Oscar 2026: Tie, no award taken, new category – This is what the gala was like!

Check out our gallery of the most important moments from the gala and meet all the award winners!

Will artificial intelligence take their jobs?

The host of the evening for the second time was sixty-two-year-old comedian and presenter Conan O’Brien . He opened the gala with the joke that he was the last human host of the Oscars, referring to the rise of artificial intelligence. The topic came up later. When the awards for animated films were presented, the presenters drew attention to it: animated films are an art form, not AI, and therefore must be protected.
O’Brian’s opening monologue was quite awkward, many said it wasn’t funny at all when he mentioned the performances of the actresses who lost their categories.
A new award was also presented at this year’s gala, the award for best cast, which went to Cassandra Kulkundis as the casting director of the film One Battle After Another.
The Best Short Film category was a tie: The Singers and Two Men Exchange Saliva both won the Oscar.

Sean Penn won the award for best supporting actor for his role in The Last Battle. The statuette was to have been presented by last year’s winner Kieran Culkin, but Sean Penn was unable to attend the ceremony and was unable to accept the Oscar.
The most touching moment of the evening came from Billy Crystal, who opened the usual tribute to Rob Reiner and Michel Reiner, who had died since the previous gala. The Reiner couple’s deaths shocked Hollywood in December 2025 when their bodies were found in their home, covered in stab wounds . Their son, Nick, was arrested on suspicion of murder.
The memorial service, of course, also included Diane Keaton , Catherine O’Hara , and Val Kilmer . Robert Redford was remembered tearfully by his former partner, Barbra Streisand , who called him an intellectual cowboy and then sang to her beloved colleague.

The most important categories were of course left for the end of the evening. The first woman to win in the Best Cinematography category was Autumn Durald Arkapaw.
The award for best director went to Paul Thomas Andersson for the film One Battle After Another.
Michael B. Jordan won Best Actor for The Offenders and listed the African-American actors who had come before him and could receive this accolade.
Best Actress went to Jessie Buckley for her portrayal of Shakespeare’s wife in the film Hamnet.
The award for best picture went to One Battle After Another. It also won the most awards of the night, with six. It beat out the most nominated film, The Sinners, which won four awards.