Viola Davis holds her Oscar after receiving the award for Best Supporting Actress. Photo from BET.com
By Armando Martinez
It was an unforgettable night at the 89th Academy Awards, which aired live on ABC on Sunday, Feb. 26 at 8 p.m. ET. and took place at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood. There were four musical performances, a moving In Memoriam tribute, inspirational acceptance speeches, and some less than sweet jokes from the Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel toward his long-time “rival” Matt Damon. There were many moments the whole world would be buzzing about, and these are just some of the night’s most talked about moments.
Jimmy Kimmel’s Shady Monologue:
Kimmel opened the show strong, throwing political jabs and making a reference to actor Mel Gibson’s not so shining moments. He encouraged the audience to give the “overrated” actress Meryl Streep a standing ovation, a clear shot to the President of the United States. Kimmel joked that in 2016 “black people saved NASA and white people saved jazz,” where he was referring to Oscar-nominated films Hidden Figures and La La Land.
Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway pull a Steve Harvey:
The moment everyone was waiting for, was which movie would win the Oscar for Best Picture. Beatty and Dunaway announced that the musical La La Land won the award. However, that was a mistake. Midway through one of the movie’s producers’ speeches, it was revealed that Moonlight won the award for Best Picture, not La La Land. Beatty said “I want 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.” This has never happened before in Oscar history.
Viola Davis Acceptance Speech:
Viola Davis delivered a tearful and moving speech while accepting the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Fences. Davis praised August Wilson, who wrote the play Fences, stating he “exhumed and exalted the ordinary people,” whose stories she wants to share in her work. She goes on to say “I became an artist and thank god I did because we are the only profession that celebrates what it means to live a life.” Kimmel joked that Davis should receive an Emmy nomination for her speech.
Mean Tweets: Oscar Edition
Kimmel added his famous “Mean Tweets” into his Oscar hosting routine. Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, Samuel L Jackson, Jessica Chastain and Natalie Portman were among the celebrities taking on the abuse. Kimmel even tweeted President Donald Trump with a mild tweet, asking “Hey @realDonaldTrump u up?” He was simply checking if Trump was okay, after all the disses he threw at him.
