{"id":526187,"date":"2026-03-16T03:56:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T03:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/526187\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T03:56:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T03:56:10","slug":"conan-obrien-hosts-the-2026-oscars-takes-opening-shots-at-ai-and-chalamet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/526187\/","title":{"rendered":"Conan O\u2019Brien hosts the 2026 Oscars, takes opening shots at AI and Chalamet"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 Conan O\u2019Brien<\/a> played on his famous red hair and pale skin for an Aunt Gladys<\/a> opening at the Oscars and took shots at artificial intelligence, the Oscars\u2019 move to YouTube and Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet\u2019s takes on the fine arts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am Conan O\u2019Brien and I am honored to be the last human host of the Academy Awards,\u201d O\u2019Brien said after taking the stage for the ABC telecast at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Sunday night. \u201cNext year it\u2019s going to be a Waymo in a tux.\u201d <\/p>\n

O\u2019Brien, who also hosted the event last year, warned the audience that security would be high. <\/p>\n

\u201cI hear there are concerns about attacks from both the opera and ballet communities,\u201d the host said, getting a big laugh as the camera cut to a giggling Chalamet. The best actor nominee\u2019s disparaging comments on the art forms\u2019 relevance during the Oscars run-up became fodder for cultural discourse.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Brien also took aim at Netflix<\/a> chief Ted Sarandos, who is annually a major figure in Hollywood but this year got special attention. His company nearly bought Warner Bros.<\/a>, the studio behind the night\u2019s biggest nominees, before backing out. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s his first time in a theater!\u201d O\u2019Brien said, then took on a mock Sarandos voice. \u201cWhat are they all doing enjoying themselves?!\u201d he shouted. \u201cThey should be home where I can monetize it!\u201d<\/p>\n

In another operatic moment, singer Josh Groban, in knightly garb, serenaded O\u2019Brien in a fantasy sequence where the host imagined winning an Oscar for his outstanding monologue. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe did this himself, and he\u2019s grateful to none,\u201d Groban sang to music from \u201cZadok the Priest,\u201d a 1727 coronation anthem by George Frideric Handel.<\/p>\n

The ceremony\u2019s prerecorded opening nod to Amy Madigan\u2019s character in \u201cWeapons\u201d was maybe to be expected given how often O\u2019Brien mocks his own hair and pallor, but still had surprising moments. <\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t you think it\u2019s a bit much?\u201d O\u2019Brien could be heard saying to a stylist before the reveal. <\/p>\n

The segment had O\u2019Brien sporting Madigan\u2019s caked-on Aunt Gladys makeup and bright red wig from the film. It also showed him being chased by angry kids as she was in the role from the prestige horror film that won her best supporting actress a few minutes later.<\/p>\n

Gladys-Conan was then folded into clips from other major nominees. He was animated into \u201cKPop Demon Hunters,\u201d<\/a> played table tennis against Chalamet in \u201cMarty Supreme\u201d and sprinted across the Shakespearean stage in \u201cHamnet.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

After getting raves in his 2025 hosting debut, O\u2019Brien<\/a> \u2014 the 62-year-old onetime writer for \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d and \u201cThe Simpsons,\u201d former longtime talk show host, and professional podcaster \u2014 was rehired almost immediately<\/a>. <\/p>\n

He may have given the Academy Awards some stability in the hosting spot after much uncertainty about the often-thankless role, including the three-year stretch from 2019-2021 with no host. ABC convinced Jimmy Kimmel<\/a>, the face of the network, to host four times, something that\u2019s unlikely to happen again with the Oscars moving to YouTube in 2029<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people are worried this is going to change how the Oscars are viewed,\u201d O\u2019Brien said Sunday, \u201cbut I\u2019ve been assured \u2026\u201d he was then cut off by a wildly intrusive, YouTube-style ad featuring actor Jane Lynch pitching a tactical flashlight. <\/p>\n

The bit got a big laugh from the room, as did most of his monologue. <\/p>\n

Oscar producers have shown what appears to be a genuine affection for O\u2019Brien, who is easily the favorite to return as host, and has suggested his willingness to keep the job indefinitely. <\/p>\n

That succession was addressed when the live show ended. A filmed scene borrowed the ending of \u201cOne Battle After Another,\u201d<\/a> which won best picture and five other Oscars (spoilers ahead). O\u2019Brien\u2019s friend and former \u201cSNL\u201d cowriter Mike Downey reprised his role from \u201cOne Battle,\u201d with O\u2019Brien in the place of best supporting actor winner Sean Penn<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve decided to make you Oscars host for life,\u201d Downey tells O\u2019Brien in the halls of an office complex. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what to say. I\u2019d like that very much,\u201d a moved O\u2019Brien replies. He\u2019s then shown being gassed a la Penn and carted, dead, from the premises. <\/p>\n

His name plaque is replaced by one reading \u201cMr. Beast.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 Conan O\u2019Brien played on his famous red hair and pale skin for an Aunt…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526188,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[47403,176162,182,59250,181,507,2692,16237,88,236811,176149,17114,133301,233621,206,90136,74,77953,1505,57100],"class_list":["post-526187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-academy-awards","tag-academy-awards-oscars","tag-ai","tag-amy-madigan","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-celebrity","tag-conan-obrien","tag-entertainment","tag-george-frideric-handel","tag-jane-lynch","tag-jimmy-kimmel","tag-josh-groban","tag-mike-downey","tag-movies","tag-sean-penn","tag-technology","tag-ted-sarandos","tag-television","tag-timothee-chalamet"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=526187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/526188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=526187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=526187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=526187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}