7 Unforgettable Bleep-Worthy Moments at the Oscars
7 Unforgettable Bleep-Worthy Moments at the Oscars
Maggie Malach, Katie Labovitz, Emily KrauserSun, March 15, 2026 at 1:30 PM UTC
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Kieran Culkin accepts the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for 'A Real Pain' onstage during the 97th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 2, 2025; Melissa Leo is presented an award onstage by Kirk Douglas during the 83rd Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre in L.A. on Feb. 27, 2011Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty; Michael Caulfield/WireImage
There are many speeches given during the Academy Awards, but some are more memorable than others.
That's because whether they're a shoo-in or nabbed an out-of-left-field win, honorees are expected to deliver an acceptance speech. Sometimes, they stick the landing. Occasionally, they're instantly quotable (Sally Field's "Right now, you like me!"). However, other times, they get bleeped for profanity. After all, it's live network TV, and there are FCC rules to abide by.
Kieran Culkin joined the latter group at the 2025 Oscars, when he accidentally dropped the first F-bomb of the night while giving one of his former Succession costars a shout-out onstage. He was in good company — Spike Lee and Melissa Leo have also cursed during their big Oscar celebrations.
Only time will tell if anyone else will join the ranks of Culkin, Lee, Leo and company when Conan O'Brien hosts the 2026 Oscars from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 15, 2026. (The show will air live on ABC and stream on Hulu at 7 p.m. ET.)
Before O'Brien takes on his second consecutive year as emcee, here are some notable moments of celebrities getting censored on the Oscars stage.
2025: Kieran Culkin While Accepting the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for A Real Pain
Kieran Culkin accepts the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for 'A Real Pain' onstage during the 97th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 2, 2025Credit: Rich Polk/Penske Media via Getty
During the live broadcast of the 97th Academy Awards, Culkin took the stage to accept the Best Supporting Actor honor for his work in 2024's A Real Pain. He beat out Jeremy Strong, who was also nominated in the category for The Apprentice.
While accepting the award, Culkin gave his former Succession costar a shoutout that was largely bleeped out for those not sitting in the Dolby Theatre.
Video of the moment, obtained by Deadline, revealed that Culkin dropped that night's first F-bomb in his sweet message for Strong.
"He's right, by the way. Jeremy, you're amazing in The Apprentice," he said, referencing presenter Robert Downey Jr.'s sentimental message for his friend and fellow actor's efforts in the Donald Trump-inspired flick. "I love your work. It's f------ great."
The Scott Pilgrim vs. the World star then covered his mouth briefly before adding, "I'm not supposed to single anyone out. It's favoritism. Anyway, but you were great."
From there, Culkin thanked multiple people, including his wife, Jazz Charton, whom he had previously bet he would have more children if he won an Oscar. (And they did — the couple welcomed their third child in the fall of 2025, Culkin's Succession castmate Sarah Snook seemed to reveal during an interview with Access Hollywood in November 2025.)
Before becoming first-time Oscar nominees, Culkin and Strong starred on Succession as Roy siblings Roman and Kendall, respectively. The series wrapped its four-season run on HBO in 2023.
2019: Spike Lee While Accepting the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for BlacKkKlansman
Spike Lee accepts the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for 'BlacKkKlansman' during the 91st Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in L.A. on Feb. 24, 2019Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty
The iconic filmmaker took home his first competitive Oscar in 2019 as part of the writing team that adapted Ron Stallworth's memoir, Black Klansman, into the screenplay for the Lee-directed 2018 film BlacKkKlansman.
Lee — dressed in an all-purple Ozwald Boateng suit in honor of the late musician Prince — pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket as he walked up the steps to the stage. After jumping into the arms of presenter Samuel L. Jackson, a friend and frequent collaborator, Lee approached the microphone to a standing ovation and loud cheers.
Before getting to his list of thanks, Lee's opening line was promptly bleeped. The New York Times reporter Kyle Buchanan shared that night that Lee said, "Do not turn that motherf------ clock on." An uncensored version of his whole speech was later posted on YouTube by the Academy.
2016: Kevin Hart Introducing The Weeknd
Kevin Hart speaks onstage before introducing a performance by The Weeknd during the 88th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in L.A. on Feb. 28, 2016Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty
Kevin Hart delivered a moving speech about diversity while presenting at the 2016 Academy Awards.
However, a censor in Hart's speech left many social media users at the time wondering just what the comedian said.
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"I want to take a moment to applaud all of my actors and actresses of color that didn't get nominated tonight," the comedian said, addressing the #OscarsSoWhite controversy that plagued the awards ceremony after people of color were shut out of all acting categories for the second year in a row.
He continued, "At the end of the day, we love what we do; we're breaking major ground doing it. These problems of today will eventually become problems of the old. Let's not let this negative issue of diversity beat us; let's continue to do what we do best and work hard. With that being said …"
Then, amid an onslaught of applause, it seemed the comedian gave a "congratulations" to his fellow actors and actresses of color. However, part of the comedian's final statement, as well as the audience's applause, was momentarily muted.
As heard in this uncensored clip. Hart's actual words were, "With that being said, goddamn it, congratulations."
2016: Sound Editor Mark Mangini While Accepting the Oscar for Best Sound Editing for Mad Max: Fury Road
Mark A. Mangini (left) and David White accept the Best Sound Editing Oscar for 'Mad Max: Fury Road' onstage during the 88th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in L.A. on Feb. 28, 2016Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty
Mark Mangini dropped the F-bomb in 2016 when he and David White accepted the Oscar for Best Sound Editing on Mad Max: Fury Road, exclaiming, "F-----' Mad Maxers, let's hear it!"
Though the Academy shared the uncensored speech on its official YouTube channel, those watching at home saw a bleeped version, as reported by Entertainment Weekly.
"I'm gonna hear it from my wife, so that's about as big a regret as one can have," Mangini later said backstage.
2015: Patricia Arquette While Accepting the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for Boyhood
Patricia Arquette accepts Best Supporting Actress for 'Boyhood' during the 87th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in L.A. on Feb. 22, 2015Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty
As she composed herself to accept her Best Supporting Actress award for the 2014 coming-of-age film Boyhood, Patricia Arquette muttered "Jesus" and then a word that didn't get past the Oscars censors (as seen in the uncensored version on YouTube), though it looked like she merely said "whoa." (Perhaps they thought she was going to say "Christ.")
As IndieWire reported in September 2024, saying "Jesus Christ" on prime-time broadcast television is an offense as censorable to the FCC as saying the word "f---."
So, while those at home didn't hear that one word before her speech, they did hear her epic, meme-inducing call for wage equality, per Vanity Fair.
2012: Director T.J. Martin While Accepting the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature for Undefeated
From left: Producer Rich Middlemas and directors T.J. Martin and Dan Lindsay accept the Best Documentary Feature Oscar for 'Undefeated' during the 84th Academy Awards in L.A. on Feb. 26, 2012Credit: ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images
Undefeated co-director T.J. Martin is also guilty of cursing during the telecast. In this case, while flanked by co-director Daniel Lindsay and producer Rich Middlemas, he said it as he gave a shout-out to their fellow nominees in the Best Documentary Feature category for their inspiration.
The uncensored version the Academy shared on YouTube shows Martin saying it would "be f------ wonderful" if everyone could be onstage with them.
"First and foremost, I'd actually like to apologize for that," Martin later said backstage, according to Variety. "I don't think that was the classiest thing in the world. However, with that said, it did come from the heart."
2011: Melissa Leo While Accepting the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for The Fighter
Melissa Leo accepts Best Supporting Actress for 'The Fighter' during the 83rd Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre in L.A. on Feb. 27, 2011Credit: Michael Caulfield/WireImage
Arguably, the most well-known F-bomb drop in Oscars history goes to Leo. The actress, who appeared visibly nervous, dropped the curse word while joking that Kate Winslet made accepting the honor look "so f------ easy."
While the official Oscars clip is censored, the word didn't appear to be bleeped during the broadcast, as captured in a video shared on YouTube.
Leo later discussed the moment during a March 2011 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, telling DeGeneres, "What I do know, I thought later on after it caused such a stir, is I was talking about Kate and remembering two years ago when I had been [at the Oscars] and this past summer, I got to work with Kate Winslet."
" … She's delightful and curses like a sailor all the time. So she was in my mind," Leo continued. "And, yeah … it's Kate's fault."
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