The Oscars are really no easy feat to pull off. Sure, they’re fun to watch, but these lengthy awards shows are just ripe for weird speeches, even weirder dresses, and some serious meme production. The one good thing about the 2016 Academy Awards was that Chris Rock was hosting. Sure, we’re in the midst of the #OscarsSoWhite controversy, but, if there was any host or comedian that could handle that and turn the tables back on the Academy Awards and its audience, it was absolutely Chris Rock. That being said, there were some pretty awkward moments at the 2016 Oscars.
It’s just what happens when you get a bunch of really wealthy, attractive people and their writers in a room together. There are so many egos at the Academy Awards that I’m always surprised that any of the jokes even land. Who of those people wants to laugh at themselves? Surprisingly enough, Chris Rock wasn't that awkward. His jokes were so smart and so subtly cutting that, even though he made pretty much everyone uncomfortable, I thought he did a great job as host. In a land where both Ricky Gervais and Chris Rock host major award shows, Chris Rock wins every time.
The presenters for the Academy Awards practice their lines over and over, so I figured that there was really little hope for an awkward moment there, unless someone really went off script. Fortunately, that didn't happen, but don't worry — there were plenty of other awkward moments. Let's take a look.
1. That Time Stacey Dash Showed Up On Stage
A lot of the talk around this year's Oscars was about the #OscarsSoWhite controversy, and, for some reason, Chris Rock thought it would be funny to bring actress Stacey Dash (you remember her from Clueless) on stage to mock some of her recent comments. Rock said that she was the new "Minority Outreach Director" or something and it was ... interesting. No one could really tell who the joke was on. Twitter loved it, though. Which leads me to...
2. Chrissy Teigen's Reaction To Stacey Dash
Leave it to Chrissy to make the best face. Some people originally thought that she was making a face at Sarah Silverman, but John cleared that up really fast. What a guy, and what a couple.
3. Mark Ruffalo Versus Mark Rylance
There are two guys named "Mark R." in the Best Supporting Actor category — there was bound to be confusion if one of them won. Well, one of them did. Rylance won the Oscar, but there was a split second where Ruffalo was pretty sure he won, and, well, he recovered nicely. Let's say that.
4. Sylvester Stallone Not Winning
Rylance may have taken home Best Supporting Actor, but Sylvester Stallone, who was nominated for reprising his role as Rocky Balboa in Creed, was apparently a shoe-in to win. And, then he didn't it. Sorry, Sly — better luck next time. You deserved it.
5. The Girl Scouts Take The Oscars
This was part fun, part awkward. Rock explained that he was missing his daughter's Girl Scout Cookie season, so he wanted to raise more money than anyone in her troop, so it's time to bust out your wallets, celebs. I was really shocked to see how many people actually had cash on them, and it was fun to see how many people participated in the shenanigans (Kate Winslet loves her Tagalongs). Awkward? Anyone that sort of shooed away or sunk in their seats when the girls came through. It's for a good cause, guys.
6. Too Many Minions
Look, I get that Minions are cool, and their movie made too much money this summer, but this is an award show for grownups. There was really no need to have the minions present a whole award for Best Animated Short. It made me feel bad for the winner (which was Bear Story, by the way) because they didn't even get to hear their movie's name read. It was all in Minion language.
7. Kevin Hart's Speech Being Bleeped
Before Kevin Hart did his already planned monologue/speech/thing, he stopped the festivities to speak very nicely about how all of the black actors that were not nominated this year for an award should not be discouraged. Instead, they should continue to work hard, because, one day, all of these current day problems will become the problems of the past. And then he cursed in the middle of it and got bleeped. Awk.
8. The Speech Tickers
I actually liked the speech tickers thing in theory. It was thought to make the speeches shorter since the names that the winners were going to say were just running across the bottom of the screen, but it totally didn't work. The winner just read the names anyway, and it made the show as long as it usually is. Plus, it was like the CNN ticker, but a lot faster, so it was hard to read.
It wouldn't be an award show without some strange moments. This year's Academy Awards were pretty tame, but I'm glad a few people (including Chris Rock) brought the crazy and made it even more entertaining.
Image: Caroline Wurtzel/Bustle
