John Cena at the Oscars 2024.(AFP Images)
How do you win the Oscars without winning an Oscar? Wrestler-turned-actor and all-round legend John Cena did just that at the 96th Academy Awards simply by going clothes-free. John Cena, who had a hilarious cameo as Merman Ken, followed up with an even funnier appearance as a presenter at the Oscars, highlighting the importance of costumes in films by opting to wear none on stage while presenting the Best Costume Design award. The skit, in which Oscar host Jimmy Kimmel played a strictly supporting role, went instantly viral. Here's how it went down.
It began with Jimmy Kimmel referencing the streaker at the 1974 Oscars who ran onto stage disrupting presenter David Niven. A pause later, John Cena poked his head out from the wings, claiming he'd changed his mind about recreating the incident. “You're the worst,” grumbled Jimmy Kimmel before handing over the winner's name envelope for the hapless John to use.
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John Cena sidled out of the wings and to the presenter's microphone while using the envelope as best he could as the audience, in the Dolby Theatre where the Oscars are held and out of it, fell about laughing.
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The lights dimmed as he announced the nominees and when tey were turned back up, there was John Cena now clad in an impromptu toga-style ball gown with Jimmy Kimmel helping him get into it:
Having dispensed with the need for the envelope, John Cena could finally open it and announce the winner. He presented the Best Costume Design award for Poor Things to Holly Waddington:
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Having brought the house down, John Cena walked off stage - but did the actor-wrestler go on wearing nothing? These backstage pictures from the award show reveal (pun intended) that he was actually wearing a modesty pouch of the sort that are used in filming intimate scenes for screen.
The confidence and comedic timing, however, were absolutely John Cena's own.
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In this video clip, it's revealed that it took a few more hands than just Jimmy Kimmel's to get John Cena into the gold toga while the lights were dimmed.
Post-award, all was well backstage.
Coming back to the big winners of the night, Oppenheimer's Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr won Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor. The film also won Best Picture and Best Director for Christopher Nolan. Emma Stone took home the Best Actress for Poor Things. Da'Vine Joy Randolph was named Best Supporting Actress for The Holdovers.