Oscars 2026: Host Conan O'Brien Kicks Off Monologue With Timothée Chalamet Jibe

Hollywood has had plenty to say about the controversy surrounding Timothée Chalamet in the last two weeks – and while the man himself may have remained schtum on the backlash, that certainly didn’t stop Oscars host Conan O’Brien from getting a dig in while fronting this year’s ceremony.

On Sunday night, Timothée was in attendance at the 2026 Academy Awards, where he was nominated for his work in his hit sports drama Marty Supreme.

In the lead-up to the ceremony, the former Call Me By Your Name star landed himself in hot water when he declared during a recent interview that “no one cares about” opera and ballet anymore.

Since then, many of his industry peers have lambasted him for his comments, which once again came back to haunt him during Conan’s introductory monologue.

After kicking off the event, the comic claimed in his opening routine that security was “extremely tight tonight”.

“I’m just going to mention that,” he added. “I’m told there are concerns about attacks from both the opera and ballet communities.”

As the audience groaned – and Timothée himself laughed off the jibe – Conan quipped: “They’re just mad that you left out jazz…”

This year’s awards season got off to a strong start for Timothée, with wins at the Critics’ Choice Awards and Golden Globes.

However, as things progressed with the likes of the Baftas and Actor Awards, the Best Actor prizes began being handed out in a few different directions, including Michael B Jordan for Sinners, Wagner Moura for The Secret Agent and Robert Aramayo for I Swear.

At the Oscars, he, Michael and Wagner were all nominated for the coveted Best Actor title, alongside Blue Moon actor Ethan Hawke and former winner Leonardo DiCaprio, following his performance in One Battle After Another.

Check out the full list of winners from the 2026 Oscars here.