The Oscars 2024: How Social Media Reacted to the Event

The most discussed moment at the Oscars was Oppenheimer winning Best Picture at the end of the night – although Ryan Gosling’s performance of “I’m Just Ken” almost beats it. The prestigious Best Picture award is always heavily discussed on social media, and this year was no exception. While many Oppenheimer fans were pleased with the result for the film, the Barbie vs. Oppenheimer debate reared its head once again.

Many Barbie fans were disappointed with Barbie’s lack of recognition throughout the night. The film took home one Oscar for Best Song, despite being the highest-grossing film of 2023.

Oppenheimer took home seven of its nominated thirteen Oscars, also winning awards for Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, and Best Original Score.

Ryan Gosling’s rendition of “I’m Just Ken” almost beat the Best Picture award for the most mentioned moment.

It wasn’t confirmed that Gosling would perform until recently, as he wasn’t officially asked and, he said, “it might be too much of a risk to have me do it.” Yet the show went on, and fans were blown away by Gosling’s performance, with some even saying it was one of the best Oscar performances in years.

A highlight for many was an interaction between wrestler-turned-actor John Cena and host Jimmy Kimmel. Cena – rather unconventionally – took to the stage naked (or almost naked, thanks to the nominee card), when announcing the nominees for Best Costume Design.

Another memorable moment came shortly after Robert Downey Jr. won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. While this win caused a spike in online mentions across social media, we saw a second ripple of mentions when Messi, the dog from Anatomy of a Fall, was seen applauding Robert Downey Jr. for his win.

Let’s talking about the host

This year’s ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel for the second year in a row – his fourth time hosting overall. Being the face of such a high-profile event is never easy, and Kimmel fell victim to the curse of hosting at this year’s Oscars.

Almost 80% of sentiment-categorized mentions about Kimmel during the ceremony were negative. These negative mentions saw a huge spike after Kimmel read out a comment made by former US president Donald Trump, who labeled Kimmel as the worst Oscar host ever. Kimmel then thanked Trump for watching before asking: “Isn’t it past your jail time?”

The joke exploded online. Some thought Kimmel’s reaction was funny, but many criticized him for leaning into a political comment during the ceremony.

The award categories

Using Brandwatch Consumer Research, let’s dive into the most discussed award categories.

As is usually the case at the Oscars, the Best Picture category was the most discussed award during the ceremony. The award was won by Oppenheimer and presented by Al Pacino – but his announcement wasn’t exactly conventional.

The audience was confused for a moment when Al Pacino opened the envelope and cryptically said: “My eyes see Oppenheimer.” Many in the audience had a delayed reaction to the announcement due to this unconventional delivery.