There was no shortage of rare and historic moments at the 98th Oscars, which took place at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles on March 15.
“KPop Demon Hunters” made dual history as the first Korean-produced animated film to win best animated feature, and best original song for its breakout hit “Golden” — the first K-pop song to win an Oscar.
“For those of you who look like me, I am so sorry that it took us so long to see us in a movie like this. But it is here, and that means that the next generations don’t have to go longing. This is for Korea and for Koreans everywhere,” co-director Maggie Kang said in her acceptance speech.
Producer and casting director Cassandra Kulukundis took home the first-ever achievement in casting award for her work on Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another.” Approved by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2024, it is the first new category to be introduced since best animated feature in 2002.
I have to obviously thank the Academy for even adding this category, and for the casting directors that fought tirelessly to make it happen despite everything in their way. I dedicate this to you and to the casting directors who never got a chance to get up here Cassandra Kulukundis, Casting Director of “One Battle After Another”
“I have to obviously thank the Academy for even adding this category, and for the casting directors that fought tirelessly to make it happen despite everything in their way. I dedicate this to you and to the casting directors who never got a chance to get up here,” Kulukundis said.
As one of the few female-dominated entertainment professions, the fight for a casting category has been a decades-long struggle, with casting directors’ work being perpetually undervalued and ignored.
Often categorized as an “old boys’ club” environment, the white- and male-dominated Academy has long faced criticism, protests and boycotting due to a pervasive lack of diversity. The backlash reached a boiling point in 2015 when activist and media strategist April Reign started the #OscarsSoWhite social media movement, calling out that all 20 acting nominations for the 87th Oscars had gone to white actors.
Despite pushing the Academy to take real action to improve diversity — doubling its number of female members and tripling members of color — women and people of color continue to fight for adequate recognition within entertainment, evidenced by this award season’s many groundbreaking wins.
In July 2025, HBO Max released a Black American Sign Language (BASL) version of “Sinners,” making the platform the first streaming service to release a feature-length film in BASL, according to Warner Bros.
Director Ryan Coogler became the second Black screenwriter to win best original screenplay for his film “Sinners,” which received a record-breaking 16 award nominations and won in three additional categories — score, cinematography and best actor.
Throughout the ceremony, Coogler could be seen using American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate with members of the “Sinners” cast and crew as they made speeches, repeatedly signing “thank you” and “I love you.”
Members of the deaf community, including deaf writer and filmmaker Chrissy Marshall, expressed gratitude on social media for this small act of representation. Coogler has long been an ally to the deaf community — his wife, Zinzi Coogler, is a certified ASL interpreter and advocate, and hearing loss is a central theme in Coogler’s “Creed” trilogy. ASL is heavily featured in “Creed III,” which stars young actress Mila Davis-Kent, who is deaf.
In July 2025, HBO Max released a Black American Sign Language (BASL) version of “Sinners,” making the platform the first streaming service to release a feature-length film in BASL, according to Warner Bros. Discovery. BASL was developed within segregated schools for the deaf in the 19th century, and includes signs not found in standard ASL, as well as terms and phrases that come from African American Vernacular English.
In yet another historic “Sinners” win, Autumn Durald Arkapaw became the first woman to win the Oscar for best cinematography.
The BASL version of “Sinners” was interpreted by deaf advocate and performer Nakia Smith, who Warner Bros. Discovery described as an “influential voice in the Black Deaf community.”
Smith also provided a live BASL interpretation of “Sinners” star Miles Caton’s Oscars performance of the best original song nominee “I Lied to You,” which featured iconic Black artists including Alabama Shakes frontwoman Brittany Howard and dancer Misty Copeland.
In yet another historic “Sinners” win, Autumn Durald Arkapaw became the first woman to win the Oscar for best cinematography. Durald Arkapaw, who is Black and Filipino, was also the first woman of color to ever be nominated in the category.
Arkapaw honored fellow female creatives during her acceptance speech, asking all of the women in the room to stand up.
In one of the final and most anticipated categories of the night, Michael B. Jordan won best actor for his dual “Sinners” role as twin brothers Smoke and Stack Moore.
“I feel like I (wouldn’t be) here without you guys,” Arkapaw said.
In one of the final and most anticipated categories of the night, Michael B. Jordan won best actor for his dual “Sinners” role as twin brothers Smoke and Stack Moore.
Jordan’s win marked his second recognition in the leading role beat fellow nominee Timothée Chalamet for the second time in the 2026 awards season, after he was awarded outstanding performance by a male actor in a leading role at the 32nd Annual Actor Awards (formerly known as the SAG Awards) on March 1.
Leading up to the Actor Awards, Chalamet, who has received four nominations since 2018, appeared to have his first Oscar in the bag, with “Marty Supreme” receiving a plethora of rave reviews from critics after an extensive and wildly successful marketing campaign. The film, directed by Josh Safdie, was nominated in nine different categories and did not win in any.
The comments ignited an instant and fervent internet backlash, prompting several prominent members of the ballet and opera worlds to respond., including a spokesperson for the Royal Ballet and Opera.
Chalamet’s Actor Awards loss to Jordan indicated a significant decrease in his chances. Actor Awards winners are determined by voting members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), who overlap somewhat significantly with Academy members.
In the weeks leading up to the Oscars, Timothee Chalamet, nominated alongside Jordan, found himself at the center of a particularly ill-timed social media controversy. During a CNN & Variety Town Hall Event with actor Matthew McConaughey on Feb. 21, Chalamet quipped that “no one cares” about ballet or opera anymore., adding “all respect to all the ballet and opera people out there. I just lost 14 cents in viewership.”
The comments ignited an instant and fervent internet backlash, prompting several prominent members of the ballet and opera worlds to respond., including a spokesperson for the Royal Ballet and Opera.
“Ballet and opera have never existed in isolation — they have continually informed, inspired, and elevated other art forms. Their influence can be felt across theatre, film, contemporary music, fashion, and beyond. For centuries, these disciplines have shaped the way artists create and audiences experience culture, and today millions of people around the world continue to enjoy and engage with them,” the spokesperson said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.
While Chalamet’s comments certainly landed him in hot water — and were repeatedly acknowledged during the ceremony — the implication that they cost him the Oscar win is demonstrably false, and inadvertently minimizes Jordan’s success.
I stand here because of the people who came before me: Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker, Will Smith. Michael B. Jordan, Leading Actor of “Sinners”
In a thread post uploaded to Bluesky, entertainment writer Mark Harris wrote: “Chalamet lost for the same reason Hawke and Moura and DiCaprio did — because Michael B. Jordan won. Academy votes are not like internet posts: Most people vote affirmatively, because a performance thrilled or moved or delighted them. They almost never vote primarily to block someone.”
Jordan’s win made him the sixth Black man in the Academy Awards’ 98-year history to be awarded best actor, and he honored the five actors that came before him in his speech — also acknowledging Halle Berry, the only Black woman to win best actress.
“I stand here because of the people who came before me: Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker, Will Smith,” Jordan said.
“I just want to say thank you to everyone in this room who had something to do with my success, I love you guys. And everyone at home who supported ‘Sinners’ … thank you. You guys made this movie what it is.”
