The Most Embarrassing Award Show Mistakes Of All Time
Awards season comes around at the start of every year and makes it an exciting time to be a celebrity. This is when the stars of music and screen get the opportunity to have their hard work celebrated, not that everybody gets nominated. Sometimes people just have to accept that it’s not their year and allow others to bask in the glory. After all, if everyone could win, the awards wouldn’t be quite so special.
While the triumphs are usually the main event at these ceremonies, they’re not always the biggest talking points of the night. There have been quite a few occasions when the stars have made headlines for more embarrassing reasons than being a winner. From tripping up on the red carpet to starting beef on stage, there have been some incredibly memorable – albeit awkward – award show moments over the last few decades.
The wrong envelope
The Oscars is often considered the best of the best when it comes to acting awards shows. If you can win a trophy here, then you’ve definitely done an excellent job. That’s why one embarrassing moment that happened at the 2017 ceremony was so hard to watch. It had reached that time in the night to announce the winner of Best Picture.
This is usually one of the most sought after prizes at the Academy Awards, and there was a great batch of nominees. It was ‘La La Land’ that was announced as the winner, and all the cast and crew gathered on stage to collect their award. Unfortunately, it seems there was a mistake with the envelope, and it was actually ‘Moonlight’ who’d bagged the award. At least they got to feel like winners for just a few minutes.
A clapping catastrophe
Brendan Fraser has racked up quite an impressive list of credits throughout his career. Movies like ‘The Mummy,’ ‘George of the Jungle,’ and ‘Inkheart’ have all shown the world what he can do. However, while his acting might be something to admire, that wasn’t what had people talking back in 2010. It was at that year’s Golden Globe Awards that he brought attention to himself, and not for the reason you might expect.
The actor was sitting in the audience when the camera zoomed in and showed him clapping. At least, we think that’s what it was meant to be. Brendan’s idea of a clap wasn’t something that many viewers were familiar with, and it turned him into a viral sensation. Well, we suppose all publicity is good publicity, right?
Slurring his words
Award shows are a time to celebrate, so you can’t really blame the celebrities for enjoying a few drinks throughout the night. It’s a great way to counteract the nerves if they’ve been nominated, although it’s very easy to end up having one too many. That’s something that Johnny Depp found out the hard way when he attended the Hollywood Film Awards in 2014.
The acting legend was there to introduce a documentary on stage, but he didn’t seem quite like his usual self. Viewers quickly assumed that Depp had been hitting the bottle because he basically slurred his way through his speech. He started out by talking about “the weirdest microphone I’ve ever seen,” and it just got progressively worse from there. Luckily, he managed to finish his speech before the drink hit him too hard.
Beyoncé deserved it more
Taylor Swift has been on quite a journey since her music career took off in the ‘00s. Beginning as a teenage country star with a dream, she’s now one of the biggest pop icons in the world. A string of million-selling number one albums have established her place at the top, and it’s going to take a lot to bring her down.
Of course, her rise to dominance was still only in the early stages back in 2009. That was the year that Swift won the award for Best Female Video at the MTV Music Video Awards. Unfortunately, it didn’t feel like much of a win for her, given that Kanye West stormed the stage and said that Beyoncé deserved the prize more. Taylor was mortified by the rapper’s actions, and she wasn’t the only one.
Going on and on and on
Acceptance speeches are a big part of award shows. They’re mainly an opportunity for the winner to thank those closest to them, but also a chance to inspire others. Some people prefer not to prepare a speech in advance, usually because they don’t want to get their hopes up about winning. However, many celebrities think about what they’re going to say before the show, so they don’t make a fool of themselves if they win.
We’re not sure which category Jacqueline Bisset fell into at the 2014 Golden Globes, but it’s gone down as one of the most awkward speeches in history. The actress stood in silence for a long time before eventually talking about forgiveness and other things. Her speech also overran by quite a bit, but even so, she wouldn’t leave the stage until she was finished.
A male-dominated world
It’s hard for award shows not to get political sometimes. When winners are given a platform to speak for a minute or two, those with an agenda will often raise some serious issues. It’s an excellent way to get people talking about problems in the industry or the world in general, even if it can be uncomfortable to watch sometimes.
Natalie Portman wasn’t accepting an award when she made her point at the 2018 Golden Globes, instead presenting one alongside Ron Howard. The two were there to hand out the trophy for Best Director, a category that contained “all-male nominees.” That’s what Portman referred to it as when she called out the potential winners. Howard laughed awkwardly at Natalie’s comment, unsure what else to do. Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one with that response.
Buy my stuff
When a celebrity has something new to sell, you know for a fact that you’ll be hearing about it for weeks. Whether it’s new music, makeup, or anything else with their name attached to it, the publicity seems to be never-ending. That was certainly how it felt with Ryan Seacrest at the 2019 Academy Awards. The man was hired to host E’s red carpet show and interview some of the guests at the ceremony.
However, he appeared far more interested in advertising his clothing line, which was available at Macy’s. There’s a time and a place to sell your suits to people, and the Oscars red carpet isn’t one of them. His constant plugs ended up turning him into a bit of a joke online, but what celebrity hasn’t had that happen to them nowadays?
Ladies and gentlemen, Adele Dazeem
We can’t fault John Travolta for his acting ability. The man has given us some incredible performances over the years, with ‘Grease’ a favorite of many. Unfortunately, the actor seems to be in the habit of attracting attention for his awkward behavior nowadays, rather than his screenwork. One of his worst moments came during the 2014 Academy Awards when he was asked to introduce Idina Menzel.
The musical star was at the ceremony to perform ‘Let It Go,’ one of the biggest hits of her career. It was all going smoothly until Travolta realized he didn’t know her name and called her Adele Dazeem. Naturally, everyone was kind of confused as to who he was talking about, with some wondering if he’d just introduced Adele. Thankfully, Idina was a good sport and laughed off the awkward blunder.
The high five fist bump
It’s always exciting when you win an award, especially if it’s something you’ve spent years trying to achieve. Leonardo DiCaprio must have been over the moon when he finally bagged an Academy Award in 2016, his first success after six nominations. He was thrilled to finally have his work recognized, and he wasn’t the only one. All of the people who were with him that night were ecstatic, and they had a quick celebration before the actor went up to claim his award.
Unfortunately, this ended up being a little more awkward than anyone had anticipated. It seems one of his friends was confused about whether they were doing a high five or a fist bump. It ended up being a weird amalgamation of the two, and you can bet that viewers at home were cringing over it.
Enjoy your trip
No-one wants to make a fool of themselves at an awards show. However, sometimes mistakes are simply unavoidable, no matter how hard you try to steer clear of any embarrassment. Jennifer Lawrence’s inherent clumsiness was bound to work against her eventually, and that’s exactly what it did at the 2013 Academy Awards. When Jennifer went up to claim the award for Best Actress, she tripped over on the steps.
This kind of accident is something we’ve come to expect from Lawrence now, given it’s happened a few times. However, that didn’t mean that the incident in 2013 didn’t elicit a few gasps in the room. When she eventually got to the stage to give a speech, the audience gave her a standing ovation. Of course, Jennifer said they were only doing this because “I fell and you feel bad.”
You spin me right round
Sofia Vergara is a name that many people ought to be familiar with by now. Alongside a wide variety of other roles, the actress has been one of the stars of ‘Modern Family’ for more than a decade. Her success in the show has helped her to become one of the highest-earning actresses around, so it goes without saying that she deserves some respect.
Unfortunately, that’s not what she appeared to get at the 2014 Emmy Awards. During the ceremony, Vergara was placed on a spinning pedestal by the chairman of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The actress had to just stand there as people watched her spin around like she was a new model of car. A lot of people watching at home found this to be tasteless and disrespectful to Sofia.
Pride comes before the fall
Rami Malek has been gradually building up momentum in Hollywood over the last few years. His role in ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was hugely influential in that, introducing the world to precisely what the man could do. After viewers saw his portrayal of Freddie Mercury, they were sure that he’d win awards for his work. They were right because, in early 2019, he was named Best Actor on several occasions.
That included at the Academy Awards, where it seems Malik may have gotten just a little too excited. Following his speech, the actor was so eager to celebrate with his girlfriend that he ended up falling off the stage. Paramedics were quick to rush over and check that he was okay. Thankfully, the only thing that really seemed to be damaged after the fall was Rami’s pride.
The wrong Taylor Swift
You’d think that after the Adele Dazeem fiasco, John Travolta would try harder not to embarrass himself at awards shows. Unfortunately, he made another mistake at the 2019 MTV VMAs, although this time, it was a little more forgivable. The actor was there to present the award for Video of the Year, an accolade that ended up going to Taylor Swift.
She and the cast of ‘You Need to Calm Down’ rushed to the stage to collect the award, which is when Travolta made his slip-up. He attempted to give the trophy to Jade Jolie, a former contestant of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race,’ who’d impersonated Swift in the video. The fact that the actor tried to give Jolie the award was a testament to the job they’d done dressing up as her. However, it still left Travolta looking like a fool.
Posing for photographs
John Travolta again? Why are we not surprised. The man seems to have become infamous at awards shows, and we’re starting to wonder why he keeps being invited to them. This unfortunate moment came just a year after the Adele Dazeem incident at the 2015 Academy Awards. Scarlett Johansson was on the red carpet posing for photos when the actor came up from behind looking for a picture.
If he’d just stood by her side, it would have been fine, albeit kind of random. However, he had to make things super awkward by putting his arm around Scarlett and kissing her on the cheek. It was a brave move and one that he was criticized for after. It doesn’t help that the actress looks far from thrilled about what’s going on.
A moment of passion
Adrien Brody had a pretty great time in the early ‘00s. Not only was he cast in ‘The Pianist,’ but he ended up winning the Academy Award for Best Actor because of it. Brody was thrilled by his victory, not least because he was the youngest person ever to win that award. He’d achieved the feat at 29 years old, and no-one has managed to beat his record in nearly 20 years.
Unfortunately, while this was all great, there was one thing that happened back then, which was not such a highlight for Adrian. That was his unplanned kiss with Halle Berry, who presented him the Best Actor award. Amidst all the excitement, Brody got carried away and tried to sweep Berry off her feet. It was an awkward moment that’s aged horribly given the way things are nowadays.
Accidents happen
Kristen Stewart certainly wasn’t new to the industry when she bagged the role of Bella Swan in ‘Twilight.’ However, it wasn’t until this film came out that the actress really became a success. Following its release, she suddenly found herself landing all sorts of nominations, including Best Female Performance at the MTV Movie Awards. She was the recipient of this accolade several times thanks to the film franchise, although her later wins weren’t as eventful as the one in 2009.
That’s when Stewart made the awkward mistake of dropping her award and having it break. Obviously, it was a complete accident, but one that left Kristen very red-faced. She had to hold the broken parts of the trophy while she made her speech, affirming that she was “just as awkward as you thought I was going to be.”
Cake fail
Award shows would be nothing without the musical performances. These usually add some excitement to the mix and help spread out the proceedings. Obviously, not every performance is compelling enough to earn rave reviews. However, there are some singers that you can always rely on to give the viewers quite a show. Katy Perry is one of these people.
The singer doesn’t tend to shy away from eccentric performances, with her 2008 MTV Latin America Awards being one of her wildest. Unfortunately, what started out as an ambitious number ended up being one big mess. We suppose that’s what you get when you dive right into a giant cake. The singer spread frosting all over the stage, and as a result, she kept slipping over. It really was incredibly awkward to watch.
Don’t pull that face
No-one can ever accuse Lady Gaga of being a one-trick pony. When she burst onto the scene in the late ‘00s, critics were quick to call her an outrageous one-hit-wonder. However, over the last decade, she’s proven that she’s more than just a pop diva with a passion for the eccentric. Recent years have seen the star try her hand in acting, a move that’s been incredibly successful.
Her role on season five of ‘American Horror Story’ won her a Golden Globe Award, although it seems not everyone was thrilled for her victory. Viewers were shocked when Leonardo DiCaprio appeared to recoil when Gaga walked past him to claim her award. He proceeded to pull a face which many called him out for, although supposedly, it was just an instinctive reaction to being touched unexpectedly.
I said no capes
Madonna has been in the industry for decades, and she’s still a woman at the top of her game. The singer is going to keep performing and taking our breath away until her very last moments. Unfortunately, the problem with putting on shows as often as she does is that there’s a higher chance of things going wrong. The last thing we want is a repeat of the cape incident at the 2015 Brit Awards.
Madonna was walking up some steps while one of her dancers pulled her cape away. The problem was that no-one had untied the garment beforehand, meaning that when it got yanked back, so did the singer. She ended toppling backward down the stairs in what must have been a painful accident. However, like a true performer, Madonna got right back up again and continued singing.
Forbidden love
You never quite know what’s going to happen on the red carpet. There always seems to be at least one outrageous moment that we never see coming, and at the 2000 Academy Awards, that came courtesy of Angelina Jolie. The actress was at the ceremony with her brother James Haven, not that you’d think these two were related. After all, the pair shared a smooch that night, which definitely appeared a little too familiar for two siblings.
To make matters worse, the actress then went and said she was “in love with my brother” when she accepted the award for Best Supporting Actress. Viewers were more than a little concerned that these two were in a relationship, although they later denied such claims. We can’t blame people for thinking they were together, though.
