Wendi McLendon-Covey Shares Why She Missed Bridesmaids Oscars Reunion

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Wendi McLendon-Covey is holding on for one more day.

Following the Oscars on March 15th – hosted by Conan O’Brien at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood – actress Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, and Ellie Kemper reunited on stage. The Bridesmaids star explained why she wasn’t able to join the fun.

Wendi shared on Instagram that she had a neck lift last week, explaining she was self-conscious about how she looked. Because of the procedure and recovery, she had to miss the Academy Awards. She posted a photo of herself in bed with a bandage around her head.

To clear up any talk of disagreements on set, the 56-year-old stated simply, “There’s no conflict, and everyone is getting along well.”

Even though Wendi couldn’t make it to the reunion, her close-knit and quirky group of friends had a great time performing together.

“It’s amazing to be celebrating with all of you tonight,” Kristen said while on stage. “I can’t believe it’s already been 15 years! We’re not the best at math, but we did the calculations backstage, and it turns out we filmed the movie back in 1883.”

Just before Ludwig Göransson received the Oscar for Best Original Score, the presenters read comments that appeared to be from people in the audience.

Maya also received a note, especially considering her husband, Paul Thomas Anderson, recently won three Oscars, including awards for Best Director and Best Picture.

According to a message reportedly from Leonardo DiCaprio, he asked Rose – the star of If I Had Legs I’d Kick You – to stop making eye contact. He said it was making him uncomfortable and that he was considering leaving.

Maya also received a note, especially notable considering her husband, Paul Thomas Anderson, had recently won three Oscars, including awards for Best Director and Best Picture.

She read the message aloud: ‘First of all, you ladies look extremely beautiful tonight.’ She chuckled and said, ‘That’s nice, thank you.’ Then she continued, ‘It says, ‘You’re all aging well,’ and it’s signed by Stellan Skarsgård.’

Even more memorable moments from the night happened off-camera, beyond the Bridesmaids cast getting back together. Here’s a look at what you missed!

By the end of the night, both Ryan Coogler, director of Sinners, and Paul Thomas Anderson, director of One Battle After Another, were celebrating their first Oscar wins – Coogler for Best Original Screenplay and PTA for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Jenner has become a familiar face at the Oscars, joining Timothée Chalamet—a Best Actor nominee—for the second consecutive year.

Kylie Jenner was thrilled to see Elle Fanning, who starred alongside her boyfriend in his critically acclaimed 2025 film and is nominated for Best Supporting Actress this year.

You know, after the Best Actor award was announced – Michael B. Jordan really took the win – I saw Dakota Fanning give Timothée Chalamet a little pat on the back. It was a sweet moment of support, acknowledging his effort and offering some comfort after he didn’t win.

As other people at the event began enjoying the snacks provided by Conan O’Brien, Taylor was congratulating the casting director of One Battle After Another for making history by winning the very first Academy Award for Best Casting.

The person who keeps leaving gifts added another note to the box of treats. It said, “Hope you like this ‘Moderately Happy Meal’ from Conan O’Brien! These snacks don’t look like a lot, but they’d cost around $85 at the movies.”

The actor known for his role in Frankenstein, who was nominated for an Oscar for the first time as Best Supporting Actor, was attending various awards events.

Losing the Best Supporting Actor Oscar to Sean Penn didn’t dampen the Sentimental Value star’s spirits.

Afterward, while enjoying a drink in a VIP section, Skarsgård mentioned to a fan, according to the Los Angeles Times, that their film had received four acting nominations despite being an international production – a first-time occurrence.

Not to mention, the Joaquim Trier-directed Norwegian film was named Best International Feature.

Weaver struggled to contain her laughter as she and another presenter went on stage to announce the winners for Best Production Design (awarded to Frankenstein) and Best Visual Effects (given to Avatar: Fire & Ash).

Infiniti was overjoyed with how her acting debut in One Battle After Another was going.

Mark Sonnenblick desperately tried to delay the commercial break, but failed. It cut off one of his songwriting colleagues while they were accepting the award for Best Original Song – a historic win for the show, “Golden.”

Although Madison won Best Actress last year, the recent reunion between them was still meaningful and enjoyable.

The Marty Supreme row had plenty of space for family, with Timothée Chalamet’s sister joining him and Kylie Jenner for an evening out.

This photo isn’t a genuine moment of crisis – it’s just two actors sharing a quiet moment by the makeup station at the Oscars. Everything’s okay!

The 2003 Best Actress winner didn’t mind whiling away a few more of the hours at the 2026 Oscars.

Leonardo DiCaprio was there to congratulate Jordan as he gained momentum and ultimately won the Best Actor award.

The Marty Supreme actress toasted to the Oscars with a mini bottle of Tequila Don Julio 1942.

This photo was taken on March 10th at a preview event for the Governors Ball, held at the Ovation Hollywood Complex. It’s a look behind the scenes at where the award statues are engraved – a glimpse of how everything comes together.

Cue the body language experts to decipher what, exactly, Pascal just saw on his phone.

The filmmakers behind “Two People Exchanging Saliva” celebrated a rare victory – a tie for Best Live Action Short – with “The Singers,” a film produced by Jack Piatt and directed by Sam A. Davis.

The winners celebrated backstage with their Oscars, and the more people joining the fun, the better!

Piatt told reporters he jokingly wished all the nominees could have tied, resulting in a five-way tie.

After winning Best Actor, he took a private moment with his Oscar statue before celebrating with a trip to In-N-Out Burger on his way to the after-party celebrations.

Whoever has the longest reach is typically responsible for taking selfies, and tonight, that job fell to the partner of Best Actress nominee Hudson.

Nicole Kidman was just trying to find her seat when she unexpectedly became part of someone else’s photo, playfully crashing the background.

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2026-03-17 03:47