- We are here at the Oscars. - Yes.
- Oh! [cheers and applause] -Oh.
- That's right -- where movie lovers unite and watch TV.
- The 94th annual Academy Awards,
hosted by Regina Hall, Amy Schumer,
and Wanda Sykes, was filled with jokes.
- This year, the Academy hired three women to host
because it's cheaper than hiring one man.
- Though not all of them were well-received.
- Jada, I love you.
"GI Jane 2" -- can't wait to see it.
Alright?
Will Smith slapped presenter Chris Rock
after the comedian made a joke at the expense of Smith's wife,
Jada Pinkett Smith.
The moment was tense for audience members at home
and at Dolby Theatre
and left viewers unsure if it was a real hit.
ABC cut the audio following the incident.
Will Smith later received the trophy for Best Actor
for his role as Richard Williams in "King Richard,"
which tells the story of the roots of Venus
and Serena Williams and their tennis stardom.
Smith apologized and said he, like Richard Williams,
is a fierce defender of his family.
- To do what we do [sniffles]
you got to be able to take abuse.
You got to be able to have people talk crazy about you.
In this business, you got to be able to have people
disrespecting you.
And you got to smile, and you got to pretend like that's okay.
- "CODA" won awards in every category it was nominated for,
including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay,
and Troy Kotsur's win for Best Supporting Actor.
- This is amazing -- to be here on this journey.
I cannot believe I'm here.
- Kotsur, who became the first deaf actor to win,
received a standing ovation,
the audience applauding him using sign language.
Though Best Picture contender "The Power of the Dog"
did not win the night's most coveted award,
Jane Campion took home the trophy for Best Director.
- I love directing because it's a deep dive into story,
yet the task of manifesting a world can be overwhelming.
- "Dune" won the most awards of the night, with six trophies,
mostly in technical categories,
including Visual Effects and Cinematography.
The widely beloved "Encanto,"
a tale about a magical family in Colombia,
with a few chart-topping songs,
took home the award for Best Animated Feature Film.
- I am so proud to be a part of a film that puts beautiful,
diverse characters in front and center
and that people everywhere are seeing themselves in the film.
- Whoa! - Surprisingly, "Encanto"
did not win for Best Original Song.
That went to siblings Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell
for "No Time to Die"
from the James Bond film of the same name.
Best Original Screenplay went to Kenneth
Branagh's autobiographical "Belfast."
And the International Film Award
went to "Drive My Car" out of Japan.
First-time nominee Ariana DeBose won for Best Supporting Actress
for playing Anita in "West Side Story."
- Imagine this little girl in the backseat
of a white Ford Focus.
Look into her eyes.
You see a queer -- openly queer --
woman of color, an Afro-Latina,
who found her strength in life through art.
- Though news events like the pandemic.
- No one's wearing a mask.
- And Russia's invasion of Ukraine were briefly mentioned.
- And there's a genocide going on in the Ukraine
and women are losing all of their rights.
- The show was not as political as in years past.
Jessica Chastain spoke about recent bills
targeting LGBTQ communities
in her Best Actress acceptance speech for her role
as controversial televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker
in "The Eyes of Tammy Faye."
- And in times like this, I think of Tammy,
and I'm inspired by her radical acts of love.
We've talked about love a lot tonight.
And I'm inspired by her compassion,
and I see it as a guiding principle that leads us forward.
And it connects us all in the desire
that we want to be accepted for who we are,
accepted for who we love, and to live a life
without the fear of violence or terror.