Conan O’Brien took aim at some of Hollywood’s biggest targets during his opening monologue at Sunday’s Oscar ceremony.
He also joked about Timothée Chalamet’s recent comments about ballet and opera, which caused controversy online. “Security is very tight tonight,” O’Brien quipped. “I’m concerned about attacks from the ballet and opera communities.” He then turned to Chalamet and said, “They’re just angry that they ignored jazz.”
O’Brien also teased, “Just to warn you, tonight might get political. Okay? If that makes you uncomfortable, there’s an alternate Oscars show hosted by Kid Rock. It’ll be down the street at Dave & Buster’s.”
He also mocked Ted Sarandos by saying it was his first time going to the theater. “Why are they having fun together? They should be home alone. There I can monetize it,” O’Brien-as-Sarandos said.
The host ended his monologue on a more serious note, saying, “Tonight is an international event. I can be serious for a second, but everyone watching all over the world right now is fully aware that these are very chaotic and frightening times. “I think that’s particularly resonant for Kerr. Thirty-one countries from six continents are represented tonight. And every film we salute is the result of thousands of people, speaking different languages, working hard to make something beautiful. We’re paying for it.” Tonight we pay homage not just to cinema, but to the ideals of global artistry, collaboration, perseverance, resilience, and that rarest quality today: optimism. So let’s celebrate, not because we think everything is going well, but because we strive and hope that the days ahead will be better. ”
O’Brien opened the show with a pre-recorded segment in which he dressed as Amy Maddigan’s Aunt Gladys from “Weapons,” interrupting a scene in the Best Picture nominee where he is chased by the film’s killers. The segment then transitioned to a live shot of children following a stuntman into the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, where O’Brien appeared looking fresh in a tuxedo.
O’Brien will host the event again after hosting the event for the first time last year.
In the days leading up to this year’s ceremony, O’Brien appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and talked about the challenges of writing a monologue in a fast-paced news cycle.
“There’s something interesting about these monologues,” he said. “We started working on this from the beginning of January to the end of December, and people would write jokes like, ‘Oh, this is a great joke,’ and then you realize that this is 35 news cycles ago. So, ‘Can you believe what’s going on in Venezuela? It’s insane.’ A few months ago, it was like, ‘That’s great.'”
O’Brien acknowledged that plans for other shows during awards season could be jeopardized.
“So when you write something, you see jokes come and go, because we live in fast times,” he continued. “There’s a lot going on. There’s a lot of other awards shows. There’s other invasions. There’s always new things happening, so you have to keep up with it. Things can happen week to week, day to day, so I think you have to leave room for that.”
Watch the full opening below.
