Comedian Bowen Yang co-presented the Best Costume Designer Award at the 97th Academy Awards on Sunday, March 2, 2025, alongside Lily-Rose Depp, Elle Fanning, John Lithgow, and Connie Nielsen.
As the curtains rose, the presenters appeared on stage dressed elegantly, save for Yang, who wore his costume as a student at Shiz University from Wicked. As the audience is left laughing, a confused Yang questions his co-presenters:
“Um guys? I thought we were doing this?”
Fanning explained that they changed their minds, prompting Yang to remark:
“Well, that would have been helpful to communicate in the group chat, Fanning.”
Depp, coming to Fanning’s defense, quips that it was “cringe,” with Lithgow agreeing. This prompts a betrayed Yang to state, “Et tu, Lithgow,” before joking:
“Guess I know who’s winning the Oscar tonight for least supportive best friend.”
As clips of the moment went viral, internet users were quick to react. One netizen stated:
Many praised the comedian for his bit, one even noting that he should host the Oscars next year.
“Bowen Yang understood the assignment,” one wrote.
“they should’ve had them ALL wear their costumes” another added.
“Bowen Yang deserves to be the host for next year show. He is so hilarious #Oscars2025 #OSCARs,” a fan commented.
Meanwhile, some were not impressed by Yang’s bit.
“oscars had time for a five minute bowen yang bit that wasnt funny but no speech about david lynch,” a user noted.
“Why is this guy getting pushed on us so hard? I haven’t laughed once on anything he has done or know of anything he has done minus SNL,” another reacted.
“this is not a great bit, and bowen yang is painfully unfunny,” one added.
“It’s one of the biggest honors of my alleged career”—Bowen Yang while presenting the best costume award to
Wicked’s Paul Tazewell
Lily-Rose Depp, Elle Fanning, John Lithgow, Connie Nielsen, and Bowen Yang took the stage in support of costume designers from their respective films: Nosferatu (Linda Muir), A Complete Unknown (Arianne Phillips), Conclave (Lisy Christl), Gladiator II (Janty Yates and David Crossman), and Wicked (Paul Tazewell).
Tazewell took home the statuette, becoming the first Black man to win in the best costume design category. Before presenting the award to Tazewell, Yang joked:
“It’s one of the biggest honors of my alleged career. Paul, I’m actually upset with you, because I can’t talk about your exquisite work without sounding like a total jackass.”
He continued:
“You legend. If I have to say the words ‘sumptuous fabric’ in an interview again, I’m going to defy gravity off the side of the stage.”
In his acceptance speech, Tazewell acknowledged the historic moment, stating that he felt “proud.” He thanked the film’s U.K. team for their “beautiful work” and praised his “Ozian muses,” Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.
Bowen, a regular at Saturday Night Live (SNL), had a busy weekend. According to his red carpet interview with ET, the comedian shot SNL last night, where he played VP J.D. Vance, before catching a 6:00 a.m. flight from New York to Los Angeles for the Oscars ceremony.
The comedian, who wore a leather embroidered, non-traditional tuxedo, also revealed that he would rush right back to New York to rehearse for the March 8 episode of SNL. The episode would feature Lady Gaga as both the host and musical guest.
The Oscars 2025 were held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. It is available to stream on Hulu.
Edited by Shubham Soni
