying multiple roles.
Sinners led the entire field with a record 16 nominations—including Best Picture, Best Director and Original Screenplay for Ryan Coogler. Hot on its heels with 13 nominations is One Battle After Another, including Best Picture, Best Director and Adapted Screenplay for Paul Thomas Anderson.
O'Brien was back for the second straight year by popular demand, locked down for an encore even before he was nominated for an Emmy for hosting last year's Oscars. (Though he lost in that category, Outstanding Live Variety Special, he still won a statue for his HBO Max series Conan O'Brien Must Go, named Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special.
Once again, the 62-year-old was out workshopping material at comedy clubs around L.A. for weeks before the big night, noting on Jimmy Kimmel Live earlier this week that he didn't generally worry about people leaking his bits because "if the jokes aren't great, they don't repeat 'em."
"And," he quipped, "that's my secret."
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But the thing is about preparing his opening monologue, he explained, "We started working on this thing, you know, early January, late December, and people will write jokes that are really, like, 'Oh, this is a great joke!' And then you realize it's 35 news cycles ago now."
Disney/Mark Seliger
Oh, and memo to all the A-listers in attendance: "I kind of want something to go sideways," O'Brien noted, "because it's exhilarating, and people in the audience and at home see that something has gone wrong."
"Now," he pointed out, "there's good gone wrong. And then there's bad gone wrong. I don't want bad gone wrong. I want good gone wrong. And so, you just have to see if that happens or not."
What is always a given on Oscars night is that awards will be handed out. See who's having a winning time at the 98th Academy Awards:
Best Picture
Bugonia
F1
Frankenstein
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
The Secret Agent
Sentimental Value
Sinners
Train Dreams
Actress in a Leading Role
Jessie Buckley - Hamnet
Rose Byrne - If I Had Legs I'd Kick You
Kate Hudson - Song Sung Blue
Renate Reinsve - Sentimental Value
Emma Stone - Bugonia
Actor in a Leading Role
Timothée Chalamet - Marty Supreme
Leonardo DiCaprio - One Battle After Another
Ethan Hawke - Blue Moon
Michael B. Jordan - Sinners
Wagner Moura - The Secret Agent
Actress in a Supporting Role
Elle Fanning - Sentimental Value
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas - Sentimental Value
WINNER: Amy Madigan - Weapons
Wunmi Mosaku- Sinners
Teyana Taylor - One Battle After Another
Actor in a Supporting Role
Benecio Del Toro - One Battle After Another
Jacob Elordi - Frankenstein
Delroy Lindo - Sinners
Sean Penn - One Battle After Another
Stellan Skarsgård - Sentimental Value
Director
Chloé Zhao - Hamnet
Josh Safdie - Marty Supreme
Paul Thomas Anderson - One Battle After Another
Joachim Trier - Sentimental Value
Ryan Coogler - Sinners
Original Screenplay
Blue Moon
It Was Just An Accident
Marty Supreme
Sentimental Value
Sinners
Costume Design
Avatar: Fire and Ash
WINNER: Frankenstein
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
Sinners
Original Song
"Dear Me" from Diane Warren: Relentless
"Golden" from KPop Deamon Hunters
"I Lied to You" from Sinners
"Sweet Dreams of Joy" from Viva Verdii
"Train Dreams" from Train Dreams
International Feature Film
The Secret Agent
It Was Just an Accident
Sentimental Value
Sirat
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Live Action Short Film
Butcher's Stain
A Friend of Dorothy
Jane Austen's Period Drama
The Singers
Two People Exchanging Saliva
Documentary Short Film
All the Empty Tooms
Armed Only With A Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud
Children No More: "Were and Are Gone"
The Devil Is Busy
Perfectly a Strangeness
Original Score
Bugonia
Frankenstein
Hamnet
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Visual Effects
Avatar: Fire and Ash
F1
Jurassic World Rebirth
The Lost Bus
Sinners
Cinematography
Frankenstein
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Train Dreams
Film Editing
F1
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sentimental Value
Sinners
Production Design
Frankenstein
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Adapted Screenplay
Bugonia
Frankenstein
Hamnet
One Battle After Another
Train Dreams
Documentary Feature Film
The Alabama Solution
Come See Me in the Good Light
Cutting Through Rocks
Mr. Nobody Against Putin
The Perfect Neighbor
Casting
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
The Secret Agent
Sinners
Animated Short Film
Butterfly
Forevergreen
WINNER: The Girl Who Cried Pearls
Retirement Plan
The Three Sisters
Makeup & Hairstyling
WINNER: Frankenstein
Kokuho
Sinners
The Smashing Machine
The Ugly Stepsister
Animated Feature Film
Arco
Elio
WINNER: Kpop Demon Hunters
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Zootopia 2
Sound
F1
Frankenstein
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Sirat
Watch the Oscars 2026 Sunday, March 15, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on ABC and streaming on Hulu.
English (US) ·