What You Didn't See On TV At The 2018 Oscars
No one knew what to expect from the 2018 Oscars.
The Academy Awards show was a doozy based on what was aired on television: surprising theater-goers who thought they were seeing A Wrinkle in Time, Jimmy Kimmel's biting monologues (the whole "Oscar being the best man" segment was particularly notable), the A-list presenters (Tiffany Haddish killed it), the amazing acceptance speeches (big ups to Frances McDormand), the red carpet speculation (hello, Ryan Seacrest!) and the moments dedicated to the #MeToo and Time's Up movements, like Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino's joint appearance.
That said, a lot of the drama and entertainment actually went down behind the scenes when the cameras weren't rolling. From good-natured greetings to wardrobe malfunctions, from boozing to on-again-off-again romantic drama, and then there's the bitter stars who stayed home — here are the most dramatic, silly, and bizarre Oscars moments that you didn't see on TV!
Nicole Kidman surprised tourists
On her way to the Academy Awards — and before she'd gotten her hair and makeup done — Nicole Kidman showcased her starpower when she surprised a group of tourists. Her SUV pulled up next to an Access Hollywood tour bus, and she rolled down her window and waved to the group, reported Fox News.
The tour group gasped and cried out variations of "Oh my goodness!"
Kidman asked, "What are you doing on that bus?"
"This is my dream come true," one rider swooned. "I loved you in The Hours," another fan yelped. Other compliments included, "You're gorgeous" and "You're so beautiful in person. I love you!"
Blowing kisses to the group, Kidman cheered, "Have a good time! Bye!"
Kidman, who later presented the Oscar for best screenplay to Jordan Peele, posted a video of the adorable exchange on Instagram, garnering nearly 150,000 views by the following morning.
Anne Hathaway was annoyed
Anne Hathaway still hasn't gotten over the haters who dissed her winning the best supporting actress Oscar for her role as Fantine in Les Miserables in 2013.
She posted a photo of herself giving her acceptance speech on Instagram, writing, "I had to change my dress last minute and so it looked like my nipples were hard, I had full blown laryngitis and had to sing, and a bunch of corny haters were getting lots of attention from the media for being haters but you know what? It was still the best. To all the nominees, I hope you have a BLAST tonight doing all that #bestlife #oscars stuff."
She'd previously told The Guardian of her experience, "I had to stand up in front of people and feel something I don't feel, which is uncomplicated happiness. It's an obvious thing, you win an Oscar and you're supposed to be happy. I didn't feel that way. I felt wrong that I was standing there in a gown that cost more than some people are going to see in their lifetime and winning an award for portraying pain that still felt very much a part of our collective experience as human beings ... I tried to pretend that I was happy and I got called out on it, big time. That's the truth and that's what happened. It sucks. But what you learn from it is that you only feel like you can die from embarrassment, you don't actually die."
Margot Robbie had a wardrobe malfunction
Margot Robbie had a bit of a wardrobe malfunction on Hollywood's biggest night.
People reported that Robbie bonded with Jennifer Garner when they both arrived on the red carpet, gushing with mutual compliments and dishing about the difficulties of their respective undergarments.
Those difficulties got a bit more dire for Robbie during one of the show's first commercial breaks, when one of the straps on her custom Chanel gown snapped, leading her to lament about the situation to her I, Tonya co-star and fellow nominee Allison Janney.
Robbie's publicist scurried over with a sewing kit to repair the damage, but Robbie wouldn't let her do the dirty work and opted to thread the needle and sew the piece back on herself! "Oh, ain't got time for that," Robbie reportedly joked.
Taraji P. Henson clarified her Ryan Seacrest remarks
Taraji P. Henson spoke with Ryan Seacrest on the red carpet ahead of the 2018 Oscars ceremony, and in light of his sexual harassment accusations, many thought she was shading him during her interview.
While speaking to Seacrest, she touched his chin and told him, "You know, the universe has a way of taking care of taking care of good people. You know what I mean?"
Afterward, Henson moved on to ABC News reporter Wendi McIendon Covey and declared that she was feeling "great now that I'm in your company."
If that doesn't look like a passive aggressive play, we don't know what does.
However, the Empire star insisted that people were simply misinterpreting her red carpet remarks. She told People that she "absolutely" supports Seacrest. "I did it to keep his chin up. It's an awkward position to be in. He's been cleared but anyone can say anything."
Jennifer Lawrence got tipsy
No one parties harder than Jennifer Lawrence ... and Helen Mirren!
TMZ reported that Lawrence climbed over chairs, juggled multiple glasses of wine, and hugging everyone in sight during the Academy Awards ceremony. Perhaps Lawrence was channeling her self-proclaimed alter ego, Gail, who comes out when she drinks.
"It's a very specific drunk, it's not just every time I'm drunk I turn into this," she told talk show host Ellen DeGeneres shortly before the Oscars. "...I think [Gail's] some sort of tortoise gambler ... I don't always turn into this masculine alter ego that like, jumps into shark-ridden waters just to make my friends laugh. It's not every time, I think it might be rum."
Lawrence didn't drink alone, however, because Mirren knows how to have a good time, too. Cameras caught the Dame and Oscar-winner taking a shot of tequila on the red carpet, because, well, she's Helen Mirren, and she can.
Sam Rockwell was adorable
Sam Rockwell, who took home the Academy Award for best supporting actor for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, was incredibly excited by his Oscar night success. In fact, his Oscar outfit even included a a sweet tribute to Leslie Bibb, his girlfriend of more than a decade.
Along with his Prada suit, People reported that Rockwell rocked cufflinks that read "Leslie Bibb." The cufflinks, made by David Yurman, cost roughly $5,500 and took a month to make.
Rockwell, who called Bibb his "good luck charm" after his win at the 2018 Golden Globes, may have been right about his leading lady. After delivering his acceptance speech for the best supporting actor award, People reported that he returned to his seat and immediately gushed to his publicist, "Holy s**t, we did it!"
According to Vanity Fair, at the magazine's afterparty, Rockwell dined on a bucket of chicken with his Three Billboards co-star and fellow Oscar winner Frances McDormand, then danced the night away with Bibb.
Jodie Foster was recovering
Jodie Foster took to the stage on crutches to present the best actress Oscar with Jennifer Lawrence, who asked, "I'm so sorry, what happened to you?"
Foster joked onstage that perennial Oscar favorite Meryl Streep "I, Tonya-ed" her, eliciting huge laughs from the audience. She was, of course, referencing figure skater Tonya Harding's alleged involvement in the infamous clubbing of rival Nancy Kerrigan's knee in 1994 — the controversy that inspired Margot Robbie's star turn in I, Tonya.
Lawrence, infamous for falling down at awards shows, cracked back, "She tripped me once."
Foster's actual injury was from something much more banal. The Oscar-winning actress' rep told People that Foster's suffered a skiing accident several weeks before the Academy Awards, but she took the stage anyway, even though she was not originally supposed to present.
Lawrence and Foster stepped up to present best actress only after Casey Affleck — who won best actor in 2017 for Manchester by the Sea — backed out of presenting. According to Variety, Affleck allegedly canceled to avoid a "distraction" from the Time's Up movement.
Tiffany Haddish had the time of her life
Tiffany Haddish made her first trip to the Oscars a memorable one. She'd made it clear that her ultimate goal was to meet Meryl Streep, and, well, she made it happen!
Haddish spotted Streep as the multi-Oscar winner arrived and immediately got to work, climbing over one of the black velvet ropes on the red carpet to give Streep a huge hug.
Haddish also yelled, "You're gonna be my momma! You're gonna be my momma!" The actress was referring to her longtime wish of having Streep play her mother in a sequel to Girls Trip, though Variety reported that it's unclear if Streep has ever been in actual talks for a role in the proposed flick.
Haddish's Meryl moment was just the beginning. After presenting with Maya Rudolph, Haddish told People backstage that she was having the time of her life, except for one problem. "I got bunions and corns," she said. "The foot fetish people are going to be all about it."
She later told the magazine that her favorite moment of the night was, "when I asked Meryl Streep to be my mama, of course!"
Mindy Kaling recycled an ex
Mindy Kaling hit up the Vanity Fair Oscars afterparty with her ex-boyfriend and onetime The Office co-star B.J. Novak. Kaling, who recently gave birth to a baby girl, boasted about the excursion on Snapchat (via Page Six).
"I'm headed out for a night of fun with my best friend," she said in a video with Novak, who quipped, "What's up Snapchat?"
The pair have had an on-again-off-again relationship for years. She told Howard Stern in 2014, "He's my best friend. He broke up with me. It was years and years ago that that breakup happened ... I was so sad, not angry, sad. That was the hottest I ever looked because I stopped eating. When I get depressed, I stop eating. I was so miserable and so beautiful."
Novak previously told People that his friendship with Kaling is "complicated" but that he "wouldn't trade it for anything in the world."
A source told Page Six that the couple has not reunited romantically. "They're just good friends and they've often come to the VF dinner together."
Jay-Z had an afterparty
Jay-Z and Beyoncé threw an incredible afterparty for Oscar nominee and Mudbound star Mary J. Blige — but in their typical ultra-private fashion, details about the soiree were sparse.
Page Six reported that Hov and Bey were hosting a celebration at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, and that their popularity actually made Madonna and her longtime manager, Guy Oseary, nervous. The Queen of Pop hosts an annual post-Academy Awards party with Oseary, and he'd been posting a slew of throwback photos from past parties on Instagram, perhaps in hopes of enticing guests to skip out on the hip-hop royalty's bash. A source told the tab, "It looks like Oseary is rattled by the Jay-Z and Beyoncé bash, he wants his party to stay the hottest."
Blige told Entertainment Tonight on the red carpet, "It's happening tonight. We have the fam doing something big for us tonight. I feel blessed. I feel really blessed to have people that care about me that much. I care about them that much and it just feels really good."
Macaulay Culkin went nuts
Macaulay Culkin, once the biggest child star on the planet, did not attend the Oscars, but he sure had a lot of strong opinions about the ceremony and the stars that it celebrated and shunned.
"I will be live tweeting the Oscars tonight, but I won't be watching them. WHA!?! That's crazy," he tweeted. "Question: Do you guys have any suggestions for what I should be doing instead of watching the show?"
Culkin then tweeted a series of photos of everything he did instead of watching the Academy Awards, including painting his nails, playing guitar, playing Toe Jam and Earl, playing with action figures and toy cars, and cooking ramen.
He also proceeded to write a series of bizarre tweets (that he may or may not regret later) about everything from alleged sexual abusers in Hollywood to passing gas.
"EXCLUSIVE: I heard Kevin Spacey and Harvey Weinstein were going to come disguised as a very tall man in a long trench coat but they got busted by security," he tweeted. "Casey Affleck couldn't make it cause he was stuck in the 1950s."
He also blasted host Jimmy Kimmel, writing, "So glad to hear @jimmyfallon is hosting the #Oscars90 ceremony! What a great guy. Oh THAT Jimmy is hosting! Did he ever win Ben Stein's Money? #ManShow."
Someone tried to steal Frances McDormand's Oscar
Frances McDormand had one of the biggest moments of the night with her show-stopping best actress acceptance speech for her moving turn in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri — and for schooling the world on "inclusion riders." But the most dramatic moment for McDormand actually came after the Oscars cameras stopped rolling.
After getting her trophy engraved at the Governors Ball, USA Today reported that McDormand set her statuette down ... and then it was gone. McDormand was reportedly heartbroken and crying over the incident as she exited the party with her husband, filmmaker Joel Coen. Thankfully, there were enough witnesses at the celebration to help her get the trophy back.
Reporter Cara Buckley of The New York Times tweeted a photo of a man who allegedly swiped the statuette: "Security at the Governors Ball are looking for this guy, who grabbed Frances McDormand's Oscar and ran out with it. Wolfgang Puck's photographer stopped him, got the Oscar back, and the guy disappeared back into the ball. Apparently Frances has said to let him go."
McDormand's publicist, Simon Halls, told USA Today, "Fran and Oscar are happily reunited and are enjoying an In-n-Out Burger together."
TMZ reported that the alleged thief was arrested and charged with felony grand theft.