Oscars joke writer Skyler Higley defended the Kendrick Lamar and Drake joke he wrote for the 97th Academy Awards monologue. He explained the joke was in reference to the cultural moment and that O'Brien was not taking sides in the rappers' feud.

Karla Sofía Gascón had a message for the Academy after attending the 2025 Oscars. The “Emilia Pérez” actress, 52, went to the award show Sunday despite her social media controversy, and was a victim of one of Conan O’Brien’s jokes during his opening monologue.

After way too many hostless or less-than-perfectly hosted Hollywood awards shows over the last few years, Conan O’Brien’s opener as emcee of the 2025 Oscars represented an extremely welcome return to solid joke-writing. (He and Demi Moore really got into it with that Substance bit up top, huh?)