The Academy really did it: they somehow one-upped the bizarre ending to the 2017 Oscars, when Warren Beatty infamously announced the incorrect winner for Best Picture. Tonight’s show was off-kilter throughout, which is understandable given the pandemic we’re still living through; still, it was surprising when the Best Picture winner was announced before the Best Acting awards. At that point many assumed the producers made that switch so the show could end with Chadwick Boseman posthumously winning Best Actor for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Boseman was the prohibitive favorite to win, and it felt like a powerful and emotional way to end what had been a curiously flat and lifeless show. So it was pretty shocking when Anthony Hopkins—who wasn’t even there, or live via satellite like other nominees who couldn’t make it in person—was announced as the winner. It’s like the show realized how deflating that was, because it then went off the air in a hurry, like it was rushing to go hide its head in shame after publicly embarrassing itself. It made for some weird TV, as the whole show did; it also made for some really funny tweets.
There was way more to make fun of than just that shocking finale. This was an Oscars that saw Frances McDormand howl like a wolf while seeming totally bored by another victory, whose winners were basically allowed to speak for as long as they wanted without being played off, whose “in memoriam” segment moved as fast as the closing credits of a film being played on basic cable, and that made an instant meme of the octopus from Best Documentary Feature winner My Octopus Teacher. It didn’t look or feel like any other Oscars we’ve seen before, but it was still about as boring as unsatisfying as these shows always are. And it was still very easy to make fun of, which is the most important thing for our purposes. Here are the funniest tweets about tonight’s Oscars, from some of the best comedians and writers on Twitter. You should probably just go follow all of them right now.
If you’re extremely rich and good looking and can pretend you’re ugly for 90 minutes on film, you get an Oscar
If you’re me, and you can pretend you’re not extremely mentally ill for 8 hours a day, you get to keep your job
— John Vaccena (@mattytalks) April 26, 2021
There was no assigned host but Regina King walked in the room and everyone started clapping and it was too awkward not to hand it over to her.
— Louis Virtel (@louisvirtel) April 26, 2021
it may be oscar’s night to shine but it is my night to prepare mother’s rejuvenation creams
— dan chamberlain (@amfmpm) April 26, 2021
They finally figured out the Academy Awards. Eliminate everything except long acceptance speeches.
— Andy Kindler (@AndyKindler) April 26, 2021
Incredible that we get to see the real-time reaction from Daniel Kaluuya’s mother as he talks about his parents having sex pic.twitter.com/juxCZeJcQC
— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) April 26, 2021
Fun Fact: Laura Dern is wearing the bottom half of the Wampa costume from Empire Strikes Back #Oscarspic.twitter.com/alACsifmPv
— Chase Mitchell (@ChaseMit) April 26, 2021
I’ll tell you who has time to see EVERY movie made in a single year, and his name is OSCAR! And he watches them while they’re being filmed, too! But only a coveted few can take him home at the end of the night! And then he watches everything weird they do in their beds!! #Oscars
— Scott Aukerman (@ScottAukerman) April 26, 2021
literally everything I’m going to know about celebs for the next 3 months will come from all your tweets tonight so please be detailed and thank you
— maura quint (@behindyourback) April 26, 2021
I feel bad for this French guy having to accept his Oscar at 2am when he was probably just about to sit down to dinner
— Paul F. Tompkins (@PFTompkins) April 26, 2021
so acting is mostly just pretending to not be british, huh?
— Sachi Ezura (@misstrionics) April 26, 2021
I don’t think they should kill the nominees that didn’t win
— broti gupta (@BrotiGupta) April 26, 2021
Riz Ahmed’s wife is a novelist who he met when they were working on their laptops at the same cafe and I would like to know how come the only stranger I ever met while working at the Annex was a man w perpetually bloodshot eyes who told me he used to be a CIA operative
— Kaitlyn Greenidge (@surlybassey) April 26, 2021
I’m recording The Oscars so I don’t have to watch commercials please don’t tweet if I win.
— Rob Huebel (@robhuebel) April 26, 2021
Please no jokes or spoilers about the Oscars— watching on a four hour delay later. Thx!
— Amir (@blumenfeld) April 26, 2021
Toss in some cutaways to what people are saying at the tables, to the folks backstage, to Bob Balaban trying and failing to place a drink order, and you could mistake this for a Robert Altman movie called Awards Show.
— Emily VanDerWerff (@emilyvdw) April 26, 2021
Here’s my submission for next year’s short film Oscar. pic.twitter.com/aUAPubUJbC
— Al Yankovic (@alyankovic) April 26, 2021
It is funny to me that they’re making Europeans stay awake to lose. #theoscars
— Michelle Collins (@michcoll) April 26, 2021
Are JOKES going to be in the IN MEMORIAM section?
— Sean O’Connor (@seanoconnz) April 26, 2021
riz ahmed already has a best picture pic.twitter.com/8fad3lhI55
— Marc (@MarcSnetiker) April 26, 2021
THERE WOULD BE NO MOVIE WITHOUT THE OCTOPUS AND YET YOU DIDN’T THANK HER
— John Early (@bejohnce) April 26, 2021
A lot of talk about octopus teachers and not enough about octopus class size
— Kyle Buchanan (@kylebuchanan) April 26, 2021
does the octopus get an oscar
— Craig Bro Dude (@CraigSJ) April 26, 2021
If you haven’t seen it, it’s just this with an octopus. pic.twitter.com/DDKTHQvYcR
— Mike Scollins (@mikescollins) April 26, 2021
Photo tomorrow of the octopus sitting by the pool with its Oscar, surrounded by newspapers.
— James Urbaniak (@JamesUrbaniak) April 26, 2021
They better put the original Sonic design in the In Memoriam section
— pixelatedboat aka “mr tweets” (@pixelatedboat) April 25, 2021
The lesson here is clear, put a grandma who loves wrestling and drinking piss in your movie and win an Oscar
— Aaron (@BobbyBigWheel) April 26, 2021
I love how Youn Yuh-jung’s approach to this whole thing was, “Uh, thank you, it’s insane that I’m here but since you asked, I am in fact hilarious.”
— Louis Virtel (@louisvirtel) April 26, 2021
i like this classic american tradition of a korean person winning an oscar every year
— Karen Chee (@karencheee) April 26, 2021
I love that the theme of this year’s Oscars ceremony is The Movies!
— Josh Gondelman (@joshgondelman) April 26, 2021
If you’re really good at movies they give you a nasty little freak made of gold
— eli yudin (@eliyudin) April 26, 2021
The producers of the #Oscars have truly captured the pure joy and excitement of spending 3 hours in a train station.
— Danny Zuker (@DannyZuker) April 26, 2021
I like any year when the non-acting nominees and winners are hotter than the actors.
— billy eichner (@billyeichner) April 26, 2021
I swear to god if this acceptance speech isn’t just “Manks” i’m gonna lose my shit.
— Michelle Collins (@michcoll) April 26, 2021
Was this a new category or something? pic.twitter.com/hlvSjSO376
— Keaton Patti (@KeatonPatti) April 26, 2021
If you told me as a 16 year old while listening to “I Wanna Fuck You Like an Animal” that during a future pandemic Trent Reznor would win an Oscar for a Disney movie I would say “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHG FUTURE MAN GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY CAR I’M VERY HIGH!!”
— kurt braunohler (@kurtbraunohler) April 26, 2021
Anyone who recieves the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award should have to say “wow, this guy was Leslie Nielsen’s uncle!”
— Best Straight Acting Nominee (@thomasdkeiser) April 26, 2021
Shout out to all the middle-aged ladies nominated who said fuck it I’m not wearing high heels
— Susan Orlean (@susanorlean) April 26, 2021
A lot of people in my timeline hating on Mank, but it is no small feat to make an emotionally affecting movie about a half-man, half-tank
— James Poniewozik (@poniewozik) April 26, 2021
The plan? Campaign a fake Pinocchio movie in the hopes of getting an Oscar nomination. pic.twitter.com/kfRH2xP7H4
— Spencer Perry (@TheSpencerPerry) April 26, 2021
Nomadland is only the 12th movie where a character shits in a bucket to win Best Picture!
— Sean O’Connor (@seanoconnz) April 26, 2021
Frances McDormand’s energy is absolutely terrifying. She’s a being of pure confidence now. If I woke up one day and every country on Earth surrendered to her I wouldn’t bat an eye.
— Casey Malone (@CaseyMalone) April 26, 2021
Frances McDormand is what a verb looks like. #Oscars
— Natasha Rothwell (@natasharothwell) April 26, 2021
i feel like frances mcdormand can fight
— Craig Bro Dude (@CraigSJ) April 26, 2021
Best actor AND actress goes to all of you pretending you watched all these movies
— Erin justice breyer please retire Ryan (@morninggloria) April 26, 2021
Wait THAT’S how you say it? I’ve been pronouncing it “no-MAD-lund”
— Patrick Monahan (@pattymo) April 26, 2021
Nomadland convinced my mom’s best friend not to start living in a van and for that I’m eternally grateful #Oscars
— Shalyah Evans (@ShalyahEvans) April 26, 2021
“hey everyone you can do 40 minute speeches, because we cut the in memoriam down to 9 seconds”
— michael cruz kayne (@CruzKayne) April 26, 2021
Always a good sign when the in memoriam has to go at the speed of a cd compilation ad
— Jess Dweck (@TheDweck) April 26, 2021
“Our biggest innovation this year will be showing pictures of dead people at breakneck speed.”
— Paul F. Tompkins (@PFTompkins) April 26, 2021
THEY PUT ACTOR LAST SO CHADWICK BOSEMAN COULD WIN AND THEN HE DIDN’T WIN AND IMMEDIATELY ROLLED CREDITS HAHAHAHAHA WE ARE IN FUCKING HELL
— Zach Heltzel (@zachheltzel) April 26, 2021
anthony hopkins rn not knowing he accidentally ruined the oscars pic.twitter.com/qEOfbiKAQh
— iana murray (@ianamurray) April 26, 2021
I’m sorry but The Father is one of those fake movies from 30 Rock that Tracy Jordan has to compete for an Oscar against with A Blaffair to Rememblack
— Aaron (@BobbyBigWheel) April 26, 2021
Anthony Hopkins is too busy making videos singing to his cat to give a fuck and that’s why he’s a legend.
— Desi (@DesiJed) April 26, 2021
Y’all rushed through In Memoriam after the year we had just so you can show Anthony Hopkins’ zoom profile photo to close the show?
— Jake Plunkett (@JakePlunkett) April 26, 2021
Everyone is rightfully upset, but fuck, imagine if it had been Gary Oldman.
— Louis Peitzman (@LouisPeitzman) April 26, 2021
Nancy Pelosi just thanked Chadwick Boseman for sacrificing his Oscar.
— Internet Nick Nuñez (@blocktimusprime) April 26, 2021
It’s like the entire Oscars broadcast remembered they were double parked at the same time.
— Alex Falcone (@alex_falcone) April 26, 2021
It’s like they aren’t even trying anymore pic.twitter.com/wVhm4XCljB
— pixelatedboat aka “mr tweets” (@pixelatedboat) April 26, 2021
The best #Oscars ceremonies are like every great movie: nothing happens for 3 hours, then it stops
— Matt Kirshen (@mattkirshen) April 26, 2021
Maybe next year we can all gather together and be punished once more for liking movies
— Julie Klausner (@julieklausner) April 26, 2021
hope everyone enjoyed the last oscars ever
— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) April 26, 2021