Conan O’Brien had Timothee Chalamet squirming as he called out the Oscar nominee’s ‘opera and ballet’ jab controversy in front of his Hollywood peers at the start of the 98th Academy Awards on Sunday night.

The comedian, 62, returned as host for the second year in a row after taking over the coveted role from fellow comedian Jimmy Kimmel.

And he wasted little time putting Chalamet, who is up for Best Actor, on the spot in his opening monologue for the star’s recent bizarre declaration that ‘no one cares’ about ballet and opera.

‘Security is extremely tight tonight. I’m just going to mention that,’ tuxedo-clad O’Brien said to the crowd inside Los Angeles’ iconic Dolby Theatre. 

He then quipped, ‘I’m told there’s a concern about attacks from both the opera and ballet communities.’

The camera then quickly cut to Chalamet, who could be seen nervously smiling beside his busty girlfriend Kylie Jenner.

‘They’re just mad you left out jazz,’ O’Brien jokingly added.

O’Brien tried but failed to make amends with Chalamet later in the night as he told the crowd he and the Marty Supreme star were ‘vibing.’

‘We’re vibing, right?’ he asked Chalamet, whose reply wasn’t picked up by the event’s microphones. ‘He doesn’t think so.’ 

Chalamet wasn’t the only A-list star to be called out by O’Brien.

Chalamet’s Best Actor rival Leonardo DiCaprio was declared the ‘king of memes’ by O’Brien after years of his facial expressions going viral on social media.

‘He’s the star of so many movies and the king of memes. He’s the king of memes, this guy,’ O’Brien said. 

O’Brien then forced DiCaprio to create a ‘new meme’ in real time as he remained in his Oscars seat.

The camera cut to DiCaprio, who looked on awkwardly, as O’Brien captioned the living meme, ‘That feeling when you didn’t agree to this.’

DiCaprio, proving to be a total professional, turned his head to the camera nearest to him and offered a playful smirk and a shrug.

Michael B. Jordan, who is competing against DiCaprio and Chalamet in the Best Actor category, was trolled by O’Brien over his portrayal of twins in the Ryan Coogler’s acclaimed horror flick Sinners, which is also up for Best Picture.

‘By the way, I have to say, again, Michael B. Jordan, you are incredible playing identical twin brothers in Sinners,’ O’Brien began.

‘I cannot get enough of this man. It was a special treat. Every seat filler at tonight’s Oscars will be Michael B. Jordan,’ he joked before the camera cut to a sea of Jordans seated together in white tuxedos.

O’Brien asked the Jordan clones, ‘By the way, how am I looking tonight, Michael B. Jordans?’

O’Brien later made fun of DiCaprio’s One Battle After Another co-star Sean Penn, who won the Best Supporting Actor award but was noticeably absent from the ceremony.

‘Lots of memorable scenes from One Battle After Another,’ he said of the acclaimed Paul Thomas Anderson film.

‘Best Supporting Actor nominee Sean Penn, of course, got an erection at gunpoint. And then Paul Thomas Henderson said, let’s put that in the film,’ O’Brien teased.

O’Brien kicked off his opening monologue by joking that he’s ‘honored’ to be the ceremony’s ‘last human host’ as a jab at growing fears of AI replacing human jobs.

‘Yes! Yeah! Next year it’s going to be a Waymo in a tux,’ he quipped.

He warned the audience that things at the 2026 ceremony could ‘get political’ before taking aim at MAGA music superstar Kid Rock and his alternative Super Bowl halftime show for Turning Point USA.

‘And if [things getting political] makes you uncomfortable, there’s an alternate Oscars being hosted by Kid Rock,’ O’Brien said.

He further joked that the Kid Rock hosted Oscars would be held at the adult arcade ‘Dave & Busters down the street,’ before hilariously adding, ‘A lot of tickets for that.’

O’Brien mercilessly mocked Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos to his face as he joked that it was the streaming billionaire’s first time in an actual theater.

‘This is what they’re talking about: “Why are they all together enjoying themselves?”‘ said O’Brien as he impersonated Sarandos with a gravely, troll-like voice.

‘”They should be home alone where I can monetize it!”‘

While Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was not in attendance, that didn’t stop O’Brien from railing into the streamer’s Amazon Studios for not having ‘any nominations this year.’

‘Also shut out, Walmart, Alibaba and Chewy,’ O’Brien joked. ‘Why isn’t the website I order toilet paper from winning more Oscars?’

As is tradition, O’Brien poked fun at each of the films up for Best Picture.

He said that the name of Yorgos Lanthimos’s film Bugonia, which stars Emma Stone  and Jesse Plemons, sounds like a type of lunch meat as he joked, ‘Had a little Bugonia around 10 o’clock. It’s not sitting too well.’

O’Brien teased Chloe Zhao’s Shakespeare historical drama Hamnet, which stars Best Actress nominee Jessie Buckley, for a message that appears at the start of the film.

‘At the beginning of Hamnet a message comes on the screen explaining that the names ‘Hamnet’ and Hamlet’ were used interchangeably,’ O’Brien explained before taking a brief pause.

‘That’s when I knew I’d better buckle up.’

He then took a jab at the American health care system while recalling how Shakespeare’s wife Agnes (played by Buckley) ‘gives birth by herself in the woods’ in the film.

‘As we call that here in America: affordable health care.’

Brad Pitt’s race car film F1 also got a mention as O’Brien joked that the sequel would be called ‘Caps Lock.’

O’Brien happened to a have a role in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, which stars Rose Byrne who is up for the Best Actress honor.

And he spoke about how ‘hard’ it was to ‘act in a scene with someone you’ve always had a massive crush on’ – with many assuming he was talking about himself having a crush on Byrne.

‘But, Rose, you did a fantastic job,’ he joked.

O’Brien’s monologue hit a more serious note as the comedian touched on the ‘frightening’ state of the world while lauding the Oscars for being an ‘international event.’

‘Everyone watching right now around the world is all too aware that these are very chaotic, frightening times,’ he began. ‘It’s at moments like these that I believe the Oscars are particularly resonant.’

O’Brien shared that ’31 countries across 6 continents are represented’ at the 2026 ceremony and that ‘every film we salute is the product of thousands of languages, working hard to make people speaking different something of beauty.

‘We pay tribute tonight not just to film but to the ideals of global artistry, collaboration, patience, resilience and that rarest of qualities today: optimism. 

‘So, let us celebrate not because we think all is well but because we work and hope for better in the days ahead.’

O’Brien’s monologue then kicked into a surprise musical number featuring Josh Groban as the comedian joked about how he would act if he ever won an Oscar.

The bizarre stunt saw O’Brien waltzing down the aisles inside the Dolby Theatre as two men placed a crown on his head and a King’s robe around his tuxedo-clad frame.

Once he made it onto the stage, the comedian climbed up a fake mountain as a CGI messenger owl carrying a shiny gold Oscar flew directly towards him.

O’Brien jokingly announced that this is how ‘all the awards will be handed out tonight.’ 

One Battle After Another ended the 2026 awards season by winning Best Picture on a night where Michael B Jordan and Jessie Buckley earned top acting prizes.

Jordan, 39, shocked the world at the 98th Academy Awards as he upset Timothee Chalamet to win Best Actor for Sinners as Buckley, 36, took home Best Actress for her work in Hamnet at the event held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

Paul Thomas Anderson accepted the top prize of the night alongside Teyana Taylor and the rest of the cast and crew as the film earned the most wins of the night with six.

The American black comedy action-thriller film triumphed over a massive, competitive, field including: Bugonia, F1, Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value, Sinners, and Train Dreams.

The Leonardo DiCaprio led film One Battle After Another is centered around a group of ex-revolutionaries who reunite to rescue the daughter of one of their own as their enemy resurfaces after 16 years

The most talked about moment of the night will surely be that Jordan, 39, earned the top honor Best Actor for his leading role in Ryan Coogler film Sinners.

He upset favorite throughout award season 30-year-old Chalamet, who starred in Marty Supreme, as the field included: Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another, Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon, and Wagner Moura – The Secret Agent.

Jordan was in disbelief as he walked up to the stage and was greeted by last year’s winner Adrien Brody.

Sinners is centered around two brothers who return to their hometown to start again only to discover that an even greater evil – in the form of vampires – is waiting to welcome them back.

Jordan portrayed both brothers in the film: older and more serious twin Elijah ‘Smoke’ Moore in addition to younger and more cheerful sibling Elias ‘Stack’ Moore.

Jessie Buckley continued her winning ways as she earned Best Actress for her role in Hamnet.

The 36-year-old Irish actress beat out Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, Kate Hudson – Song Sung Blue, Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value, and Emma Stone – Bugonia.

Hamnet takes place after Agnes and William Shakespeare (Buckley and Paul Mescal) lose their son Hamnet to the plague and grapple with grief in 16th-century England, based on the novel of the same name.

Agnes is a healer who must find strength to care for her surviving children while processing her devastating loss.

One Battle After Another was the biggest winner of the evening as Paul Thomas Anderson earned both Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Meanwhile, Sean Penn was not in attendance as he earned his third Oscar.

The 65-year-old A-lister’s name was announced by Kieran Culkin for the Best Supporting Actor Award for his work in One Battle After Another but he was not in the building to accept.

Amy Madigan took home the first award at the Oscars 2026 on Sunday night.

The 75-year-old veteran actress earned Best Supporting Actress for her work in Zach Creggar’s supernatural mystery horror film Weapons.

It was one of the most contentious categories of the night as she was up against Elle Fanning – Sentimental Value, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value, Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners, and Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another.

Ryan Coogler finally earned his first win in the Best Original Screenplay category for his epic Sinners.

One of the most touching wins of the night came when Autumn Durald Arkapaw won Best Cinematography for Sinners.

The second award of the night was groundbreaking as KPop Demon Hunters earned Best Animated Feature Film.

The Netflix film triumphed over Arco, Elio, Little Amelie or the Character of Rain, and Zootopia 2.

Later on in the night the film made history once again as KPop Demon Hunters earned Best Original Song for the smash hit song Golden.

It beat out Dear Me – Diane Warren: Relentless, I Lied to You – Sinners, Sweet Dreams of Joy – Viva Verdi!, and Train Dreams – Train Dreams.

The Netflix film is centered around the members of a world-renowned KPop girl group who balance their lives in the spotlight with their secret identities as demon hunters.

By RACHEL BOWMAN, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER and KATRINA SCHOLLENBERGER, US HEAD OF LIVE NEWS

Updated: 23:51 EDT, 15 March 2026