Timothée Chalamet loses best actor Oscar to Sinners’ Michael B. Jordan

Ballet dancers and opera singers may be rejoicing after Timothée Chalamet lost the best actor race to Sinners star Michael B. Jordan at the Academy Awards on Monday.

It initially seemed all but certain that the young Marty Supreme star was destined for a golden statuette after his success at an array of award shows earlier this year, including the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards.

But an oversaturated awards campaign and some questionable comments about the “irrelevance” of ballet and opera appeared to turn the tides against Chalamet despite early victories, allowing Jordan to pip him at the post.

“Mama, what’s up,” Jordan said, giving his mother a cheeky smile in the crowd as he accepted the award. “I stand here because of the people who came before me: Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Jamie Foxx, Will Smith. To be among those greats, among my ancestors, thank you to everyone in this room and everybody at home who has supported me over my career. I feel it.”

Though some may believe it was Chalamet’s controversial comments about classic art forms that ruined his shot at an Oscar, chances are many Academy voters had already voted by the time he uttered a word (footage of his comments emerged on March 5 in the US, the same day the final round of Oscar voting closed).

Beyond that, one must also consider the sheer strength of Jordan’s performance. His shockingly convincing turn as twins Smoke and Stack in Ryan Coogler’s vampire horror film earned him a best actor trophy at the Actor Awards – a key Oscar indicator – this month.

His ability to perform as two distinct characters in the film was generally lauded by critics, with this masthead describing his performance as “infused with verve and variety”.

Ahead of the 98th Academy Awards, Conan O’Brien promised he would not mention US President Donald Trump during the ceremony.

But that seems to have been a deliberate misdirect on the second-time host’s part, who did poke fun at Trump’s propensity for naming everything and anything after himself – with a reference to his… manhood? – without actually uttering Trump’s name.

Welcoming the audience back to the Oscars by announcing they were taking place in the “small penis theatre” (it’s actually happening in Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre), O’Brien challenged “him” to put his name in front of a theatre named the “small penis theatre”.

Of course, O’Brien’s quip comes after Trump-appointed trustees at the John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts voted to rename the venue the “Trump-Kennedy Centre”, sparking backlash from the Kennedy family and arts advocates.

The former late-night host also made fun of best actor nominee Timothée Chalamet’s controversial appraisal of opera and ballet, which landed the Marty Supreme star in hot water one week out from the ceremony.

“Security is extremely tight tonight,” O’Brien joked in his opening monologue as the camera panned to Chalamet and his girlfriend, Kylie Jenner. “I’m told there’s concerns about attacks from both the opera and ballet communities.”

Although O’Brien is not known for his political comedy, he did, of course, also reference the ongoing Jeffrey Epstein fallout.

“It’s the first time since 2012 that there are no British actors nominated for best actor or best actress,” O’Brien quipped. “A British spokesperson said, ‘Yeah, well, at least we arrest our paedophiles’.”

Read on to see all the winners and nominees at the 98th Academy Awards.

Best picture

Bugonia
Frankenstein
F1
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
The Secret Agent
Sentimental Value
Sinners
Train Dreams

Best director

Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another
Ryan Coogler – Sinners
Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme
Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value
Chloé Zhao – Hamnet

Best actor

Timothée Chalamet – Marty Supreme
Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another
Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon
Michael B. Jordan – Sinners
Wagner Moura – The Secret Agent

Best actress

Jessie Buckley – Hamnet
Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Kate Hudson – Song Sung Blue
Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value
Emma Stone – Bugonia

Best supporting actress

Elle Fanning – Sentimental Value
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value
Amy Madigan –Weapons
Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners
Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another

Best supporting actor

Benicio del Toro – One Battle After Another
Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein
Delroy Lindo – Sinners
Sean Penn – One Battle After Another
Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value

Best adapted screenplay

Bugonia
Frankenstein
Hamnet
One Battle After Another
Train Dreams

Best original screenplay

Blue Moon
It Was Just an Accident
Marty Supreme
Sentimental Value
Sinners

Best original song

Dear Me – Diane Warren: Relentless
Golden – KPop Demon Hunters
I Lied to You – Sinners
Sweet Dreams of Joy – Viva Verdi!
Train Dreams – Train Dreams

Best original score

Bugonia
Frankenstein
Hamnet
One Battle After Another
Sinners

Best international feature

It Was Just an Accident
Sentimental Value
Sirât
The Secret Agent
The Voice of Hind Rajab

Best animated feature

Arco
Elio
KPop Demon Hunters
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Zootopia 2

Best documentary feature

Come See Me in the Good Light
Cutting Through the Rocks
Mr. Nobody Against Putin
The Alabama Solution
The Perfect Neighbor

Best costume design

Avatar: Fire and Ash
Frankenstein
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
Sinners

Best make-up and hairstyling

Frankenstein
Kokuho
Sinners
The Smashing Machine
The Ugly Stepsister

Best production design

Frankenstein
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sinners

Best sound

Frankenstein
F1
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Sirât

Best film editing

F1
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sentimental Value
Sinners

Best cinematography

Frankenstein
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Train Dreams

Best visual effects

Avatar: Fire and Ash
F1
Jurassic World Rebirth
Sinners
The Lost Bus

Best live action short

A Friend of Dorothy
Butcher’s Stain
Jane Austen’s Period Drama
The Singers
Two People Exchanging Saliva

Best animated short

Butterfly
Forevergreen
Retirement Plan
The Girl Who Cried Pearls
The Three Sisters

Best documentary short

All the Empty Rooms
Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud
Children No More: Were and Are Gone
The Devil Is Busy
Perfectly a Strangeness

Best casting

Hamnet
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sinners
The Secret Agent

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