Top 20 VIRAL Unscripted Award Show Moments

“86th Academy Awards” (2014)
You never know what you’re going to get at live award shows. It could be a major mishap, a simple trip, or a mind-boggling mispronunciation. “Frozen” dominated the 2013 holiday season, and Idina Menzel was invited to perform “Let It Go” at the 2014 Oscars. John Travolta was tasked with introducing the iconic performer, and he gave us a bungle for the ages. Somehow, some way, Travolta mispronounced a phonetically-spelled “Idina Menzel” as “Adele Dazeem,” inviting widespread ridicule from both social media and the mainstream press. Menzel took the gaffe in stride, replacing her name on fake playbills with Adele Dazeem and returning the favor at the 2015 Oscars ceremony.

“75th Academy Awards” (2003)
March 23, 2003 was the night of Adrien Brody’s life. Not only did he win Best Actor for “The Pianist,” he became the youngest person to win the award at just 29 years old. While accepting his award, Brody embraced Halle Berry, dipped her backwards, and kissed her square on the lips. This kiss was positively received at the time, earning loud cheers and being regarded as a highlight of the night. Some even see it as an iconic moment in Oscars history. But it has also come under some scrutiny in recent years, particularly in the midst of the #MeToo movement. Berry has admitted that she did not consent to the kiss and had no idea that it was coming.

“89th Academy Awards” (2017)
At the 2017 Oscars ceremony, Casey Affleck stepped out of his older brother’s shadow, winning Best Actor for “Manchester by the Sea.” However, this win was slightly overshadowed by Brie Larson, who was presenting Affleck with the award. Larson was friendly and cordial with Affleck, even giving him a hug as he grabbed the trophy. However, she also refused to clap while everyone else gave Affleck a standing ovation. Social media was quick to notice and began to speculate. Larson later told Vanity Fair that the move was intentional and “spoke for itself.” This action was in protest to Affleck’s problematic history, as he settled two sexual harassment lawsuits in the early 2010s.

“74th Golden Globe Awards” (2017)
After winning the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film, Tom Hiddleston launched into a rather bizarre and self-aggrandizing speech about the power of art. The speech started well enough, with Hiddleston speaking on the sociopolitical situation in South Sudan. But then he started talking about “The Night Manager” and how aid workers had binged it during an artillery barrage. Christian Slater, for one, did not look impressed. The reaction was turned into a gif and spread far and wide, becoming the public face of Hiddleston’s curious speech. He later apologized, calling his message “inelegantly expressed.”

“Academy Award Nomination Ceremony” (2015)
We just have to include the hilarious Dick Poop gaffe courtesy of Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs. Isaacs stood alongside Chris Pine to announce the 2015 Oscar nominees for Best Cinematography. She eventually came to Dick Pope, who had received a nomination for “Mr. Turner.” However, Isaacs mispronounced his name rather terribly. Isaacs subtly chuckles at the mistake and, if we’re not mistaken, Pine’s gives us a small lip twitch. We never truly lose our juvenile sense of humor, as evident by the President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences laughing at a poop joke.

“11th BET Awards” (2011)
The Coca-Cola Viewers’ Choice Award was a complete mess, and we’ve never seen anything like it. Let’s break it down. Both Chris Brown and Rihanna were up for the award. Contest winner and presenter Tiffany Green looks confused for a moment before announcing Chris Brown as the winner. Seconds later, she apologizes and claims that Rihanna is the real winner. OK, fair enough. But then fellow presenter Terrence Jenkins adds to the confusion, claiming that it was actually Drake who won, though he was apparently just coming to collect the award on behalf of Rihanna. BET later clarified on Twitter that, no, Chris Brown was in fact the real winner all along. It was a true mess, and one that left social media thoroughly confused.

“59th Annual Grammy Awards” (2017)
Awards ceremonies are usually black tie events, so yes, it’s a little odd to see someone standing on stage in their underwear. Enter Twenty One Pilots, who took home Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 59th Grammy Awards. Immediately after the announcement was made, both Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun unbuckled their belts, dropped trou, and proudly waltzed to the stage to accept their award. The moment instantly went viral, but it actually comes with a rather touching story. As Joseph explains, he and Dun were watching the Grammys as poor, unknown musicians when Dun had an idea - if, one day, they somehow managed to win a Grammy, they should accept in their underwear. They proved that dreams come true, and it was iconic.

“32nd MTV Video Music Awards” (2015)
It was the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, and Nicki Minaj had just won for Best Hip-Hop Video. She then stunned the audience by turning to Miley Cyrus, calling her a not-so-nice name, and asking her “what’s good?” This was the culmination of a back-and-forth between the two artists, in which Cyrus called some of Minaj’s tweets “not too kind”. Cyrus responded to Minaj’s onstage attack courteously enough, but was reportedly quite mad about it behind the scenes, with a source telling E! News that she “stormed backstage cursing and yelling.”

“75th Golden Globe Awards” (2018)
One of the biggest moments of the 2018 Golden Globes was Natalie Portman’s off-the-cuff stinger regarding the abundance of male nominees in the Best Director category. After the category’s scripted introduction, Portman went off-script, to the visible surprise of many in the audience. Reception to this remark was split: some felt it was in keeping with the night’s theme of empowerment, while others felt that it was an immature jab that ruined the nominees’ moment. It certainly gave us all something to talk about, that’s for sure.

“59th Annual Grammy Awards” (2017)
Like the overly-scripted speeches and jokes, the musical performances at award shows can be painfully boring and creatively stifled. So it was extremely refreshing to see Adele taking her art so seriously at the 2017 Grammys that she was willing to stop her tribute to the late George Michael and start again in order to get it right. It showed that Adele truly cared for Michael and his legacy, and wasn’t just going through the motions. Of course, some people called her out as unprofessional but hey, that’s the Internet for you; you can’t please everyone.

“75th Golden Globe Awards” (2018)
It seems as if Nicole Kidman can’t help herself from going viral at award shows: first it was her infamous kiss with Alexander Skarsgård at the 2017 Emmys that got everyone talking. Then, her botched kiss with husband Keith Urban at the 2018 Golden Globes got them talking again. After winning the award for Best Actress in a Limited Series, Kidman stood up and tried kissing her husband. However, Urban wasn’t quite ready, which resulted in the actress kissing the air and various parts of his head before finally reaching his mouth. And let us tell you: it didn’t take long for the internet to scrutinize every second of this failed smooch.

“35th Annual Brit Awards” (2015)
Musical performances of this caliber take a lot of preparation and practice. That being said: there’s always the chance for something to go wrong. This performance marked Madonna’s first appearance at the Brit Awards in 20 years, but rather than talking about her brilliant return, everyone was talking about her brilliant wipeout. While performing “Living for Love,” the dancers yanked on her cape with the intention of theatrically ripping it off. However, because it was secured too tightly, it pulled Madonna off the stage instead. She continued the performance like a trooper, although it didn’t even matter – everyone already had their topic of discussion.

“67th Golden Globe Awards” (2010)
This probably isn’t how Brendan Fraser wanted to become a meme, but hey, viral is viral. This incident took place at the 2010 Golden Globes. After speaker Robert De Niro made a joke, the camera cut to Fraser, who laughed and did the most awkward clap in the history of clapdom. The brief clip instantly took off, as the Internet created gifs, parodies, musical remixes and movie edits with the clip. To Fraser’s credit, at least he has a sense of humor about the whole thing, cause not every celebrity is able to keep an even keel about this sorta thing.

“73rd Golden Globe Awards” (2016)
Who knew that a simple bump could cause so much controversy and discussion? After winning the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Miniseries, Gaga bumped into Leonardo DiCaprio, whose arm was slightly protruding into the aisle. This immediately caused a firestorm of interpretations. Did Gaga intentionally bump him? Was Leo laughing at Gaga, which caused her to bump him in retaliation? Was Leo sticking his arm out as some sort of prank? Was Leo’s reaction funny or immature? Then again, it could just have been an accident that was blown massively out of proportion. The possibilities are endless!

“23rd Screen Actors Guild Awards” (2017)
Not too many people pay attention to the Screen Actors Guild awards (not mainstream audiences anyway), but the awards went viral in 2017 thanks to Winona Ryder’s baffling reactions. The cast of “Stranger Things” had won the SAG for Best Ensemble, prompting actor David Harbour to lead the acceptance speech. Despite the fantastic speech, everyone’s eyes were on Winona Ryder, who was making faces showcasing varying degrees of bafflement, excitement, confusion and happiness throughout the speech. We don’t know what was going on, but it was intense.

“85th Academy Awards” (2013)
Jennifer Lawrence proved her maturity as an actress by winning an Oscar for “Silver Linings Playbook.” However, this win was somewhat upstaged by the manner in which she accepted it. The popular actress tripped on her way up the stage, and while it wasn’t a hard fall, it was certainly embarrassing. This is epitomized through the now-iconic image of Lawrence kneeling on the steps and facepalming. The moment instantly went viral, both because of the trip and because it was It Girl Jennifer Lawrence. In fact, one writer for British Vogue argued that it had “a transformative effect on the nature of celebrity,” introducing the idea of a relatable and imperfect movie star who sometimes trips on stairs.

“75th Golden Globe Awards” (2018)
When this moment is written about in the history books, we will proudly look back and declare: “I watched that live.” When James Franco took the stage to accept his award for his work in “The Disaster Artist,” he surprised everyone by inviting Tommy Wiseau, the subject of the movie, to join him. Seeing Wiseau on stage at the Golden Globes was a moment none of us could have ever predicted, yet here it was in all its glorious magic. While some were upset at Franco for not allowing Wiseau to speak, others thought it was enough to simply have him stand onstage and bask in the spotlight for the first time in his life.

“89th Academy Awards” (2017)
The Oscars are typically the most stringent, safe and scripted of all the award shows. That being said, some surprising and unscripted moments still make it into the show. One of the biggest blunders in Oscars history has to be the infamous 2017 Best Picture disaster, where “La La Land” was declared the winner despite the fact that “Moonlight” was the real winner. What followed was pure pandemonium and confusion, and the Internet lapped up every second of it. Forget going viral – we’ll be talking about this disaster for decades.

“26th MTV Video Music Awards” (2009)
Many of these awkward moments pale in comparison – in viral terms, anyway – to the infamous 2009 MTV Video Music Awards debacle. For those of you who’ve been living under a rock, the incident took place while Taylor Swift was accepting her award for Best Female Video. To the surprise of everyone, Kanye West hopped on stage, took the mic, and voiced his opinion that Beyoncé should’ve won. It resulted in Swift reportedly “hysterically crying” backstage, and even the President of the United States called West a “jackass” for his actions. It remains a hot topic even all these years later.

“94th Academy Awards” (2022)
Two words: The Slap. From now on, that combination of words will refer to one thing and one thing only, and everyone will know what you are talking about. That, of course, is Will Smith sauntering on stage at the “94th Academy Awards”, slapping Chris Rock, and proudly waltzing back to his seat as if he had just won the Oscar for Best Actor of All Time. The slap was in response to a somewhat off-color joke that Chris Rock made about Smith’s partner, Jada Pinkett Smith. Many initially believed that the slap was a bit concocted by the two actors but, according to those involved, it was 100% genuine, and Smith was banned from the Oscars for the next ten years.

Which moment had you gaping at your screen? Let us know in the comments.