The 8 Best Moments from the 2016 Oscars

The host made sure that the focus of the night was the #OscarsSoWhite controversy from his opening statements. “I thought about quitting. I thought about it real hard, but I realized they’re going to have the Oscars anyway,” he said. “The last thing I need is to go and loose another job to Kevin Hart.” The host went on to assert that boycotting wasn’t the answer, but that African American actors need to be given more opportunity in Hollywood.

The action film took home a record-breaking six technical awards, including best costume design, production design, makeup and hairstyling, editing, sound editing, and sound mixing. Mark A. Mangini and David White looked victorious after accepting the award for best sound editing, raising their arms in triumph.

This comedy dream team brought the laughs when they united on stage to present the award for best production design. While Steve Carrell was straight-faced and serious, Tina Fey announced sets like “the thing where a bear lives” and “Tom Hanks’s… house?” Carrell explained away her appearance with a hilarious one-liner. “Tina has been drinking.”

The adorable Room star aptly presented the award for Best Live-Action Short alongside Abraham Attah. Host Chris Rock helped out the child stars by bringing them wooden crates to stand on to reach the microphone. “Thanks Chris. I loved you in Madagascar,” Tremblay said. Attah went on to introduce the award, proving that “size really doesn’t matter.”

Lady Gaga took to the stage to give an emotional performance her Oscar-nominated song, “Til It Happens to You.” Introduced to the stage by Vice President Joe Biden, Gaga brought sexual assault survivors onstage in a powerful movement to encourage people to intervene when they see non-consensual sexual interactions.

Singer Sam Smith took home his first statuette for his song “Writing’s on the Wall” from Spectre and dedicated his win to the LGBT community. “I want to dedicate this to the LGBT community all around the world,” he said. “I stand here tonight as a proud gay man and I hope we can all stand together as equals one day.”

Leonardo DiCaprio finally took home an Oscar for Best Actor. The star was honored for his work in The Revenant, and received an enthusiastic round of applause from the relieved audience.

After winning Best Picture at the 2016 SAG Awards, Spotlight took home yet another major award. The cast took the opportunity to express the necessity of investigative journalism and thank the real-life reporters who inspired the story.