The most controversial moments in Oscar history

Impossible to forget is Will Smith slapping Chris Rock during the 2022 ceremony! The renowned actor suddenly took the stage and hit the comedian—who was the host of the ceremony—for making a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head, as Jada was fighting alopecia, something Chris was not aware of. This outburst has cost Will Smith dearly, both personally and professionally. For example, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences banned him from attending the Oscars for 10 years. Also, the actor earned criticism from many for this action, although others considered that Chris deserved it for joking about Jada, who was going through a hard time due to her alopecia.

In a video, which he shared on YouTube in July of that same year, Will apologized to the comedian and his fans: "Um, I was fogged out by that point. It’s all fuzzy (…) My behavior was unacceptable (…) I didn't think about how many people got hurt (…) There is no part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave in that moment. There’s no part of me that thinks that’s the optimal way to handle a feeling of disrespect, or insults.”

For his part, Rock kept quiet about the incident for almost a year, but he finally spoke about what happened in his Netflix special Chris Rock: Selective Outrage, which marked the first livestreaming event for the platform.

“I love Will Smith, my whole life. I have rooted for Will Smith my whole life … now I watch Emancipation just to see him get whupped," Chris joked.

“How come you didn’t do nothing back that night?” Chris said people have asked him. “Because I got parents. You know what my parents taught me? Don’t fight in front of White people.”

Back in 1969, everyone was shocked when Barbra Streisand and Katharine Hepburn each received exactly 3,030 votes for the best actress award for their roles in Funny Girl and The Lion in Winter, respectively. There was no protocol for ties, so they were both granted the award. Katharine, though, wasn't in attendance during the ceremony.

After talking about "diversity" in film, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway announced that the almost all-white film La La Land won the award for best picture, when in fact the Black-directed film Moonlight actually won the most votes. While the cast and crew of La La Land were onstage delivering their acceptance speeches, they were informed of the mistake and in an embarrassing moment had to concede and call up the Moonlight folks.

Actor George C. Scott flat-out refused to accept the award for best actor back in 1971. He tried to refuse the nomination before the ceremony, but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences didn't heed his warning, and the film's producer, Frank McCarthy, had to take the stage to accept the award for him.

In one of the most dramatic Oscar moments in history, Marlon Brando asked the Indigenous American actress, Sacheen Littlefeather, to decline the award on his behalf, giving her a platform to speak out against the treatment of Native people in the entertainment industry and by the government. Things got so heated that audience members were booing her, and she reported that actor John Wayne had to be physically restrained during an attempt to breach the stage and remove her. Clint Eastwood is said to have verbally mocked her as well.

When Hattie McDaniel won the Oscar for best supporting actress for her role in Gone With the Wind, she became the first Black actor to ever win an Academy Award. Unfortunately, the night wasn't as perfect as it should have been. First off, the ceremony was held in a whites-only hotel, and she had to receive special permission to attend. Then she was forced to sit at a table in the back of the room instead of with the rest of the film's cast. Disgusting.

The Family Guy creator hosted the Oscars back in 2013, and his opening number was titled, "We Saw Your Boobs." The entire song was essentially a list of all the actresses who've done nude scenes, diminishing each and every one of them onstage, in front of all their peers.

Actor Adrien Brody is no stranger to controversy, but he was totally out of line when he pulled Halle Berry toward him and forcefully kissed her on the lips after she presented him with the award for best actor in 2003. Halle was shocked and could be seen wiping her mouth with her hand afterward.

Director Roman Polanski was accused of drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl, and he subsequently pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with a minor. Once he realized he was going to be sentenced, he fled the country. But that didn't stop the academy from nominating him for best director for his film The Pianist (yes, the same movie Adrien Brody won an Oscar for). If that wasn't bad enough, the audience positively roared with applause for Polanski, who did not attend the ceremony, and gave him a standing ovation.

Don't they rehearse these things? We know it must have been embarrassing for John, too, but his job is literally to memorize lines, so it just seemed egregious when he butchered actress Idina Menzel's name. She has since said that he has apologized profusely and that all is well between them. John says he got confused because they put up a phonetic spelling of her name.

Joaquin is a phenomenal actor, but he threw everyone for a loop when he got onstage to accept the award for best actor in 2020 and slammed the dairy and meat industries in an attempt to speak up for animal rights. It was so awkward and totally intense.

Somehow, a naked man managed to make his way onstage at the Oscars in 1974. The offender was art gallery owner Robert Opel, and the audience went wild when he ran onstage, completely throwing host David Niven off his game.

In the year 2000, Angelina Jolie won the award for best supporting actress for her role in Girl, Interrupted, and it was definitely an odd night. She was spotted kissing her brother James Haven on the lips on the red carpet and again just before accepting her award. We're talking full-on mouths smashed together kisses, and during her acceptance speech she said, "I’m in shock, and I’m so in love with my brother right now. He just held me and said he loved me, and I know he’s so happy for me. Thank you for that."

Insanely, she's been seen kissing her brother this way multiple times since then.

Jaws dropped when Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper performed their song "Shallow" on the Oscars stage. We know they're actors, but OMG, they looked like passionate lovers the entire time they were singing. And it all went down while Bradley's girlfriend at the time, Irina Shayk, was in the audience. The performance sent viewers into a spiral wondering if Bradley and Gaga were actually hooking up in real life.

The public was divided when comedian Kevin Hart stepped down from hosting the Oscars in 2019, after tweets surfaced from 2011 that were perceived by most as homophobic. The academy ended up not replacing him, and the ceremony went without a host for the first time in 30 years.