Conan O’Brien’s joke about US not arresting pedophiles draws gasps from Oscars audience

Conan O’Brien drew gasps from the Oscars audience after a joke at last night’s (Sunday March 16) ceremony.

During his opening monologue, the comedian noted the fact that there were no British nominees in the lead acting categories.

“It’s the first time since 2012 that there are no British actors nominated for Best Actor or Best Actress,” he joked. “A British spokesperson said, ‘Yeah, well at least we arrest our pedophiles’.”

Elsewhere during his monologue, O’Brien took at dig at Timothée Chalamet’s controversial recent comments about ballet and opera, which have attracted backlash in the past week or so.

“It's the first time since 2012 that there are no British actors nominated for Best Actor or Best Actress. A British spokesperson said, 'Yeah, well, at least we arrest our pedophiles.'"

– Conan O'Brien cooked the US hard at the #Oscars pic.twitter.com/0V0DMyT36V

— Roshan Rai (@RoshanKrRaii) March 16, 2026

“Security is extremely tight tonight,” the comedian told the the audience. “I’m told there’s concern about attacks from both the opera and ballet community.”

The night’s wins were dominated by One Battle After Another, which won six awards including Best Picture and Best Director for Paul Thomas Anderson, while Sinners followed with four including Best Actor for Michael B. Jordan, Best Original Screenplay for Ryan Coogler, as well as a historic Best Cinematography win for Autumn Durald Arkapaw as she became the first woman and first woman of colour to win the category.

Jessie Buckley took the Best Actress prize for Hamnet, while Sean Penn and Amy Madigan won Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress for their respective turns in One Battle After Another and Weapons.

There was also a moving tribute to late director Rob Reiner by Billy Crystal for the In Memoriam segment, as well as a Bridesmaids reunion, while viewers condemned the cutting off of a speech by KPop Demon Hunters‘ ‘Golden’ songwriters after winning Best Original Song.

Elsewhere, actor Javier Bardem condemned Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu for creating “another illegal war” as he also said “free Palestine” as he presented an award, while presenter Jimmy Kimmel also took aim at the US president.

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