Leonardo DiCaprio Has Winning Reaction to Becoming Meme at Oscars 2026

As expected, Conan O’Brien showed up slinging one joke after another at the 2026 Oscars.

The host of the 98th Academy Awards made a memorable entrance on March 15th. He began with a humorous bit where he dressed up as Aunt Gladys, a character played by Best Supporting Actress winner Amy Madigan in the movie Weapons. While playfully chased by excited children, he moved through sets representing almost all of the Best Picture nominees, including a racing track inspired by F1 and a lively juke joint from Sinners.

Despite trying to come up with a clever joke about Train Dreams, the Best Picture nominee was simply too serious a film to be funny.

The crowd jumped to their feet and applauded wildly when he finally made it onto the stage. (Check out the celebrities who attended the 2026 Oscars!)

While his opening speech was generally upbeat, Jimmy Kimmel had to mention the backlash caused by Timothée Chalamet’s recent joke about opera and ballet. Chalamet and his date, Kylie Jenner, both laughed when Kimmel brought it up.

In a now-iconic moment, O’Brien revitalized the collection of classic Leonardo DiCaprio memes, ensuring they’ll continue to circulate forever.

The new film, “TFW You Didn’t Agree to This,” featuring Leonardo DiCaprio with a mustache, is likely to become as iconic as the toast scene in The Great Gatsby and the boastful dialogue from Django Unchained.

O’Brien also praised Michael B. Jordan, another Best Actor nominee. Jordan skillfully played twins in Sinners and is so talented at taking on different characters, he’ll be embodying all the seat fillers during tonight’s show, according to O’Brien.

The film Sinners received a leading 16 nominations, including nods for Best Picture, Best Director, and Original Screenplay for Ryan Coogler. Close behind with 13 nominations is One Battle After Another, which is also up for Best Picture and Best Director, and features an Adapted Screenplay nomination for Paul Thomas Anderson.

O’Brien returned as host for the second year in a row, and organizers quickly secured him for another appearance – even before he received an Emmy nomination for hosting last year’s Oscars. Although he didn’t win the Emmy for Outstanding Live Variety Special, he did win one for his HBO Max series, Conan O’Brien Must Go, which was named Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special.

The 62-year-old comedian spent weeks testing out his new material at comedy clubs throughout Los Angeles before his big performance. He recently explained on Jimmy Kimmel Live that he wasn’t concerned about jokes being leaked, because if they weren’t funny enough, people wouldn’t bother repeating them.

“And,” he quipped, “that’s my secret.”

He explained that writing his opening monologue was tricky because jokes they developed as early as late December or early January quickly became outdated. They’d think a joke was great, only to realize the news surrounding it had already been covered extensively.

O’Brien admitted he secretly hoped for a mishap during the event. He explained that a little chaos is exciting and makes for compelling viewing, both for the live audience and those watching on television.

He explained that things can go wrong in two ways: when something good takes a turn for the worse, or when something already bad gets even worse. He said he preferred the first scenario – a good thing gone wrong – and that all they could do was wait and see if that’s what happened.

Every year at the Oscars, winners are announced. Find out who shined at the 98th Academy Awards!

Bugonia

Frankenstein

Hamnet

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

The Secret Agent

Sentimental Value

Sinners

Train Dreams

Jessie Buckley – Hamnet

Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Kate Hudson – Song Sung Blue

Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value

Emma Stone – Bugonia

Timothée Chalamet – Marty Supreme

Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another

Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon

Michael B. Jordan – Sinners

Wagner Moura – The Secret Agent

Elle Fanning – Sentimental Value

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value

WINNER: Amy Madigan – Weapons

Wunmi Mosaku- Sinners

Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another

Benecio Del Toro – One Battle After Another

Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein

Delroy Lindo – Sinners

Sean Penn – One Battle After Another

Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value

Chloé Zhao – Hamnet

Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme

Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another

Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value

Ryan Coogler – Sinners

Blue Moon

It Was Just An Accident

Marty Supreme

Sentimental Value

Sinners

Avatar: Fire and Ash

WINNER: Frankenstein

Hamnet

Marty Supreme

Sinners

“Dear Me” from Diane Warren: Relentless

“Golden” from KPop Deamon Hunters

“I Lied to You” from Sinners

“Sweet Dreams of Joy” from Viva Verdii

“Train Dreams” from Train Dreams

The Secret Agent

It Was Just an Accident

Sentimental Value

Sirat

The Voice of Hind Rajab

Butcher’s Stain

A Friend of Dorothy

Jane Austen’s Period Drama

The Singers

Two People Exchanging Saliva

All the Empty Tooms

Armed Only With A Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud

The Devil Is Busy

Perfectly a Strangeness

Bugonia

Frankenstein

Hamnet

One Battle After Another

Sinners

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Jurassic World Rebirth

The Lost Bus

Sinners

Frankenstein

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

Sinners

Train Dreams

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

Sentimental Value

Sinners

Frankenstein

Hamnet

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

Sinners

Bugonia

Frankenstein

Hamnet

One Battle After Another

Train Dreams

The Alabama Solution

Come See Me in the Good Light

Cutting Through Rocks

Mr. Nobody Against Putin

The Perfect Neighbor

Hamnet

Marty Supreme

WINNER: One Battle After Another

The Secret Agent

Sinners

Butterfly

Forevergreen

WINNER: The Girl Who Cried Pearls

Retirement Plan

The Three Sisters

WINNER: Frankenstein

Kokuho

Sinners

The Smashing Machine

The Ugly Stepsister

Arco

Elio

WINNER: Kpop Demon Hunters

Little Amélie or the Character of Rain

Zootopia 2

Frankenstein

One Battle After Another

Sinners

2026-03-16 03:20

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