‘CODA,’ Takes Best Picture—But Will Smith’s Slap Overshadows Academy Awards

Topline

Awards season came to an end Sunday with the Academy Awards, where movies CODA, Dune and Encanto and actors Troy Kostur, Ariana DeBose and Will Smith won some of the most prestigious film industry honors—but a violent outburst by Smith overshadowed the show.

Troy Kotsur (L) accepts from South-Korean actress Youn Yuh-jung the award for Best Actor in a … [+] Supporting Role for “CODA” onstage during the 94th Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 27, 2022.

AFP via Getty Images

Key Facts

CODA won three awards, including Best Picture, Actor in a Supporting Role and Adapted Screenplay.

The night’s winners took a back seat to an incident involving Will Smith and Chris Rock, in which Smith punched Rock in the face and yelled at Rock for joking about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

The Power Of The Dog was the most-nominated film this year with 12 nods, though it only won one, and Dune took home six trophies and was the winningest title of the ceremony.

The ceremony was hosted by Amy Schumer, Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes, in the first time in three years the show has had a host.

This year’s production was not without controversy: Eight behind-the-scenes awards will be given out ahead of time and later “folded into” the live broadcast, a move that was widely criticized by many in the film industry (Read more here).

Most frontrunners took home trophies, including Smith for best actor for King Richard, Ariana DeBose for best supporting actress in West Side Story and Troy Kostur for Best Supporting Actor in CODA, Jane Campion for Best Director for The Power Of The Dog and Encanto for Best Animated Film, who all won awards in the lead up to the Oscars.

Nominees

Best Picture: Belfast, WINNER: CODA, Don’t Look Up, Drive My Car, Dune, King Richard, Licorice Pizza, Nightmare Alley, The Power Of The Dog, West Side Story

Actor in a Leading Role: Javier Bardem, Being The Ricardos, Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power Of The Dog, Andrew Garfield, Tick, Tick…Boom!, WINNER: Will Smith, King Richard, Denzel Washington, The Tragedy Of Macbeth

Actress in a Leading Role: WINNER: Jessica Chastain, The Eyes Of Tammy Faye, Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter, Penelope Cruz, Parallel Mothers, Nicole Kidman, Being The Ricardos, Kristin Stewart, Spencer

Actor in a Supporting Role: Ciran Hinds, Belfast, WINNER: Troy Kostur, CODA, Jesse Plemons, The Power Of The Dog, J.K. Simons, Being The Ricardos, Kodi Smit McPhee, The Power Of The Dog

Actress in a Supporting Role: Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter, WINNER: Ariana DeBose, West Side Story, Judi Dench, Belfast, Kirsten Dunst, The Power Of The Dog, Aunjanue Ellis, King Richard

Animated Feature Film: WINNER: Encanto, Flee, Luca, The Mitchells Vs. The Machines, Raya And The Last Dragon

Cinematography: WINNER: Dune, Nightmare Alley, The Power Of The Dog, The Tragedy Of Macbeth, West Side Story

Costume Design: WINNER: Cruella, Cyrano, Dune, Nightmare Alley, West Side Story

Directing: Kenneth Branagh, Belfast, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Drive My Car, Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza, WINNER: Jane Campion, The Power Of The Dog, Steven Spielberg, West Side Story

Documentary (Feature): Ascension, Attica, Flee, WINNER: Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised), Writing With Fire

Documentary (Short Subject): Audible, Lead Me Home, WINNER: The Queen Of Basketball, Three Songs For Benazir, When We Were Bullies

Film Editing: Don’t Look Up, WINNER: Dune, King Richard, The Power Of The Dog, Tick, Tick…Boom!

International Feature Film: WINNER: Drive My Car (Japan), Flee (Denmark), The Hand Of God (Italy), Lunana: A Yak In The Classroom (Bhutan), The Worst Person In The World (Norway)

Makeup and Hair Styling: Coming 2 America, Cruella, Dune, WINNER: The Eyes Of Tammy Faye, House Of Gucci

Music (Original Score): Don’t Look Up, WINNER: Dune, Encanto, Parallel Mothers, The Power Of The Dog

Music (Original Song): ”Be Alive,” King Richard, “Dos Oruguitas,” Encanto, “Down To Joy,” Belfast, WINNER: “No Time To Die,” No Time To Die, “Somehow You Do,” Four Good Days

Production Design: WINNER: Dune, Nightmare Alley, The Power Of The Dog, The Tragedy Of Macbeth, West Side Story

Short Film (Animated): Affairs Of The Art, Bestia, BoxBallet, Robin Robin, WINNER: The Windshield Wiper

Short Film (Live Action): Ala Kachuu– Take And Run, The Dress, WINNER: The Long Goodbye, On My Mind, Please Hold

Sound: Belfast, WINNER: Dune, No Time To Die, The Power Of The Dog, West Side Story

Visual Effects: WINNER: Dune, Free Guy, No Time To Die, Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings, SpiderMan: No Way Home

Writing (Adapted Screenplay): WINNER: CODA, Drive My Car, Dune, The Lost Daughter, The Power Of The Dog

Writing (Original Screenplay): WINNER: Belfast, Don’t Look Up, King Richard, Licorice Pizza, The Worst Person In The World

Key Background

The Power Of The Dog won Best Picture awards at the Golden Globes, the Critics Choice Awards and the BAFTAs. Director Jane Campion has won for best directing several times. CODA became a surprise challenger after its wins at the Screen Actors Guild Awards and the Producers Guild Awards, which is known for being a reliable predictor of Best Picture winners.

Surprising Fact

Beyonce and Billie Eilish vied to become first-time Oscar winners–both singers were nominated in the Best Original Song category, though Eilish and her brother Finneas took home the prize. Lin-Manuel Miranda, nominated for Best Original Song for Encanto, could have join the handful of entertainers who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award, though Eilish beat him. Will Smith and Jessica Chastain, who had both been nominated before, won their first Oscars.

Topline

Key Facts

Nominees

Key Background

Surprising Fact

Further Reading