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This year’s Academy Awards, which took place on Sunday night, saw past winners return to introduce the nominees in each of the four acting categories.
Former Best Actress winners Michelle Yeoh, Jennifer Lawrence, Charlize Theron, Jessica Lange, and Sally Field took to the stage to present the nominees for the Best Actress accolade this year — which was ultimately won by Emma Stone for her performance in Poor Things.
Emma played Bella Baxter in the esteemed Yorgos Lanthimos film, which follows her journey of self-discovery after being brought back to life with the brain of an infant.
Sally, who famously starred alongside Emma in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), was the one to present her nomination with a heartwarming speech, while the other former Best Actress winners presented the rest of the nominees: Sandra Hüller, Annette Bening, Lily Gladstone, and Carey Mulligan.
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“Curious as a puppy, and hungry as a bear, Emma Stone’s brilliant Bella is unhinged, uninhibited, and completely original,” Sally said on stage.
“With the fearlessness of a toddler, she awkwardly steps into the world, awakening her body and the sensations of being alive without boundaries,” she continued. “It is an unforgettable and endearing character, created by an actor who is always surprising, who refuses to be categorized, and, like Bella, is completely original.”
Like all of the other speeches, Sally’s endearing tribute to Emma left audience members and viewers at home super emotional.
However, things got a little awkward once Emma made her way onto the stage to accept her accolade.
After announcing Emma as the Best Actress winner, Michelle held onto the Oscar for what appeared to be an unusually long amount of time. Standing to her left were Charlize Theron, and Jessica Lange, and to her right, Jennifer Lawrence, and Sally Field at the end.
Emma appeared super confused, with Michelle seemingly gesturing that Jennifer — who shares a super close friendship with Emma — be the one to actually hand her the golden statue.
And so, Jennifer gave Emma the accolade, followed by the pair sharing a huge hug. However, Sally — who was standing on the other side of Jen — seemed pretty confused by this.
Viewers noticed that Sally repeatedly tugged onto Jennifer’s arm and her dress while she was handing the award over to Emma, with several people speculating that she’d been hoping to do the honors herself.
While Sally ultimately let go of Jen’s dress and then embraced Emma, it wasn’t long before a clip of the moment began circulating across social media, with TikTok users labeling it “bizarre” and “extremely awkward.”
Several people guessed that the former Oscar winners were supposed to pass the award down one by one — and that Sally was actually meant to present it to Emma, being that she was last in the line.
“I honestly think she felt like she was supposed to hand the trophy to Emma,” one person commented under a popular TikTok. “I think they were supposed to pass it along but Emma was already holding onto it and seemed confused so JL just gave it to her to smooth over the moment,” someone else wrote.
“I think all the former winner presenters we’re supposed to pass the oscar down the line and she was supposed to present it,” one user said, while another person speculated, “Sally was the one who was supposed to hand it to her because Sally was the one dedicated to Emma in the intros. It’s why Michelle was trying to pass it over.”
Meanwhile, others speculated that Sally was well aware that Michelle was the one who was supposed to hand over the award and was pulling Jennifer back to stop her from intruding on the moment.
Michelle took home the Best Actress award last year for her performance in Everything Everywhere All At Once — and it is tradition at the Oscars that the last person who won the award is the one to hand it over to the new recipient.
And although many viewers found the entire thing hilarious, others were ultimately baffled that Sally had tugged on Jennifer’s dress and arm.
“She even grabbed her dress! Sally no! I liked the concept of the former winners speaking but awarding the actual statues was extremely awkward,” one person said. “You’re on live tv. Once you see it’s not going the way you thought it should, you need to let it go. She looks ridiculous grabbing at Jennifer Lawrence like that,” wrote another.
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