The 90th Academy Awards brought Wanda Sykes, Regina Hall, and Amy Schumer, as the first official hosts since 2018. The ceremony began with the first eight awards being presented before the broadcasting started and introduced a new fan-voted award, where audiences were asked to vote on Twitter for their favorite movie, with 'Army of the Dead' announced live as the winner during the event. The movie 'CODA,' which featured a largely deaf cast, won for 'Best Picture,' with Kotsur taking home the award for 'Best Supporting Actor' for his role, becoming the first male deaf actor to win an Oscar. Ariana DeBose made history by being the first Afro-Latina and openly LGBTQ actor to win 'Best Supporting Actress.' Jane Campion won the 'Best Director' Oscar for 'The Power of the Dog,' making her only the third woman to win in the category. It was also the first time in history that the directing award has gone to women in back-to-back years after Chloé Zhao won in 2021 for 'Nomadland.'

At some point during the night, Will Smith walked to the stage and slapped presenter Chris Rock after he made a joke about his wife. Smith, who played Venus and Serena Williams’ father in 'King Richard,' later won 'Best Actor', his first Oscar, and apologized to the Academy and his fellow nominees for the disruption.