Oscar presenter Kumail Nanjiani drew backlash at the event on Sunday night after making a joke about Schindler's List, which many viewers considered was in bad taste. The comedian made the comments while on stage at the star-studded ceremony, presenting a tie win for the Best Live Action Short Film award.
To the disappointment of both the audience in the room and viewers watching from home, Nanjiani attempted a joke about movie titles becoming shorter, replacing Schindler's List with "Schindler Post It." He said, "There is a real art to making a short film. I think many full-length movies would do just as well, if not better, as short films.
In Poor Taste
"We should take some of these feature films, remake them as shorts. Save us some time," he said. He continued the bit by giving several well-known movies shorter, titles. He turned "It's A Wonderful Life" into It's A Wonderful Month and renamed "The King's Speech" as The King's Tweet.
At the end of the list, he added "Schindler's Post-It."
The 1993 film directed by Steven Spielberg tells the story of Oskar Schindler, played by Liam Neeson, a German businessman who saved about 1,200 Jews from the Nazis during the Holocaust.
The joke not only fell flat in the room, drawing little to no laughter, but it also left many viewers watching from home feeling offended and disturbed.
"A list isn't a form of stationery, so 'Schindler's post-it' doesn't make any sense. bad joke," said on viewer.
"Can't say that Schindler's List joke was uh in any good taste," wrote another viewer.
"Why the f*** would you make a joke about short films, Schindler's Post-it?" commented another.
"That was as CHEAP leftist antisemitic comment by this f***, Kumail Nanjiani... Schindler's Post-It. Don't invite him back," yet another said.
Rare Tie
Nanjiani was presenting the award for Best Live Action Short on Sunday when he made the comment. When the envelope was opened, it turned out the category had ended in a tie between "The Singers" and "Two People Exchanging Saliva."
"And the Oscar goes to — it's a tie! I'm not joking, it's actually a tie," the comedian said on stage. "Everyone, calm down, we're going to get through this."
The last time the Academy Awards had a tie was in 2013, when "Zero Dark Thirty" and "Skyfall" shared the Oscar for sound editing. There have only been a handful of ties in the ceremony's history, making Sunday's the seventh overall.
The show also drew criticism from viewers, with many film fans calling the ceremony a "joke" and taking aim at host Conan O'Brien for what they described as poor hosting. Others complained that the broadcast ran too long and that some acceptance speeches were cut short.
During his closing sketch, O'Brien joked that he would be the "host for life," before being humorously replaced on stage by MrBeast.
"The Oscars cutting off that speech for Golden to make room for more overlong presenter bits that land with a thud... booooooo," one person wrote on X.
"This was a boring ceremony overall very predictable and nothing new," another person said.
"This Oscars is sorta a flop idk. Conan flop, awkward jokes from presenters, ugly a** stage (yeah i said it) only saving this night is a Sinners Best Picture I'm not playing," a third viewer wrote.
"If Conan's whole awkward opening was cut we wouldn't be cutting people off," wrote yet another person.
