Michelle Yeoh Explains Why She Gave Emma Stone’s Oscar To The Wrong Actor

Emma Stone’s wardrobe malfunction wasn’t the only on-stage mishap at the 96th Academy Awards. During the ceremony, Michelle Yeoh confused fans by handing Stone’s Oscar to Jennifer Lawrence, and the Everything Everywhere All at Once actor has now explained why.

Yeoh presented the award for Best Actress alongside fellow past Oscar winners Sally Field, Jessica Lange, and Charlize Theron, each of whom honored this year’s nominees (Stone, Lily Gladstone, Carey Mulligan, Annette Bening, and Sandra Hüller) with a short speech, before announcing Stone as the winner for her performance in Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things.

As she arrived on stage to collect her trophy, Yeoh gave the Academy Award to Lawrence, who then presented it to a visibly confused Stone. The seemingly awkward interaction caught the attention of some viewers online, and Yeoh has since taken to Instagram to clarify what really went down.

“Congratulations Emma!! I confused you, but I wanted to share that glorious moment of handing over Oscar to you together with your best friend Jennifer,” she explained in a caption, alongside a photograph of herself and Stone sharing a hug at the ceremony. “She reminded me of my Bae Jamie Lee Curtis. Always there for each other!!”

After eventually getting her hands on the statuette, Stone gave an emotional shout-out to her fellow nominees and acknowledged the efforts of the cast and crew of Poor Things.

“The other night, I was panicking, as you can kind of see, happens a lot. That maybe something like this could happen, and [director] Yorgos [Lanthimos] said to me, ‘Please take yourself out of it,’” the actor said on stage at Hollywood’s Dolby Theater. “He was right because it’s not about me. It’s about a team that came together to make something greater than the sum of its parts. And that is the best part about making movies.”