Oscars 2024 recap: Biggest moments from the 96th Academy Awards

Everything that happened on Hollywood's biggest night.

The 2024 Oscars have come and gone, and "Oppenheimer" was the big winner of the night.

Jimmy Kimmel hosted the 96th Academy Awards, a ceremony which honored excellence in cinematic achievements for some of the past year's biggest films.

"Oppenheimer" earned seven Oscars from its 13 total nominations, including the top prize of the night, best picture, as well as best director for Christopher Nolan.

In the lead acting categories, "Poor Things" star Emma Stone took home the award for best actress while "Oppenheimer" star Cillian Murphy took home best actor.

"The Holdovers" star Da'Vine Joy Randolph and "Oppenheimer" star Robert Downey Jr. snagged wins in the supporting acting categories.

For all the biggest moments from the 2024 Oscars, keep reading below.


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'Poor Things' wins best production design

"Poor Things" won the Oscar for best production design, with James Price and Shona Heath taking to the stage to accept the award.

Other films nominated in the category included "Barbie," "Killers of the Flower Moon," "Napoleon" and "Oppenheimer."


'Poor Things' wins best makeup and hairstyling

"Poor Things" won the Oscar for best makeup and hairstyling.

Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier and Josh Weston accepted the award. Read more about the team's process while working on the film here.

Other nominees in the category included "Golda," "Maestro," "Oppenheimer" and "Society of the Snow."


Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell perform ‘What Was I Made For?’

Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O’Connell delivered a moving performance of their Oscar-nominated song “What Was I Made For?” from “Barbie.”

Eilish sang while O’Connell accompanied her on the piano. The duo received a standing ovation from the audience after their performance.

“What Was I Made For?” may earn Eilish and O’Connell their second Oscar tonight. They previously won the Oscar for best original song in 2022 for “No Time To Die” from the James Bond film of the same name.


'American Fiction' wins best adapted screenplay

Octavia Spencer and Melissa McCarthy presented the Oscar for best adapted screenplay to "American Fiction" director and screenwriter Cord Jefferson.

The film was based on the 2001 novel "Erasure" by Percival Everett.

"This means the world to me, thank you so much to the academy," Jefferson said. "There are so many people. I feel so much joy being here, I felt so much joy making this movie, and I want other people to experience that joy, and they are out there, I promise you."

"The next Martin Scorsese is out there, the next Greta's out there, the next Christopher Nolan's out there, I promise you. They just want a shot and we can give them one," he continued. "And this has changed my life. Thank you all who worked on this movie, for trusting a 40-year-old Black guy who had never directed anything before. It has changed my life."

Other nominees in the category included Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig for "Barbie," Christopher Nolan for "Oppenheimer," Tony McNamara for "Poor Things" and Jonathan Glazer for "The Zone of Interest."


Jimmy Kimmel opens the Oscars with monologue

Jimmy Kimmel kicked off the 96th Academy Awards with his opening monologue.

"It was a hard year, but it was also a great year for movies," he said, referencing the writers and actors strikes from 2023. "The people in this room somehow managed to come up with so many excellent films and memorable performances. This night is full of enormous talent and untold potential -- but so was 'Madame Web,' but who knows."

Kimmel also spoke about the year's biggest hit at the box office, "Barbie," crediting director Greta Gerwig with making the doll a "feminist icon" and poking fun at her widely perceived snub for best director.

"I know you're clapping, but you're the ones who didn't vote for her, by the way," he joked, speaking to the audience.

Kimmel also got a laugh when he said that if "Barbie" stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling didn't win anything tonight, they at least had "already won something much more important -- the genetic lottery."

Also receiving a shoutout was Messi the dog from "Anatomy of a Fall," who the talk show host said "may have given the performance of the year."

Kimmel also joked about how many of the year's nominated films were longer than normal, saying he had his mail redirected to the movie theater when seeing "Killers of the Flower Moon."