Things became a little tense when Chris Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith while presenting the Oscar for Best Documentary. It earned him a slap and a cursing out from Will Smith — all live on air.
Chris first joked that Javier Bardem cannot win the Best Actor Oscar if his wife, Penelope Cruz, misses out on Best Actress. “If she loses, he can’t win,” Rock stated. “He is praying that Will Smithwins, like, ‘Please, lord!'”
Chris then turned his attention on Pinkett Smith and remarked, “Jada. Love ya. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it!” The joke didn’t land with the Smiths; the camera cut to Jada rolling her eyes in what appeared to be disgust.
Rock tried defending his joke, saying, “That was a nice one” but quickly said “uh oh” as Will stormed the stage. The King Richard actor slapped Rock and, after walking off the stage, shouted “Keep my wife’s name out of your f****** mouth” at him twice. The audio broadcast was cut before any profanities were said on air.
Rock appeared rattled by the unexpected altercation, which he dubbed, “The greatest night in the history of television.” He also flubbed while announcing the category’s winner, saying “We are here to give a documentary out,” meaning to say “give an Oscar out for Best Documentary.”
Billie Eilish and FINNEAS took the Oscar stage Sunday night to perform their nominated song “No Time to Die,” from the James Bond film of the same name.
With FINNEAS at the piano, Billie began the performance seated on a stool, wearing a voluminous black outfit and black hair. Angular laser lights flanked her as she sang and eventually stood up to finish the haunting song. An orchestra backed the pair up for their performance.
The duo was introduced by Oscar-winner Rami Malek, who played the villain in No Time to Die.
Billie and FINNEAS have already won a Grammy and a Golden Globe for the song.
The first live performance of Encanto‘s “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” was “Savage” — thanks to an appearance by none other than Megan Thee Stallion.
The performance was introduced by Encanto star John Leguizamo, who complained that he wasn’t invited to perform even though, as he correctly pointed out, “I AM Bruno, what’s up with that?”
After the Encanto cast members started the number, delivering the first verse, Megan appeared in a knockout gold number, rapping a verse about the song — declaring it the new “Let It Go” — as well as the Oscars, the guests in the audience and the evening’s three female hosts.
The song continued with guest performers Becky G and Luis Fonsi, who delivered a new verse with Oscar-specific lyrics, with Fonsi singing, “Shout out to Lin-Manuel!” That’s Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the song.
Parents everywhere who have had quite enough of the original version of “Bruno” are probably crossing their fingers that this new version gets released ASAP.
Reba McEntire took the Oscar stage for the second time in her career Sunday night, to perform “Somehow You Do,” the Oscar-nominated song from the film Four Good Days.
Reba sang the song, written by 13-time nominee Diane Warren, while wearing a black gown with huge jeweled detail in the front. Her hair was up and she wore a pair of simple earrings. In the audience, Warren applauded Reba wildly.
Her previous Oscar performance came in 1991: She sang the song “I’m Checkin’ Out,” from the Meryl Streep film film Postcards from the Edge.
Monday just happens to be Reba’s birthday, so no matter if the song wins or loses, it’s safe to say she’ll be celebrating tonight.
On a more somber note, immediately following Reba’s performance, the Oscars held a moment of silence for Ukraine.
On Sunday’s Academy Awards, Latin superstar Sebastián Yatra performed the nominated song from the animated film Encanto, “Dos Oruguitas,” or “Two Little Caterpillars.”
As he sang on a stage decorated like the lush Colombian setting of Encanto, Yatra wore a suit embroidered with butterflies, which of course, is what happens to caterpillars. The song, like all the tunes from Encanto, was penned by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Directly after the performance, Encanto was announced as the winner for Best Animated Feature Film.
If “Dos Oruguitas” wins the Oscar for Best Original Song, Miranda will be an EGOT, having won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony.
Ariana DeBose won the 2022 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress during the 94th Academy Awards ceremony held Sunday night at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
This is the first Oscar for DeBose, who won for her role as Anita in West Side Story.
DeBose kept her acceptance speech short and sweet, declaring that the film’s director Steven Spielberg is “stuck with [her] now,” and giving a shout out to Rita Moreno, the actress who won an Oscar for the same role 60 years prior.
She closed out her speech with an inspirational message to the queer community.
“Lastly, imagine this little girl in the back seat of a white Ford Focus. Look into her eyes, you see a queer, an openly queer woman of color, an Afro-Latina who found her strength in life through art and that’s what I believe we’re here to celebrate,” she proclaimed.
“So to anybody who has ever questioned your identity, ever, ever, ever, or you find yourself living in the gray spaces, I promise you this. There is indeed a place for us. Thank you to the Academy and thank you all,” DeBose concluded.
Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes and Regina Hall kicked off the Academy Awards with a bang on Sunday night by joking that the Oscars decided to hire three women to helm the night “because it’s cheaper than hiring one man.”
The jokes continued rolling with the cameras panning to J.K. Simmons as the three joked how COVID-19 has aged Timothée Chalamet. Hall quickly interjected she’d “still smash” the 67-year-old actor. The trio also teased Samuel L. Jackson for not being a seasoned actor, telling him his resume is missing a rom-com and musical.
When discussing the infamous snubs of the night, Sykes praised Lady Gaga and Jared Leto‘s work in “House of Random Accents” — a reference to critics taking issue with the varying accents used in House of Gucci.
Another snub, which the hosts agreed “Black Twitter’s gonna love,” was Space Jam 2 — saying they should have earned a nod for special effects “for the hair line they gave LeBron James.”
Other jokes targeted Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, with the ladies repeatedly shouting the word. They also cracked that the Golden Globes would be included in the “in memoriam” tribute this year.
The ladies finished by introducing themselves, but when it came to Hall, she quipped, “And I’m still single.”
Beyoncé had the honor of opening the 94th Academy Awards Sunday night by performing her nominated song from King Richard, “Be Alive,” co-written by her and Dixson.
Introduced by Venus and Serena Williams, whose father inspired the film King Richard, Beyoncé performed from the Williams sisters’ childhood tennis court in Compton — which Beyoncé acknowledged by putting in a “California Love”-inspired chant of “the city of Compton” in the intro of the song.
Beyoncé, wearing a tennis ball-yellow/green gown, gloves and matching jewels, with one bare leg decorated with a jeweled garter, sang while surrounded by dozens of dancers and musicians, all dressed in similar monochrome looks.
The musicians played matching tennis ball-colored violins and pianos, and the entire court was painted to match as well. The intricately choreographed performance was photographed from above and every angle.
If “Be Alive” wins the Best Original Song Oscar, Queen Bey and Dixson will each get a trophy.
After teasing it this past week, Miley Cyrus has confirmed that she’ll release her first-ever live album, ATTENTION: MILEY LIVE, on April 1. It’s available to pre-save now.
In addition to songs from her entire career, ATTENTION also includes Miley’s new songs “ATTENTION” and “You,” the latter of which she premiered on New Year’s Eve. On Instagram, she wrote, “My fans have been asking me for a live album for a long time & I am so exxxited to give it to them! This show was curated BY the fans FOR the fans! I asked my audience what songs they’d like to see me perform at upcoming shows and this is the set list YOU created!”
Her note continues, “From fan favorite covers to some of my oldest songs, newest songs & original unreleased songs ‘YOU’ & ‘ATTENTION!’ I was doing a minimal amount of live shows this year and wanted the MAXIMUM amount of fans to experience ME LIVE! This album wouldn’t be possible without my band & crew! Thank you to everyone who came to see my show & anyone who couldn’t make it THIS ALBUM IS FOR YOU! I LOVE YOU!”
In another post, she added, “Thank you for all of your loyalty and support over the last 16 years! This record is the least I can do to try and show my appreciation for your dedication! We’re in this together forever!“
You can watch a trailer for the album now on YouTube.
Here’s the track list for ATTENTION:
“ATTENTION”
“We Can’t Stop X Where Is My Mind?”
“Plastic Hearts”
“Heart of Glass”
“4×4”
“(SMS) Bangerz”
“Dooo It!”
“23”
“Never Be Me”
“Maybe”
“7 Things”
“Bang Bang X See You Again”
“Jolene”
“High”
“You”
“Like a Prayer”
“Edge of Midnight (Midnight Sky Remix)”
“The Climb”
“Wrecking Ball X Nothing Compares 2 U”
“Party In The USA”
(NEW YORK) — As gas prices continue to soar across the country, three states have opted to temporarily waive their gas tax to provide relief for motorists. Other states are mulling similar plans.
Last week, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan signed legislation that suspended their states’ gas taxes for a limited period. On Thursday, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont signed a legislative package that included a tax holiday on the state’s gas tax during the spring.
While the move may save drivers around 30 cents per gallon at the pump, economic and policy experts warn that it is only a stop-gap solution.
“They may not lower [gas] consumption and they might increase it,” Patrick De Haan, the head of petroleum analysis at gas price app GasBuddy, told ABC News of the tax holidays. “I would love to pay less at the pump too, but this is a Band-Aid solution.”
The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline is $4.24 as of March 25, according to AAA. Some states, particularly those on the West Coast, are seeing average prices of over $5 a gallon, AAA’s data shows.
Last month, the national average price was $3.57 a gallon and a year ago, it was $2.87, according to the association.
Georgia’s effort suspends its tax of 29 cents a gallon until the end of May, Maryland’s rule suspends its tax of 36.1 cents per gallon until mid-April and Connecticut’s rule suspends the state’s tax of 25 cents per gallon until June 30.
The governors of the three states said drivers were feeling the pinch every week at the pump and they needed to take immediate action.
“We will continue to use every tool at our disposal to provide relief for Marylanders,” Hogan said in a statement last week after signing his state’s legislation.
The leaders also said their state budgets have the money from surpluses and the federal relief package to offset the lost tax revenue.
“Connecticut is in a stronger fiscal position than ever before, and I am determined to use every tool available to provide relief for our residents,” Lamont said in a statement.
Other state leaders have said they are considering similar gas tax holidays, including ones in Michigan and California.
Giacomo Santangelo, senior lecturer of economics at Fordham University, told ABC News the nation’s rising gas prices are caused by a number of factors outside of the control of the states, including the global supply chain problems and the ongoing Ukraine-Russian conflict.
Political pressure and desperation from commuters, businesses and other motorists have forced state leaders to think outside of the box, he said.
“The bottom line is gas prices aren’t going to go down anytime soon and people do need help,” Santangelo told ABC News.
Santangelo, however, said that those leaders are taking a big risk by implementing a temporary gas tax holiday. There is no indication that gas prices will return to under $4 a gallon in the coming weeks, he noted.
“If what they are doing is they are giving a 25-cent break on their gas, then what happens when gas goes up 25 cents in a few weeks anyway? You’re now back in the same situation and the government is in a worse place. There are a lot of unknowns,” Santangelo said.
De Haan said there is a potential longer-term problem by creating a gas tax holiday — increased demand for gas when supply is still low. He said temporary tax suspension will spur some drivers to take trips that may not have been necessary, and they will gas up when they won’t need to.
“The right way to handle this situation is not to reduce the price, it’s to tell motorists to reduce consumption,” he said.
Santangelo said that lowering the price through a gas tax suspension does set up expected demand from motorists. He noted that this isn’t the first time the country has experienced surging gas prices and it won’t be the last time and a gas tax holiday may not work, especially if supply doesn’t change.
“Demand was going to go up anyway, because we’re heading into the summer season. The question we have to ask is, ‘Do we want to have demand so high and risk shortages?'” he said.
Santangelo cautioned that solutions involving rebates or cash incentives could also create this demand.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a program last week that would provide $400 per vehicle to offset rising gas prices, for up to two vehicles per resident. The money would be funded with the state’s budget surplus.
“It could turn into is something that the government keeps getting sucked into,” Santangelo said. “You’re able to give $400 now but would you be able to sustain that if prices don’t go down?”
Representatives for Kemp, Hogan and Lamont told ABC News that their gas tax suspension proposals were planned out with the intention of helping their state’s motorists while at the same time avoiding any long-term economic problems.
They also stated their individual state surpluses would cover the lost revenue generated from the taxes, which generally pay for road repairs and other transportation costs.
“At this point, we have seen no issues related to supply and demand,” Michael Ricci, a spokesman for Hogan’s office, said in a statement to ABC News on Friday.
A spokeswoman for Kemp’s office also said Georgia isn’t seeing any increases in gas demand since the gas tax holiday went into effect. Kemp tweeted Friday that the state’s average gas price dropped by 24 cents a gallon.
“We’re going to keep working to get Georgians relief from sky-high prices & inflation!” he tweeted.
Max Reiss, a spokesman for Lamont, told ABC News that the state’s gas tax suspension is part of an overall $100 million package to help residents, and included a one-week clothing sales tax suspension and free bus rides for a month.
“What our residents are looking for is that their government is listening to their concerns. We are trying to do something in our power to do something,” Reiss told ABC News.
Reiss added that the state continues to push residents to lower their demand for gasoline with programs such as tax incentives for electric car purchases.
The economic experts warned that there is no way to determine when gas prices will come down, especially if the Ukraine-Russia conflict continues into the summer. More importantly, they warned that gas prices will likely decrease at a far slower rate compared to the rate they have jumped in recent weeks.
De Haan said it is imperative that states not rely on the gas tax holidays as their only solution during the gas crisis and that they need to encourage motorists to curb their driving plans as best they can.
“There’s not going to be a quick shift to lower prices and we all need to be ready for that,” he said.
