The 92nd annual Academy Awards are officially under the way and the festivities were perfectly kicked off with an by Janelle Monae honoring the late, great Mr. Rogers. And with the Oscars choosing to go without a host for the second consecutive year in a row, it was a surprise when ex-Oscar emcees and comedians, Chris Rock and Steve Martin took the stage side-by-side to provide attendees with some temporary entertainment prior to revealing this year’s award winners.
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The two accomplished comedians stood on stage initially engaging in a classic comedy self-deprecating standoff before turning their attention to those in the crowd. Chris Rock personally went on to poke fun at two-time Oscar winner, Mahershala Ali, Brad Pitt, Martin Scorsese, the Academy itself, and more. Rock stated in reference to Scorsese’s Netflix film:
“I loved the first season of The Irishman,” before turning his attention to Ali saying, “Mahershala Ali is a two-time Oscar-winner. Do you know what that means if he is pulled over by cops in LA? Nothing.”
Without a single female filmmaker nominated for Best Director this year, Chris Rock addressed the elephant in the room, the only way he knows how, with the joke. Steve Martin initiated the conversation saying:
“I thought there was something missing from the list of directors this year,” Martin said. To which Rock replied, “Vaginas.”
Then the comedians turned actors took it upon themselves to roast none other than the CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos. Chris Rock proudly announced:
“Jeff Bezos is here. He’s got cash, when he writes the cash, the bank bounces.” Rock continued, “Jeff is so rich, he got divorced and he’s still the richest man in the world. He saw Marriage Story and thought it was a comedy.”
then turned to Steve Martin and stated, “Steve, do you have anything you want to add about Mr. Bezos?” he asked. To which Martin bashfully replied, “No, I like getting my packages on time.”
Check out the opening mini-monologues by Steve Martin and Chris Rock below, and check out the full list of Oscar winners, .