All Quiet on the Western Mezzanine: What It Was Like Inside the 2023 Oscars

From missed trailers to a packed open bar, the Academy Awards experience was very different for the Dolby Theater audience

If I had made an Oscars speech at Sunday night’s 95th Academy Awards, it’d be to thank my mom for digging in my childhood bedroom closet to find a suit I could wear to the ceremony.

Sure, I looked more like I was about to make a First Communion than attend the Oscars, but when you get an unexpected opportunity to attend the Academy Awards, you should take it. Shouldn’t you?

Though many aspects of Hollywood’s biggest night lived up to the “visually stunning experience” promised by executive producer and showrunner Glenn Weiss ahead of Sunday’s ceremony—which featured seven Oscar wins for Everything Everywhere All At Once (including Best Picture and a Best Actress trophy for previous Adweek cover star Michelle Yeoh), a historic night for Asian representation in film and even an actor parading around as Cocaine Bear—it wasn’t all glitz, glam and bear cosplay.

From some of the most unexpected snubs of...

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