Oscars 2026 Recap: The Winners, Biggest Moments & Everything in Between
The 98th Academy Awards were filled with blockbuster moments! From “One Battle After Another” to the historical wins, here’s a recap from Hollywood’s biggest night.
“One Battle After Another” took home the night’s biggest award: Best Picture. The movie’s director, Paul Thomas Anderson finally won Best Director. His win – coupled with the film’s Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay victories – ended his drought of being winless in his 11 previous nominations.
While “Sinners” did not get Best Picture, it did have a successful night. The movie won 4 of the 16 awards it was nominated for. Michael B Jordan won Best Actor for and Director Ryan Coogler took home the award for Original Screenplay.
History at the 2026 Oscars:
Sean Penn’s Best Supporting Actor win for his role as Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw was a historical one. He joined an exclusive club that includes Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, Daniel Day-Lewis, Ingrid Bergman, Frances McDormand and Walter Brennan as the only stars to have at least three academy awards.
We also had our first woman to win Best Cinematography ever at the Oscars. Autumn Durald Arkapaw broke the 98 year streak of male victories in the category for her work on “Sinners”.
Cassandra Kulukundis won The Academy’s first award for Achievement in Casting. She marked the historical moment by dedicating her victory to all the casting directors who came before her and never had a chance to win.
Top Moments from the Oscars:
As always is the case at The Academy Awards, there were several poignant moments that stole the show. The first one was Misty Copeland’s return to the stage after hip replacement surgery. She performed her ballet routine during the performance for “I Lied to You “, which was a nominee for Best Original Song. While she took everyone’s breath away, eyes quickly turned to Timothee Chalamet who gave her a standing ovation. The “Marty Supreme” star made headlines leading up to the Oscars for his controversial comments about ballet and opera.
No one could have prepared anyone sitting in the Dolby Theater or watching from home for the emotional In Memoriam segment that was led by Billy Crystal and Rachel McAdams. Crystal opened the tribute segment by honoring his friend the late Bob Reiner and his wife Michelle. He was then joined on stage by his When Harry Met Sally co-star, Meg Ryan and other stars from Reiner’s films. A total of 17 stars from Reiner’s movies stood on stage as they honored the late director and his wife. The screen then played homage to other Hollywood heavyweights who were taken over the past year including Val Kilmer, Robert Redford and Robert Duvall.
Rachel McAdams then took the stage to honor Diane Keaton and Catharine O’Hara. The segment wrapped up with a surprise performance by Barbara Streisand who gave a rendition of her hit “The Way We Were” before honoring co-star, Robert Redford.
Another big take away from this year’s show was the “Bridesmaids” reunion. Melissa McCarthy, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne (2026 Best Actress nominee), Kristin Wiig and Ellie Kemper brought the jokes and the girl power on stage as they celebrated the 15 year anniversary of their rom-com. The women presented the Original Score and Best Sound awards, but not without being their comedic selves. Some of the attendees in their line of comedic fire included Leonardo DiCaprio, Stellan Skarsgard and Jacobi Jupe (“Hamnet”).
That’s a wrap on the Oscars and awards show season 2026.
For a full list of all the winners, click here.
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