This year’s Oscars seemed like one huge throwback, with fans finally seeing former Ghost co-stars Whoopi Goldberg and Demi Moore reuniting.
It has been 35 years since the pair appeared onscreen together for the paranormal romance film, so seeing them embrace on the red carpet of the 97th Academy Awards last night (March 2) has gotten admirers of the two-time winning Oscar movie excited at the prospect of a sequel.
But as 62-year-old Moore approached her 69-year-old former colleague, a lip reader has given their take on what was said between the pair and the apparent sharp three-word response given by Goldberg when asked for a photo.
Whoopi Goldberg and Demi Moore in the 1990 classic ‘Ghost’ (Images/Getty Images)
It began as Oscar-nominee Moore was walking along the red carpet before catching one time Academy Award-winner Goldberg talking to the press. She stopped in her tracks, called over to her old co-star and asked ‘how are you?’.
That was all rather audible, now I’ll let professional lip reader NJ Hickling break the rest of the conversation down.
Speaking with The Mirror US, he theorised that Goldberg told Moore: “I’m fine.”
Moore then appears to ask again: “How are you?”
The pair then proceed to converse, before Hickling explains that Moore suggests ‘let’s get a photo’.
Goldberg replied: “Together, I’d like to.”
Moore then adds: “Let’s stand back.”
That’s when Goldberg apparently gave her blunt three-word reply, as she refused saying: “I don’t pose.”
Moore then rubs Goldberg’s shoulders and says: “That’s okay.”
Goldberg embraces Moore on the red carpet of the 97th Academy Awards (VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images)
Fans flooded Twitter to share their excitement of the two reuniting again, with the majority noting how the pair haven’t aged in 35 years.
“Whoopie looked so wonderful, and even Demi did too glad for them to reunite,” one person posted.
A second typed: “Both have barely aged. I also wonder how any gen z folks know what this movie is/was.”
“Cultural moment right here,” a third added.
With a fourth typing: “Aging like fine wine.”
And they weren’t the only admirers of the pair.
Someone else commented: “Love it! A genuine and heart warming moment!”
Another added: “The reunion I needed to see. I love Ghost and I believe that Oscar is Demi’s.”
“One of my favorite movies, we need a sequel,” typed one user.
Unfortunately for Moore, the night didn’t go as planned as despite being the bookmaker’s favorite to win best actress for her performance in The Substance – which was only her first nomination – Anora‘s 25-year-old lead Mikey Madison took it home.
The biggest Oscars snubs ever
Citizen Kane loses to How Green Was My Valley (1942)
Citizen Kane didn’t win Best Picture (RKO Radio Pictures)
Orson Welles’ epic tale of the rise and fall of a media baron topped BFI’s Sight & Sound poll of the best films ever made for 40 years, but this apparently wasn’t enough to win an Academy Award.
The gong instead went to How Green Was My Valley, which it’s fair to say has not stood the test of time to quite the same extent.
To add insult to injury, Welles had a falling out with the Academy prior to the ceremony, and the audience booed every time his name was mentioned.
Citizen Kane was nominated for nine Academy Awards, but only took home the statuette for Best Original Screenplay.
E.T. loses to Gandhi (1983)
E.T. did not go home with any Oscars (Universal)
Even Richard Attenborough, who ended up winning Best Picture for his biopic Gandhi, thought Steven Spielberg’s E.T. should have won.
He is quoted in Joseph McBride’s Steven Spielberg: A Biography as saying of the moment his win was announced: “I didn’t go to the podium, I went over to Spielberg. He got up, I put my arms round him, and I said, ‘This isn’t right, this should be yours’.”
Spielberg’s tale of the bond between a lonely child and a horrifying looking alien remains one of the most beloved films of all time, absolutely dominating the box office following its 1982 release
The Shawshank Redemption loses to Forrest Gump (1995)
The Shawshank Redemption wasn’t that popular originally (Colombia)
While both of these films are pretty much universally adored, The Shawshank Redemption still tops IMDb’s 250 highest rated list and is regularly cited as one of the greatest movies of all time.
While in hindsight, the fact the film failed to win any of the seven Oscars it was nominated for is pretty odd, The Shawshank Redemption was a box office bomb, and in the year of its release was massively overshadowed by Forrest Gump and Pulp Fiction.
Nevertheless, one fan admitted they were ‘blown away to find out that the movie didn’t win a single Academy Award’ on Reddit.
Saving Private Ryan loses to Shakespeare in Love (1999)
Harvey Weinstein was to blame for Saving Private Ryan’s loss (DreamWorks/Paramount)
In yet another upset for Steven Spielberg, his epic World War Two drama lost out to romcom Shakespeare in Love.
This has since been chalked up to the sinister machinations of Harvey Weinstein, who Den of Geek reports started a ‘whisper campaign’ claiming the only good part of Saving Private Ryan was the first 20 minutes, with the rest being ‘sentimental hokum’.
DreamWorks marketer Terry Press recalls Spielberg telling him ‘I do not want to get down in the mud with Harvey’ when he was urged to fight back amid Weinstein’s bullish campaign tactics.
Brokeback Mountain loses to Crash (2000)
Ang Lee’s queer masterpiece didn’t win (Focus Features)
The following year saw another shock Best Picture upset, with the widely reviled Crash triumphing over Brokeback Mountain.
A Reddit user called it ‘truly the greatest robbery of all time’.
Director Ang Lee claimed in a 2024 Deadline interview that support for his tragic gay love story ‘had a ceiling’ amid the Academy of the time.
He even recalls being told to stay in the wings of the stage in-between his Best Director win and the announcement of Best Picture, being told by a stage manager: “Everybody assumes you will win.”
It’s clear this one still hurts for many cinephiles, with one calling Crash’s win ‘absolutely criminal’.
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While the Oscars is one of the biggest nights of the year, you’ll be surprised to learn how much people are paid to host the star-studded affair.
Oscars night is well and truly here, and the likes of Demi Moore, Timothée Chalamet, and Cynthia Erivo will be making their way to Los Angeles‘ Dolby Theatre — where the ceremony has been held for over two decades.
And, like every awards ceremony, the Oscars needs a host.
Who is hosting the Oscars this year?
This year’s host is talk show host Conan O’Brien, which marks his first time hosting the Oscars.
The news was announced last year. Speaking at the time, O’Brien said: “America demanded it and now it’s happening: Taco Bell’s new Cheesy Chalupa Supreme. In other news, I’m hosting the Oscars.”
Conan O’Brien is hosting the 97th Oscars (Taylor Hill/FilmMagic)
As to why he’s doing it, O’Brien quipped it was just so he could get an invite to the highly anticipated event.
He said in news conference earlier this week: “I’ve never even been invited, to be honest. I only agreed to host so that I could get invited.”
Going on to discuss the kind of topics he’ll cover (as well as movies, of course), O’Brien shared, as per USA Today: “As the host, I cannot ignore the moment we’re in. But we’re threading the needle, and we have to remember what we’re celebrating and infuse the show with positivity.
“It’s a difficult line to walk, but I’m determined to figure it out.”
Who has hosted previously?
While tonight marks O’Brien’s first Oscars gig, fellow talk show host Jimmy Kimmel has hosted four times.
Meanwhile, Billy Crystal has hosted it an impressive nine times, and, like Kimmel, Whoopi Goldberg has played host four times.
Billy Crystal has hosted the Oscars an impressive nine times (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Only Murders in the Building star Steve Martin has hosted the award three times, and the likes of Ellen DeGeneres, Hugh Jackman, David Letterman, and Seth MacFarlane have all hosted once.
How much are the Oscars hosts paid?
You’d think such a high profile gig would come with a huge pay packet, but this isn’t really the case.
According to Kimmel, he was paid $15,000 for his previous hosting services.
Speaking on KROQ’s Kevin and Bean radio show in 2017, he said shared the unexpectedly low sum.
“I think it’s illegal to pay nothing,” he revealed at the time. “I’m not sure I was supposed to reveal this. But nobody told me not to. I consider this their fault.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, hosts are paid anywhere between $15,000-$25,000. Allegedly Seth MacFarlane was paid more than $15,000 when he hosted in 2013, said the outlet.
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Jimmy Kimmel was the 2024 Oscars host (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
How does the fee compare to other awards?
While you probably expected that hosts would be paid more than $15,000 to host the Oscars, the hosting gig is actually one of the better paid awards nights.
It’s said that Grammy hosts only have to be paid $5,000, says Business Insider, while Tony Awards hosts are paid as little as $2,700.
Meanwhile, the Golden Globes pays a pretty penny to whomever hosts the star-studded night.
Reportedly comedian and actor Jerrod Carmichael was paid a whopping $500,000 for hosting the 2023 Golden Globes. But this year’s host, Nikki Glaser, was paid less. She did say she was still paid ‘well’, however.
“I’ll get more next year,” she said of her future plans to host again to Howard Stern.
Beyoncé received the Grammy for Best Country Album at this year’s ceremony and no one was more thrilled for her than her husband Jay-Z.
On Sunday night (February 2), Queen Bey was presented with the coveted award for her eighth album Cowboy Carter – which also won Album of the Year – a dive into the Black roots of country and the overlooked contributions of Black artists to the genre.
Introduced by Taylor Swift, Beyoncé said she was ‘very fully and honored’ to receive the accolade.
While she appeared shocked to bag the Grammy, her partner, rapper Jay-Z, had known all along she would make it – at least according to a lip-reading expert.
As Beyoncé stood up to go to the stage, she hugged Jay-Z and daughter Blue Ivy, with her husband leaning over to ‘whisper’ something in her ear.
Now, lip reader NJ Hickling has offered their interpretation of the mystery surrounding the couple’s exchange moments before the singer made her speech.
Beyoncé was previously nominated for Album of the Year but never won (Getty Images/JC Olivera)
Hickling told The Mirror the ‘nine words’ the musician apparently said to his wife.
“Woah woah woah. Bout time! You’re a top girl,” Jay-Z said, according to the lip reader.
Once on stage, Beyoncé gave a heartfelt speech encouraging artists to pursue their passions regardless of genre codifications.
“Wow I really was not expecting this,” she said.
“I want to thank God, oh my God, that I’m able to still do what I love after so many years.”
The star then added: “I’d like to thank all of the incredible country artists that accepted this album. We worked so hard on it. I think sometimes genre is a code word to keep us in our place as artists. And I just want to encourage people to do what they’re passionate about, and to say, ‘Stay persistent.'”
Beyoncé dedicated her award to Linda Martell, one of the pioneers for Black musicians in country music. Martell was the first Black woman to perform solo at the Grand Ole Opry and features on several of Cowboy Carter‘s songs.
Cowboy Carter is the third-most nominated album in Grammy history (Sonja Flemming/CBS via Getty Images)
On Sunday, Beyoncé also became the first Black woman to win a Grammy for Album of the Year since Lauryn Hill took home the prize in 1999 with The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.
Beyoncé was nominated in 11 categories at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards and won three – Album of the Year, Best Country Album and Best Country Duo/Group Performance for ‘II Most Wanted’ with Miley Cyrus.
UNILAD has contacted representatives for Jay-Z and Beyoncé for comment.
How many Grammys has Beyoncé won?
Beyoncé is the most awarded artist in Grammy history, with 35 Grammy wins and 99 nominations since first being nominated in 2000 with Destiny’s Child.
Ivanka Trump has brutal three-word response when asked about plans to avoid the White House
The President-elect’s daughter has some interesting thoughts on politics
Ivanka Trump has issued a brutal three-word response when she was asked if she had any plans to help out in the White House.
The 43-year-old businesswoman was a senior advisor in her father Donald Trump’s first administration as president between 2017 and 2021, and also assumed a high role as director of the Office of Economic Initiatives and Entrepreneurship.
Ivanka was present at the rally her father hosted outside the White House before a mob of his supporters stormed the US Capitol and then, mysteriously, was nowhere to be seen on Trump’s campaign trail last year.
The former aide had previously confirmed that she and her husband, Jared Kushner, who also served as a senior advisor in the Trump White House, would be leaving Washington for sunnier shores in Florida, closing the door on politics to pursue their family life.
At the time, Ivanka said: “While I will always love and support my father, going forward I will do so outside the political arena.”
Now, it appears Ivanka is sticking to her guns and has zero intention of helping her father out during his second administration, which he is due to take over on Monday (January 20).
Ivanka Trump previously served as an advisor for her father, Donald (Peter Zay/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Appearing on The Skinny Confidential’s Him & Her Show on Tuesday (January 14), Trump’s eldest daughter issued a brutal response when asked why she is steering clear of Washington.
Ivanka explained: “I love policy and impact. I hate politics. And unfortunately, the two are not separable.”
She continued: “There is a darkness to that world that I don’t really want to welcome into mine.
“To some degree, I’m at the center of the storm because my father is about to be president, but it’s a very dark, negative business. And some people love the gladiator aspect of it – the fight. That was never me.”
The couple and their three children moved to Florida after Trump’s 2020 election loss, which she suggested was in her hindsight of knowing the true ‘cost’ of serving for her country.
Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
“It’s a price that I’m not willing to make my kids bear,” she added, and said she missed out on some ‘really critical moments’.
“My primary goals were just to like, be the best freaking mom,” Ivanka reaffirmed.
Despite distancing herself from politics, Ivanka said she still intends to ‘show up’ for her dad – but just as a daughter rather than an aide.
She continued: “I think I’m most looking forward to just being able to show up for him as a daughter and be there for him to take his mind off things, to watch a movie with him, or watch a sports game.
“To know that he can be with me, and be himself and just relax and for me to be able to provide that for him in a very loving way as his daughter.
“It’s the world’s loneliest position – the enormity of the decisions you’re making on a daily basis, how transactional everyone is with you.”
