The Top Five Moments From The 2025 Oscars

The
2025 Oscars took place on Sunday and came with a handful of notable moments. There were the wins, including Zoe Saldana for Best Supporting Actress, becoming the first American of Dominican origin to win the honor. There were jokes from host Conan O’Brien, particularly that one about Drake (more on that later). And there were the red carpet encounters that took place before the ceremony even began (looking at you, Halle Berry).

Whether you watched this year’s Academy Awards or not, here were the top five moments from the event.

Halle Berry Gets Payback For 2003 Adrien Brody Kiss

Halle Berry played the long game. Twenty-two years after Adrien Brody surprised her with an onstage kiss at the 2003 Oscars, Berry finally returned the favor and planted a kiss of her own on the actor on the Oscar’s red carpet.

Brody had first kissed Berry after winning the Best Leading Actor Oscar for his performance in The Pianist, telling her after the kiss, “I bet they didn’t tell you that was in the gift bag.”

As for getting her lick back, Berry said she only went in for the kiss because Brody’s girlfriend, Georgina Chapman, “was fine” with her doing it.

“I’ve been waiting to get him on a red carpet and slap one on,” Berry
said of the moment to Extra.

Cynthia Erivo Belts Out An Incredible Rendition Of “Defying Gravity”

Alongside Wicked co-star Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo performed “Defying Gravity,” with Grande stepping to the side to let Erivo hit her final note of the song.
The Best Actress nominee also performed “Home” from the 1975 musical
The Wiz.

Paul Tazewell Becomes First Black Man To Win Best Costume Award

Paul Tazewell, the costume designer behind Wicked, took home the award for Best Costume Design — making him the first Black man to receive the honor.

“I’m the first black man to receive the costume design award … I’m so proud of this,” Tazewell said during his acceptance speech.

He is the second Black person to win the award for Best Costume Design. Ruth E. Carter became the first when she won in 2018 for her work on Black Panther, and went on to win the honor again in 2022 for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Conan O’Brien

Hosting the Oscars isn’t easy, but at as roasted attending celebs and moved the show along,
Conan O’Brien certainly made it look that way. At one point, he made time to poke fun at Adam Sandler’s casual drop (a hoodie and shorts is a little um, … casual). At another, he joked, “Well, we’re halfway through the show, so now’s the time for Kendrick Lamar to come out and call Drake a pedophile.”

“Don’t worry, I’m lawyered up,” he added.

Of course, O’Brien wasn’t just referring to Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” where the West Coast rapper calls Drake a “certified pedophile,” but also Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime performance, where he teased “Not Like Us” multiple times throughout his set before finally performing it (while notably omitting the “pedophile” lyric).

His jokes kept the momentum going throughout the night. Here’s to hoping he can host again.

Quincy Jones Gets A Touching Tribute

Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah introduced a tribute to the late, great Quincy Jones, which encompassed dancers, the Los Angeles Master Chorale and Queen Latifah performing “Ease on Down the Road” from The Wiz. Jones supervised the adaptation of songs for the film.

“When we talk about Black excellence, we’re talking about Quincy,” Goldberg said of the legendary music producer prior to the tribute.