Listen, at least no one got slapped by Will Smith this year, right? And considering the pro-Palestine protests and the maddening Los Angeles traffic, which delayed the arrival of many A-Listers on their way to the Dolby Theater, things seemed to go off without too much of a hitch on Sunday evening.
However, there was still a lot at stake during the course of the night.Jimmy Kimmel Live!Executive ProducerMolly McNearneyhelped helm the96th Academy Awards, and she detailed how Standards and Practices (S&P, or Jimmy Kimmel called it on his show, “Scrotum & Penis”) executives “were sweating"John Cena’sunforgettable “naked” appearance in a special behind-the-scenes revelation. McNearney said in an exclusive interview withVariety:
“They were sweating. I think at the end we all got to a spot where we were comfortable, S&P was comfortable, and it didn’t compromise the comedy a bit. I was very thankful that we didn’t have to send him out there in tighty whities, which I’m sure legal would have preferred.”
The Academy Awards
In addition to working on the Oscars, McNearney is the wife of Academy Awards host Jimmy Kimmel. A sense of humor definitely runs in the family, because when it came to knowing if Cena really was naked or not under that awards card… well, that was all a part of McNearney’s plan. The Oscars producer said in the same interview:
That’s what I wanted! Maybe it’s not what [S&P] wanted. That’s definitely what I want!
The head of the Walt Disney TV alternative unit, Rob Mills, added:
“There was a lot of reticence of not just a fine from the FCC, but potential complaints. I’m going to educate you a little here. A bulge cannot be showing, and you can’t show crack. It was also, ’What happens if he drops that card?’ So, we made sure that, for all intents and purposes, he looked like a Ken doll up front. His crack was covered in the back and then the envelope was Velcro-ed on there so it wouldn’t fall. But beyond that, he was naked.”
Ryan Gosling Planned Every Detail of His I’m Just Ken Performance
Ryan Goslingdidn’t leave anything to chance at the 96th Academy Awards when it came time to perform hissong fromBarbie, “I’m Just Ken.”. While the actor did not win the Best Original Song Oscar — that honor went to fellowBarbiecontributors Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell — Gosling planned out every last detail of his performance on Sunday night. And according to producer Molly McNearney, Gosling even came up with the idea to pay homage to theDiamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friendscene featuring Marilyn Monroe fromGentlemen Prefer Blondes(1953). McNearney said in a separate interview withVariety:
“Ryan Gosling is a true professional, that man — we met with him on Zooms months ago, talking about that performance. Greta Gerwig weighed in creatively as well. He was so committed to it. His choreographer, Mandy Moore, is exceptional — she was on all the calls. So was Mark Ronson.”
Complete 2024 Oscar Winners List: Oppenheimer Sweeps 96th Academy Awards
The complete list of the Oscar nominees and who won at the 96th Academy Awards on August 08, 2025.
Choreographer Mandy Moore also recounts how Gosling was adamant that Gerwig, Margot Robbie, and America Ferrera needed to be seated in a specific place within the Dolby Theatre. Moore said:
‘I really need those ladies in the front, because I’m gonna go over to them. I want them to sing.'
Moore also revealed in the same interview:
“[Gosling] wanted to start in the audience, come up see Mark [Ronson], see Andrew [Wyatt, the co-producer], ignite the Ken-delabras and then join the 10 dejected Kens on the stairs. From there he wanted the rest of the number to evolve as if Kens were coming from everywhere, ‘Calling All Kens.’ Eventually ending in a huge celebration revealing Slash [from Guns N’ Roses].”
In the end, Gosling’s performance of “I’m Just Ken” was another one of those moments that will arguably go down as one of the 2024 Oscars’ most memorable. And while the aforementioned Academy Award win for Best Song (“What Was I Made For?") was the only golden statue awarded toBarbie, Gosling made sure that his live pieceleft a lasting impression on those in attendance and the fans watching on ABC.
