Sunday night's 97th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre saw a much-needed host changeover. Conan O'Brien replaced longtime presenter Jimmy Kimmel.

But the night turned sour nearly right when O'Brien's first sketch ended up being met with a wave of criticism from viewers, particularly regarding his digs at Karla Sofia Gascon.

The 61-year-old O'Brien kicked off the show with a monologue aimed at the Best Picture contestants, as well as a contentious segment addressing Gascon's offensive tweets just last week.

But his most eyebrow-raising moment was when he crawled out of Demi Moore's body in reference to her character from "The Substance," which many found in bad taste.

Social media erupted with criticism as soon as the sketch aired. One user voiced their outrage by tweeting, "Yeah sooooo this opening substance monologue is actually offensive but ok #Oscars2025." Another follower echoed the sentiment, calling it "bad taste."

Even as adverse reactions to the speech continued, though, O'Brien rekindled some excitement about his return to the Oscars- fans were hoping for a new spin on the year-end celebration of artistic achievements.

Not everyone was impressed, and it prompted many to wonder if his stand-up act was too millennial for the audience.

It was a tough night for the Academy, as viewers began to tune out as the drama played out. Some said that comedy is subjective, but certain things shouldn't have been done at a ceremony of this caliber.

As the night wore on, the focus eventually moved to the awards, but the repercussions of O'Brien's polarizing opening speech lingered through the equation quarter for those tuning in.

Tags
Conan O'Brien, Demi Moore