As I’m sure we are all aware, just a few weeks ago Will Smith took the internet by storm with his ‘Slap Heard Round The World’. If not for stuff like this, we’d all be out a few laughs. Whenever an awards show has a few hiccups it allows us to look back on some previous mishaps as well. Thus leading us into the reason why you’re all here, without further ado let us delve into some of the previous widely known Academy Award mishaps.

1.

At the 2017 Academy Awards, Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty announced that year’s best picture winner. However, these celebrities were given the wrong envelope. The envelope that they actually brought onto stage with them was the envelope for best actress. When Beatty looked inside the envelope, they got confused because it said “Emma Stone – La La Land”. Beatty then showed Dunaway, unsure what to do, and Dunaway did not realize that anything was wrong and read out La La Land as the winner. After the cast of La La Land came up to receive their award there was some confusion but eventually the mishap was sorted out. The correct winner was eventually announced as Moonlight.

2.

John Travolta had to announce the next performer at the 2014 Oscars. The next performer was Idina Menzel performing “Let it go”. John Travolta, however, horribly mispronounced her name as Adela Dazeem. Idina Menzel reportedly felt sorry for herself but quickly got herself together so that they could perform. At a later academy Awards ceremony, though, Idina Menzel was able to get him back by introducing him and mispronouncing his name on purpose.

3.

This next one is an older Oscars fiasco, at the 1974 Academy Awards. While David Niven is preparing to introduce Elizabeth Taylor something unexpected happened; a streaker ran across the stage behind Niven while making a peace sign with his hand. Niven then famously responds to this by saying “Well ladies and gentlemen that was almost bound to happen, but isn’t it fascinating to think that probably the only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping off and showing his shortcomings”. The streaker’s name was Robert Opel, a photographer, art gallery owner, and activist. He was also once a speechwriter for Ronald Reagan.

4.

Another famous, but older Oscars mishap was when Sammy Davis Jr. was given the wrong envelope (just like Beatty and Dunaway). In 1964, Davis announced the winner for that year’s best music score. He read the envelope and announced that John Addison had won, but he wasn’t even in that category. He was eventually given the correct envelope and announced the correct winner.

5.

During the 2016 Oscars, when Sam Smith received his Oscar for best original song, he claimed that he was the first openly gay man to win an Oscar. He was mistakenly misquoting Ian Mckellen. Ian Mckellen had said that no openly gay man had won an Oscar but he was referring to the award for best actor. Other openly gay men had won an Oscar before Sam Smith and he was definitely not the first. Sam Smith proceeded to receive a ton of backlash for this on social media.

6.

At the 2013 Academy Awards, Jennifer Lawrence received an award for best actress. However, the star unfortunately took a tumble on her way up the stairs. Thankfully, she was not injured and was able to continue forward to receive her award.

7.

Almost everyone has heard about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards but many people don’t seem to fully understand why. Chris Rock had made a joke about Will Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, referring her to as the next ‘G.I. Jane’. The part of the joke that the couple is assumed to have been offended by is the fact that ‘G.I. Jane’ was bald. Jada Pinkett Smith has alopecia which is a medical condition that causes hair loss. This is likely the reason that caused the unexpected reaction from Will Smith.