27 Most Scandalous Oscars Moments That Shocked Us All

Only a few years after the Academy Awards were created, screenwriter Dudley Nichols became the first of many to decline his Oscar, which was a Best Screenwriter award for The Informer. He refused the award as an act of solidarity with the Writers Guild, which was striking at the time.

There have been major Oscar snubs, but maybe none as big as this one. The Best Picture award in 1942 went to How Green Was My Valley instead of Citizen Kane — which went on to be considered the best movie of all time by many critics.

When Elizabeth Taylor received her award, it was on the heels of her affair with Eddie Fisher, who was married to Debbie Reynolds — America's sweetheart. This caused many people to see Taylor unfavorably. What's more, she won for her role in Butterfield 8, where she plays (as her character calls herself) the "slut of all time." Needless to say, more than a few eyebrows raised when she won.

Both actresses received exactly 3,030 votes, making it a dead tie. Hepburn won for her role Eleanor of Aquitaine in The Lion in Winter, while Streisand won for her debut in Funny Girl. But Hepburn didn't attend the ceremony, so there was no one to rain on Streisand's parade that day.

George C. Scott had told the Academy that he would reject any nomination for his portrayal of Gen. George S. Patton in Patton. Still, despite his protests, he went on to be nominated for and win Best Actor in that year's ceremony. He wasn't there to accept his award, choosing instead to spend the night at home in New York. So why was he so against the award in the first place? He said he didn't like the idea of creative performances being compared.

Marlon Brando won Best Actor for The Godfather, but he refused the award as a protest against Hollywood’s mistreatment of Native Americans. Instead, he sent activist Sacheen Littlefeather to decline the Oscar on his behalf. She was met with boos — and it was later revealed that John Wayne had to be restrained backstage from attacking her.

Artist and photographer Robert Opel certainly made a statement when he ran naked across the stage at the 1974 Oscars. Actor David Niven saved the show and kept things moving when he quipped, "Isn't it fascinating to think that probably the only laugh that man will ever get in life is by stripping off and showing his shortcomings?"

Even if she hadn't won the Oscar for her role in Moonstruck, Cher still would've stolen the show in this custom Bob Mackie dress. Of course, she topped it with a huge feathered headdress. But believe it or not, it wasn't even the most revealing outfit at the 1986 Oscars.

Not to be outdone, actress Edy Williams showed off some serious skin at the awards ceremony. Williams is perhaps better known for her outrageous awards show outfits than she is for her acting career.

Lowe's 1989 Oscars performance of a modified version of "Proud Mary" alongside Snow White was so bad that Disney tried to sue for infringement. The disastrous performance was torn apart by critics and prompted the likes of Julie Andrews, Paul Newman, Sidney Lumet, and Gregory Peck to co-sign a letter calling it an "embarrassment" and "demeaning." You can watch it here.

After Marisa Tomei won Best Supporting Actress for her role in My Cousin Vinny, people began to suspect there had been some mistake since she had beat out several famous veteran actresses. Most seemed to think that presenter Jack Palance read the wrong name, or got confused, and the Academy just didn't want to cause an embarrassing scene. But that theory has been thoroughly debunked, and as we've seen from the Best Picture fiasco in 2017, the Academy will step in if a mistake is made.

After winning Best Foreign Language Film for 1999's Life is Beautiful, Roberto Benigni jumped on top of chairs and walked across them, waving his arms. He later won Best Actor and gave one of the most eccentric acceptance speeches ever.

Before she was a mother of six and activist, Angelina Jolie was something of a Hollywood wild child. One example: she famously locked lips with her brother on the red carpet before the 2000 Academy Awards. The same night, after winning the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in Girl, Interrupted, she said in her speech, "I'm so in love with my brother right now," which certainly raised a few eyebrows.

The comedic duo was nominated for Best Original Song, but their outfits really stole the show. Parker was wearing a unique version of the dress Jennifer Lopez wore to the Grammys, and Stone was in a pink gown modeled after a dress Gwyneth Paltrow had worn to the Oscars in 1999. They later admitted that they were on acid during the ceremony.

The quirky bird-inspired dress would have been a statement on its own, but Björk took it a step further when she pretended to lay an egg on the red carpet. It's still one of the most talked-about Oscars outfits, and in 2015, was the centerpiece of an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art.

RELATED: The 45 Most Talked About Oscars Dresses of All Time

Halle Berry presented the award for Best Actor to Adrien Brody for his role in The Pianist. As he took the stage, he went in for a passionate kiss with Berry. She later confirmed that it wasn't planned but said that she just went along with it.

After winning the Oscar for his film Bowling for Columbine, Michael Moore used his speech to make a point to President Bush. "We live in a time where we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons ... Shame on you, Mr. Bush, shame on you," he said. He was met with booing and the orchestra quickly started playing him off.

Well, yes, 2003 was a huge year for scandalous Oscar moments. Roman Polanski won Best Director for The Pianist, but he wasn’t there to accept it — because he was a fugitive from U.S. justice, having fled the country after being convicted of a crime involving a minor. Despite this inconvenient fact, the crowd gave him a standing ovation (which was widely criticized).

Another hugely controversial Best Picture win was Crash, which beat out the trailblazing Brokeback Mountain. Even the film's director Paul Haggis has said he didn't think Crash deserved an Oscar. A 2015 poll of Academy voters asking them to reassess past decisions found that many members would reverse the decision and give the award to Brokeback Mountain.

At least, that's what The Hollywood Reporter said. Other reviewers said that Anne Hathaway seemed to be working hard, but even her sunny smile couldn't make up for Franco's sluggish and unenthusiastic performance.