The Oscars 2026 may be an opportunity to celebrate the greatest moments in cinema over the past year — but let's be real, they're also a great opportunity to judge A-listers for their fashion choices, their acceptance speeches, and, of course, their memeable audience reactions.
After all, over the years, the Academy Awards have given us plenty of enduring memes still making the rounds on the internet. Who could ever forget Nicole Kidman's weird clap or that slap?
The 98th Academy Awards were held last night in Los Angeles and they did not disappoint on the lols. If like us you had two screens on the go, one for the actual live stream and one for the jokes on X and Reddit, we salute you. In case you missed any of the memes, allow us to present you with some of the funniest moments from the Oscars 2026…
One Battle After Another swept this year's Academy Awards.
A new Leo meme surfaced
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Host Conan O'Brian understood the assignment — namely, get a new Leo meme. As O'Brian joked on stage, DiCaprio is the “king of memes.”
“Let's make a new meme with Leo right now,” he said.
“That feeling when you didn't agree to this,” O'Brian said as the cameras cut to Leo, who turned to the camera looking happily perplexed. Naturally, he completely nailed it.
Speaking of Leo, people have thoughts about that moustache
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If you spent any time at all on social media during the Oscars, you will know that it was filled to the brim with chatter about Leo's new look. Because, yes, that moustache is working for some of us. Leo being the heartthrob of the evening was not on my bingo card. But I'm not mad at itl.
Timothée Chalamet was the butt of so many ballet and opera jokes
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Unless you're very, very offline, you probably know that Chalamet isn't exactly everyone's favourite celeb right now. Basically, he made some comments about ballet and opera being irrelevant art forms, and people are a little pissed about it.
So much so, in fact, that multiple jokes about his comments made it into the ceremony.
The first happened seconds into O'Brian's opening speech. “I'm told there's concerns about a tax from both the opera and ballet communities,” he said as we cut to Chalamet grinning happily in the audience.
Another joke came when Alexandre Singh of Two People Exchanging Saliva said in his speech: “Maybe it takes 10 years’ time, but we can change society through art, through creativity, through theatre and ballet, and also cinema.” Burn.
Timothée Chalamet has fallen down the stairs
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JK. IYKYK, but that Jason DeRulo falling down the stairs at the Met Gala meme is back with Timmy, who happened to be wearing all white, now being the butt of the joke. In case you've already forgotten about the OG meme, it all began when a an unnamed man tripped on the steps at the Met Gala and landed on his head. The photo quickly spread online with people claiming it was DeRulo and the rest is history. Now, pretty much every award show, you can expect to see reports of someone falling on the stairs.
Teyana Taylor tackles PTA after winning Best Picture
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Literally LOL. Now that is how you take to the stage after winning Best Picture.
The Bridesmaids reunion was everything
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Millennials, this is our time! Bridesmaids is celebrating its 15-year anniversary this year and five of its stars reunited on stage: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne and Ellie Kemper.
In a ceremony filled with tight jokes and speeches cut short, the five actors were given ample time for their bit, which saw them reading out fake notes from various people in the crowd. And, honestly, rightly so. Bring back comedy! They absolutely killed it.
Anna Wintour did the perfect Devil Wears Prada joke with Anne Hathaway
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Anna Wintour doing an impression of Meryl Streep playing Anna Wintour? Iconic.
Anne Hathaway and Wintour presented the Best Costume award and did a gag inspired by Hathaway's iconic 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada. And in a nod to Streep's Miranda, she called her Emily. That's all.
Kate Hudson and Baby Yoda have a moment
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Kate Hudson was shown getting cosy with Baby Yoda. Sigourney Weaver didn't hold back, saying, “Get away from him, you bitch!” Honestly, I'd be protective over Baby Yoda, too.
That “Tanning Chatum” slip up could happen to anyone
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Adele Dazeem walked so that Tanning Chatum could run. Yes, while on stage presenting the awards for best adapted and original screenplay, Avengers alum Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans noted it was the 14th anniversary of the first Avengers film. Downey Jr. joked that he had gotten Evans “the official ‘Tanning Chatum’ thong from Magic Mike.” A kind of funny joke made infinitely funnier by Downey Jr.'s spoonerism.
The sea of A-listers holding up “Golden” lightsticks
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KPop Demon Hunters trio EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami treated the crowd to a thrilling rendition of “Golden” from their film — it went on to win Best Original Song. But while the performance was nothing short of breathtaking, the clips of all of Hollywood's somewhat confused A-listers awkwardly waving around their KPop light sticks was TV gold.
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