Live Updates from the Oscars

For many people, Oscar Sunday is just another Sunday. Unless you’re this girl from the Midwest who spent years manifesting the day she would attend. The same girl who interviewed her parents in the hallway asking who designed their pajamas pretending they were celebrities on the red carpet. For decades, Oscar night meant I was ready with a ballot in hand surrounded by family and friends who were buzzing about who would win best picture. Some even bet on who would be there first. I think I’ll cash in now. This year, I traded in my sweatpants for a black gown to report live from the press room at the 96th Academy Awards.

Sipping on a Diet Coke in what could be the second most expensive outfit I own— aside from my wedding dress— I eavesdropped on fellow journalists whispering about who will win as they try to playfully one up each other on who knows more about this year’s season. Will Oppenheimer, nominated for 13 Academy Awards, take home Best Picture? Will Lily Gladstone, who’s nominated for Killers of the Flower Moon make history by becoming the first Native American actor to take home Best Actress? How many people will really watch Ryan Gosling perform I'm Just Ken from Barbie?

Outside the Dolby Theatre along Hollywood Boulevard sits the famous red carpet – and protesters against the Israel-Hamas war. Groups of people have gathered outside wearing black and white keffiyehs, yarmulkes, and holding posters shutting down the few roads open to the public ahead of the show. Signs called for a Liberated Palestine and Ceasefire Now.

Back inside, the room continued to fill up with press. The Oscars not only started one hour early this year at 4 p.m., but it happened to fall on Daylight Saving Time.

Inside the press room, Oscar winner Cord Jefferson says it's incredibly surreal to be at the Oscars and to win Best Adapted Screenplay for American Fiction. He says he hopes the lesson here is that there's an audience and appetite for things that are different.

Wes Anderson is one of my favorite filmmakers. His movies are like dessert: they're beautiful to look at, indulgent, and deliciously satisfying. He took home the award for Best Live Action Short for The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. This is his first win. Ever. And he wasn't even there to accept the award. Anderson has been making movies for decades, has been nominated eight times across five different categories for his features and probably inspired or employed half of the people in the audience. Tonight, he finally won for his short. Maybe the Academy enjoys dessert in moderation.

Regardless of how many wins Barbie goes home with, the summer blockbuster has clearly won in the eyes of audiences at home, inside the Dolby and the press room. Journalists watched in awe and pure delight over Ryan Gosling's Kenergy during his performance of I'm Just Ken. Earlier in the night, Billie Eilish received a standing ovation from the crowd for her performance of What Was I Made For. Despite stopping and starting the show feed to interview the winners, we somehow seemed to tune in just in time for the Barbie performances. Eilish and her brother Finneas O'Connell later took home the Oscar for Best Original Song. The siblings made Oscar history by becoming the youngest artists to win two Oscars before the age of 30.

Oppenheimer has won Best Picture. Presenter Al Pacino didn't seem too sure. Here in the press room, we laughed off the fear of another near Best Picture fiasco. All I know is whenever Emma Stone wins an Oscar, the announcer for Best Picture flubs it...post hoc ergo propter hoc.

The film secured the most awards tonight with seven Oscars, followed by Poor Things which earned four.

Two-time Oscar winner Emma Stone walked into the press room still in a daze. She did confirm her outfit kerfuffle has been fixed. Like Olivia Newton John at the end of Grease, Stone too was sewn into her dress. She says she misses Bella and is grateful she got to celebrate her tonight.

In the press room during Tarn Willers and Johnnie Burn's comments to reporters, KFI asked them about creating sound in Auschwitz for their winning film, Zone of Interest. Their response was interrupted by an Oscar win. (Hear that about 5 minutes into the audio below)

See the full list of nominees below:

BEST PICTURE

American Fiction
Anatomy of a Fall
Barbie
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer (WINNER)
Past Lives
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Bradley Cooper - Maestro
Colman Domingo - Rustin
Paul Giamatti - The Holdovers
Cillian Murphy - Oppenheimer (WINNER)
Jeffrey Wright - American Fiction

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Annette Bening - Nyad
Lily Gladstone - Killers of the Flower Moon
Sandra Hüller - Anatomy of a Fall
Carey Mulligan - Maestro
Emma Stone - Poor Things (WINNER)

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Emily Blunt - Oppenheimer
Danielle Brooks - The Color Purple
America Ferrera - Barbie
Jodie Foster - Nyad
Da'Vine Joy Randolph - The Holdovers (WINNER)

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Sterling K. Brown - American Fiction
Robert De Niro - Killers of the Flower Moon
Robert Downey Jr. - Oppenheimer (WINNER)
Ryan Gosling - Barbie
Mark Ruffalo - Poor Things

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

The Boy and the Heron (WINNER)
Elemental
Nimona
Robot Dreams
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

CINEMATOGRAPHY

El Conde
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer (WINNER)
Poor Things

COSTUME DESIGN

Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things (WINNER)

DIRECTING

Justine Triet - Anatomy of a Fall
Martin Scorsese - Killers of the Flower Moon
Christopher Nolan - Oppenheimer (WINNER)
Yorgos Lanthimos - Poor Things
Jonathan Glazer - The Zone of Interest

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM

The People's President
The Eternal Memory
Four Daughters
To Kill a Tiger
20 Days in Mariupol (WINNER)

DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM

The ABCs of Book Banning
The Barber of Little Rock
Island in Between
The Last Repair Shop (WINNER)
Nai Nai & Wài Pó

FILM EDITING

Anatomy of a Fall
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer (WINNER)
Poor Things

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

Io Capitano - Italy
Perfect Days - Japan
Society of the Snow - Spain
The Teachers' Lounge - Germany
The Zone of Interest - United Kingdom (WINNER)

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Golda
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor Things (WINNER)
Society of the Snow

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

American Fiction - Laura Karpman
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny - John Williams
Killers of the Flower Moon - Robbie Robertson
Oppenheimer - Ludwig Göransson (WINNER)
Poor Things - Jerskin Fendrix

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

The Fire Inside - Flamin' Hot; Diane Warren
I'm Just Ken - Barbie; Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt
What Was I Made For? - Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell (WINNER)
It Never Went Away - American Symphony; Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson
Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People) - Killers of the Flower Moon; Scott George

PRODUCTION DESIGN

Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things (WINNER)

ANIMATED SHORT FILM

Letter to a Pig
Ninety-Five Senses
Our Uniform
Pachyderme
War is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko (WINNER)

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

The After
Invincible
Knight of Fortune
Red, White and Blue
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (WINNER)

SOUND

The Creator
Maestro
Mission Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
Oppenheimer
The Zone of Interest (WINNER)

VISUAL EFFECTS

The Creator
Godzilla Minus One (WINNER)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Mission Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
Napoleon

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)

American Fiction - Cord Jefferson (WINNER)
Barbie - Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach
Oppenheimer - Christopher Nolan
Poor Things - Tony McNamara
The Zone of Interest - Jonathan Glazer

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)

Anatomy of a Fall - Justine Triet and Arthur Harari (WINNER)
The Holdovers - David Hemingson
Maestro - Bradley Cooper and Josh Singer
May December - Samy Burch and Mechanik
Past Lives - Celine Song