Scream star Mckenna Grace attended the 98th Academy Awards ceremony over the weekend and brought packs of Pokémon cards to open.
The 2026 Oscars took place at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre on Sunday evening (March 15). The ceremony was hosted by comedian Conan O’Brien with Sinners, One Battle After Another, Hamnet and KPop Demon Hunters the big winners of the night.
Speaking on the Red Carpet before the ceremony, actor and musician Mckenna Grace showed Entertainment Tonight a pocketful of Pokémon cards that she was sneaking into the event. “I’m really into Pokémon cards and I want to be the first person to open Pokémon cards at the Oscars,” she explained.
“I have a lot of Pokémon cards in my pocket. That’s my plan for tonight. I already snuck one packet over the Mason [Thames], I don’t know who else I can sneak these to. If I find another Pokémon fan [I might share them] or I’ll keep them for myself.”
After the event, Grace shared an Instagram Story of her opening the packs during a commercial break. “Can I officially say I’m the first person to open Pokémon cards at The Oscars,” she asked, before confirming she’d pulled a full art Clefairy card. “Yes, I also had card sleeves in my pocket to put them in.”
Actress Mckenna Grace really brought Pokemon cards to the Oscars and ripped them 😭
She asked if she was "officially" the first person to open a pack at the Oscars… 🤔
🎥: @etnow / mckennagraceful/IG pic.twitter.com/l3ltnZcvCZ
— The Collectibles Guru (@gurucollects) March 16, 2026
The post was later reshared by the official Pokémon Instagram account. “I’m screaming, I’m crying, I’m throwing up. This is huge for me,” replied Grace.
Grace isn’t the only celeb to be ripping packs of Pokémon cards. Over the weekend, Kim Kardashian was seen at a card show with her kids before meeting up with DJ Steve Aoki to open packs together. It’s after Logan Paul broke a world record earlier this year by selling a rare Illustrator Pikachu card for more than $16million at auction.
This year is the 30th anniversary of Pokémon. To celebrate, remakes of the classic GameBoy titles have been released for the Nintendo Switch while new spin-off Pokopia has become the best-reviewed entry in the long-running franchise. At the end of last month, it was announced that new mainline games Pokémon Winds & Waves would launch at some point in 2027, with players expecting more classic games to be rereleased before that.
In other news, Resident Evil Requiem has become the fastest-selling entry in the long-running zombie franchise.