Al Pacino's Bizarre 2024 Oscars Actions Have Everyone Talking
The 2024 Oscars ceremony was mostly a lighthearted affair, with a few memorable moments sprinkled in throughout the night. John Cena's nude skit, in which he had nothing on except an envelope covering his private parts, had people laughing. Emma Stone revealed a wardrobe malfunction as she accepted her best actress award, which was caused by Ryan Gosling's rousing "I'm Just Ken" performance.
The highlight of the night — or lowlight, depending on who you ask — came at the end of the show when Al Pacino presented the award for best picture, as seen on the Academy's official YouTube channel. "Ten wonderful films were nominated, but only one will take the award for best picture," Pacino said as he jumped directly into reading the winner instead of announcing the list of nominees. "Here it comes ... And my eyes see 'Oppenheimer,'" he said, as the crowd was silent at first as they processed whether "The Godfather" actor had indeed blurted out the winner with so little fanfare.
Fans immediately took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to chime in on the anticlimactic announcement. "Still can't get over Al Pacino announcing best picture like a grandpa getting a pair of socks from his grandkids on Christmas," one viewer wrote. "Al Pacino did not give a f*** and didn't read the nominees that's a true 83 year old man," another added. Not everyone was thrilled that Pacino eschewed announcing the other nominees — "al pacino delivering best picture like it's a riddle," one fan tweeted.
A few explanations were offered for Pacino's presenting style, but even host Jimmy Kimmel was confused.
Was it Al Pacino's choice to not announce the nominees?
A source at E! said that Al Pacino did not make a mistake by jumping right into announcing the best picture winner, and that producers of the 2024 Oscars were in on the decision. "People think he forgot to say the nominees, but they did the same non-announcement for Best Song," a viewer pointed out on X.
If that was the case, though, no one informed Jimmy Kimmel, who spoke about Pacino's presentation on "Live with Kelly and Mark" the following day. "I guess he's never watched an awards show before. It seemed like everyone in America knows the rhythm of how it's supposed to go, down to, 'And the Oscar goes to...,' but no," the four-time Oscars host joked (via Decider). Some fans theorized that the "Heat" star did not bother reading all the best picture nominees because the show was running long. Kimmel, however, said they were good on time and that is why he read a criticism from Donald Trump just before the big award was announced.
The Pacino moment reminded fans of the 2017 Oscars mishap when Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty mistakenly announced "La La Land" as best picture winner, when the real winner was "Moonlight." One fan had a suggestion on how to avoid future blunders while still incorporating Hollywood icons. "The downside of elderly legends giving out the biggest award. Pair them with a younger star to make sure they do what they are supposed to do," the X user wrote.