Three hours into the Oscars, Conan O’Brien finally landed a jab on President Donald Trump.
The host used runaway winner Anora—a film about a sex worker getting married to the son of a Russian oligarch—to take a swipe at Trump’s cozy relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“You know, Anora is having a good night,” O’Brien said as he welcomed viewers back to the show. “That’s great news; two wins already. I guess Americans are excited to see somebody finally stand up to a powerful Russian.”
The comedian paused for a beat as the crowd, which initially reacted with shock, then broke out into applause and cheers.
Anora took home five awards, including Best Picture and lead Mikey Madison’s stunning Best Actress upset over The Substance’s Demi Moore.
O’Brien’s quip was the first acknowledgement of the current occupant of the White House of the night—but it wasn’t the first political message to be made on the broadcast.
Earlier in the show, Kill Bill star Daryl Hannah was the first celebrity to spotlight Ukraine.
As she took the stage to present the award for Best Editing, she proclaimed “Slava Ukraine,” which translates to “Glory to Ukraine.”
The Blade Runner star has long been vocal about her support of Ukraine and regularly criticizes Trump, as well as “first buddy” Elon Musk on the social media platform Bluesky.
Days before the Oscars, Trump and Vice President JD Vance subjected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to a dressing down at the White House over Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“We gave you, through this stupid president, $350 billion,” Trump yelled at Zelensky, referring to former President Joe Biden. “We gave you military equipment ... If you didn’t have our military equipment, this war would have been over in two weeks.”
The shouting match was later met with enthusiasm by Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov.
“The new administration is rapidly changing [America’s] foreign policy configurations,” Peskov said. “This largely coincides with our vision.”
