This year's Academy Awards will go down in history, not only for all the 2024 Oscar Winners but for the laugh-out-loud moments that punctuated the night. From Ryan Gosling’s incredible performance of “I’m Just Ken” to Kate McKinnon joking about sending ‘tasteful nudes’ to Steven Spielberg, the night was full of great moments. But, perhaps my favorite came when John Cena took the stage nearly nude, with only a strategically placed envelope sparing us from the former WWE’s full Springboard Stunner. I was pretty impressed by ABC allowing such a risqué routine to air, but as it turns out, according to the event’s host, Jimmy Kimmel, the network was terrified by the bit, and there “were intense discussions about the size of the envelope.”
In his return to his late night show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the former The Man’s Show host shed light on the behind-the-scenes frenzy to get Cena's audacious sketch approved. Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the notorious Oscar streaker, they roped in the Peacemaker star for a tribute that would become more talked about than the awards themselves. Kimmel recounted the ordeal in his monologue, saying:
Getting this on the air, of all the times I’ve hosted the Oscars or the Emmys or anything, no comedy bit has ever received more scrutiny than this one. There were meetings and side meetings, and there were emails and texts, and phone calls. There were people sweating, someone was crying, and then once they realized we weren’t going to take no for an answer, there were intense discussions about the size of the envelope and whether we needed to velcro it to John’s body… We had to fill his crack and have socks, and various testicalia was discussed.
As if navigating a minefield of network anxieties wasn't enough, the Crank Yankers veteran humorously showcased the proposed solution to ensure Cena's modesty. He continued:
This is the envelope they wanted us to use [holds up comically large envelope] …but it’s… it's too big. They kept demanding that we make the envelope bigger… I mean, first of all, I have to say congratulations, John Cena… the commotion you caused. Very rarely does an idea literally push the envelope, and this one did.
To ensure everything remained PG-rated on live television, the Oscars host and his team took no chances, taping everything down and gluing everything that could be glued. Kimmel added:
So we tape everything down, and we glue everything we can glue and when it comes time for him to walk out, live by the way, there’s no way to edit this, the executives were terrified. This is what it looked like in the control room when John Cena walked out on stage. [shows Situation Room image of Barack Obama and his national security team getting live updates from Operation Neptune Spear] It had that level of intensity.
This year's Oscars certainly "pushed the envelope," creating a moment that will be remembered for years. While it might not reach the infamous heights of the incident two years ago, where Chris Rock felt the sting of Will Smith's slap, this moment was at least intentional and very charming.
Hats off to John Cena for his total dedication to the comedy sketch. Commitment is second nature for the Bumblebee actor, whether he's drawing inspiration from Taylor Swift for his role in the recent film Argylle or making a comeback in professional wrestling. Hollywood, take note: Cena knows how to commit, so let's give this man some more comedy opportunities.
If you missed Cena’s daring nude antics, the 96th Academy Awards will be available for everyone to watch again as they become part of everything new on Hulu. Or if you want to watch the star flexing his comedic chops, check out Peacemaker, streaming with a Max (formerly HBO Max) subscription.
