Halle Berry and Adrien Brody have reunited on the Oscars red carpet, and they recreated their controversial awards moment 22 years ago.
- READ MORE: Oscars 2025 winners – rolling list
In 2003, at the 75th Academy Awards, Brody made headlines when he won the Best Actor award for his performance in The Pianist – coming onstage to accept his award, he embraced presenter Berry in elation with a spontaneous kiss. The incident sparked criticism towards Brody for his apparent lack of consent.
22 years later, Brody – who is nominated in the same category for his lead performance in The Brutalist – was on the red carpet speaking with Access Hollywood alongside wife Georgina Chapman when Berry huddled over.
“Sorry Georgina, I have to do this,” Berry said, before launching into a kiss with Brody. She said after: “I had to do that, I had to pay him back.” Berry is present at the ceremony to present a segment dedicated to the James Bond franchise and its producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson.
Berry clarified that she did it “only because Georgina said I could,” she added.
Through the years, both Brody and Berry have addressed the incident. Brody told Vanity Fair in 2015 that he felt like “time slowed down” when he went for it.
“I was like, ‘What the fuck’s happening right now?’ That is what was going through my mind,” Berry said in 2017 on Watch What Happens Live.
“And because I was there the year before and I know the feeling of being out of your body, I just fucking went with it. But I was like, ‘What the fuck is going on right now?’” Brody later recreated the incident with Queen Latifah at the 2003 MTV Movie Awards.
This year’s Academy Awards ceremony is taking place tonight (March 2), with comedian Conan O’Brien taking over the reins as host for the first time.
Emilia Pérez leads this year’s nominations with 13 nods, while The Brutalist and Wicked follow behind with 10 nods each. Papal thriller Conclave and Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown each have eight nods, while Anora follows with six nods.
You can follow rolling coverage of the ceremony right here, with a winners list being updated throughout the evening.
This year will be getting a change, with no performances for Best Original Song, while the 2025 ceremony is expected to honour Los Angeles after the recent wildfires. Additionally, Harrison Ford has pulled out of presenting due to illness.