The songwriters of KPop Demon Hunters were rushed off the stage at the 98th Academy Awards on Sunday (15 March), to several boos.
They were played off before finishing their speeches, to the audience's dismay, with there being numerous members of the team behind the success of the animated film, who wanted to speak when accepting the Best Original Song award for 'Golden'.
It's known that winners at the Oscars can be 'played off' if their speech takes too long, but considering that there were seven people credited with the victory, it was almost impossible for all of them to have time on the microphone.
As it became the first song in Oscars history with more than four writers to win, many called the move 'rude' and 'disrespectful', as they also became the first Best Song winner where all of the writers would not receive an individual trophy.
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On the main stage, EJAE, who provides the singing voice of Rumi in the title, accepted the award in tears, saying: “Growing up, people made fun of me for liking K-pop, but now everyone is singing our song and all the Korean lyrics,
“This award is not about success. It’s about resilience.”
But when Yu-Han Lee (also known as Yuhan) took to the mic, the orchestra started playing and the sound was cut, to a sea of boos from the audience and criticism on social media.
Instead, the seven songwriters - EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yuhan, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo and Teddy Park finished their speeches backstage.
While there, Yuhan said: “I would like to thank our families, and 24, and our fellow IDO members, this is an incredible honour.”
EJAE also added: “We feel very grateful and very honoured. We all worked so hard and this is such a collaborative effort, we just need to thank our directors.”
“They created a beautiful film. Everyone was a part of it and we are just so happy that the hard work paid off,” she said.
EJAE then praised her fellow Huntrix vocalists, Rei Ami and Audrey Nuna, as they didn't get a chance to speak as the Academy 'just cut us off'.
“They killed it with their singing and they’re just incredible people and I love them so much,” the singer-songwriter added.
Co-composer Mark Sonnenblick, who was seen jumping onstage and tried to speak before they were ushered off, said backstage: “Everybody [who] worked on this movie, all the animators, it was a real collaboration across the board.
“Part of the movie is about looking at someone that you had been taught to hate and to fear, and starting to trust, maybe love them. A movie is like a village, and we’re lucky to be up here right now, but there’s so many people who have made this what it is.”
The Academy limits Best Original Song to no more than four individual statuettes, so for songs with five or more co-writers, winners must sign an agreement to share just one trophy if they were to win.
'Golden' was also performed by EJAE, Ami, and Nuna during the telecast, just one of two original songs performed on the night.
KPop Demon Hunters, Netflix's most-streamed title ever, also won Best Animated Feature at last night's show, with directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans accepting the award on stage.
Oscars 2026 recap
It’s a wrap for the glitziest night in showbiz - here’s everything that happened on Hollywood’s biggest night.
Timothée Chalamet roasted
In comments that may have cost him his first Oscar, Chalamet said in a conversation with Matthew McConaughey for Variety: “I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera where it’s like, ‘Hey! Keep this thing alive, even though no one cares about this anymore.'”
The 30-year-old was widely considered a frontrunner for Best Actor, but lost out to Michael B Jordan, while Marty Supreme walked away empty-handed following nine nominations.
Chalamet, who attended the ceremony with his girlfriend Kylie Jenner, was roasted twice.
Host Conan O’Brien quipped in his opening monologue: “Security is extremely tight tonight. I’m told there are concerns about attacks from both the opera and ballet community.”
Chalamet was seen laughing along.
Then later in the night, Alexandre Singh, co-director of one of the two winning short films, Two People Exchanging Saliva, also shaded Chalemet, saying in his acceptance speech: “Maybe it takes 10 years’ time, but we can change society through art, through creativity, through theatre and ballet, and also cinema.”
History-making Oscars tie
Last night saw the seventh-ever tie in Oscars history, as both Two People Exchanging Saliva and The Singers shared the award for Best Live-Action Short Film.
Presenting the award, actor and comedian Kumail Nanjiani quipped: “It's a tie, I'm not joking, it's actually a tie. Ironic that the short film Oscar's going to take twice as long.”
The other six times this has happened are in 1932 for Best Actor (Fredric March for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Wallace Beery for The Champ), 1950 for Best Documentary Short Subject (A Chance to Live and So Much for So Little), 1969 for Best Actress (Katharine Hepburn for The Lion in Winter and Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl), 1986 for Best Documentary Feature (Artie Shaw: Time is All You've Got and Down and Out in America), 1995 for Best Live Action Short Film (Trevor and Franz Kafka’s It’s a Wonderful Life); and most recently 2013 for Best Sound Editing (Skyfall and Zero Dark Thirty).
Bridesmaids reunion - but one person is missing
Fifteen years on from the beloved comedy, Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Rose Byrne, Ellie Kemper and Maya Rudolph took to the stage to present the award for Best Score.
Performing a comedy skit, the actors pretended to receive notes from some of the big-name nominees.
Rudolph joked: “Mine says, 'First of all, you ladies look extremely beautiful tonight.' Thank you. 'You’re aging well.' Signed, Stellan Skarsgård.”
McCarthy quipped: “Mine is almost impossible to read. The handwriting is really pretty terrible. Says, ‘Hi, I’m with Stellan Skarsgård, writing my own separate note.
“‘I also agree you ladies look radiant. All the things you’ve done to your faces are very tasteful. Yours truly, Elle Fanning.’
“Wait, wait, there’s more. It says, ‘Just kidding. It’s me again, Stellan Skarsgård.’”
Wendi McLendon-Covey, who played Rita in the film, was noticeably absent. She later said she was recovering from a neck lift.
Where was Sean Penn?
Sean Penn won his third Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his hilarious and terrifying portrayal of Colonel Lockjaw in One Battle After Another, but he was nowhere to be seen at the ceremony
Accepting the award on his behalf, Kieran Culkin joked: “Sean Penn couldn’t be here this evening, or didn’t want to, so I’ll be accepting the award on his behalf.”
The New York Times reports - citing two sources familiar with the situation - that Penn was actually in Ukraine instead.
He has been a vocal critic of Russia’s invasion, making the documentary Superpower about it in 2022.
He’s firm friends with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and even gave him one of his Oscar statuettes as a gift. Zelenskyy promised to return it when the war was won.
Amy Madigan and Autumn Durald Arkapaw smash records
While One Battle After Another was the night’s big winner, history was made in several other categories.
Amy Madigan, who took home Best Supporting Actor for her performance as fashion icon and child abductor Aunt Gladys in Weapons, broke the record for the longest time between Oscar nominations.
It’s been 40 years since his first nomination for Twice in a Lifetime in 1986, which ended up going to Anjelica Huston for Prizzi’s Honor.
She said in her acceptance speech: “This is great. Everybody's asking me, 'Well, it's been 40 years, what's different about this time?' Different is I have this little gold guy!"
Autumn Durald Arkapaw took home the Oscar for Best Cinematography for Sinners. She is the first woman and the first black person to win the award.
She said in her speech: “I’m so honoured to be here and I really want all the women in the room to stand up because I feel like I don’t get here without you guys.”
She also thanked Rachel Morrison in her speech, a cinematographer who was nominated in 2018 for Mudbound, but lost out to Roger Deakins for Blade Runner 2049.
A touching In Memoriam - with some notable omissions
We lost some huge names in Hollywood this year, and the Academy paid tribute to Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle, Diane Keaton, Robert Redford and Catherine O’Hara.
Brigette Bardot, who died last December aged 91, was not honoured. Since her tribute was booed at the César awards, largely due to her far-right politics later in life, the Academy may have been trying to avoid controversy.
It’s less clear why Dharmendra, one of the biggest names in Indian cinema, and Harold and Maude star Bud Cort weren’t included.
Stars who were more widely known for TV roles, such as James Van Der Beek and Eric Dane, also did not feature.
Topics: Oscars, Music, Film, Social Media
Joshua Nair