The 2024 Academy Awards ceremony has been very weird. It started with Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel making jokes aimed at Robert Downey Jr.’s “rectangular” penis. The host’s monologue also included a Brokeback Mountain punchline aimed at Ryan Gosling, nominated at the ceremony for his performance in Barbie. Ang Lee’s cowboy romance is nearly 20 years old, if you are keeping track from home. And to further the trend that almost anything goes at this ceremony, we just had a naked John Cena doing an inspired bit with a carefully placed cue card while presenting for Best Costume Design.
Good thing we couldn’t see him, right? (insert very loud groan from the crowd)
The bit started when Jimmy Kimmel noted that this year would have been the anniversary of what used to be the strangest thing to happen at the Oscars. The time that a streaker ran across the stage during the live telecast, submitting the audience to a flash of male nudity.
Kimmel says that the streaker “used to be” the strangest thing that happened at the telecast because that title obviously goes to the time, two years ago, that Chris Rock got slapped by Will Smith in the middle of the telecast. Smith was mad about a joke that Rock made at the expense of Jada Pinket Smith. And Will Smith was a nominee that evening… and went on to win!
Back to John Cena. He appeared from behind a partition when Jimmy Kimmel asked how weird it might be for another streaker to run across the stage. No one did it, and Cena admitted from behind the wall that he no longer wanted to do the bit. So when Kimmel, demanded that Cena still come out and give away the Oscar for Best Costume, we got these hilarious results:
And for those watching from home, here is what we missed when the telecast went to footage:
What you didn't see on TV: John Cena's quick change. pic.twitter.com/h9tXdZXd1gMarch 11, 2024
Kudos to John Cena for committing totally to the bit. That’s basically what he does, though. Whether it’s referencing a Taylor Swift influence on his latest movie Argylle, or his return to the world of professional wrestling, Cena commits. And people don’t realize how funny Cena can be, even though he has been used for extreme comedy in numerous movies and television shows. Give this man as many comedic opportunities as he can handle, Hollywood. You will be rewarded.
