Demi Moore has responded to Mikey Madison’s unexpected Best Actress win at the Oscars, as fans voiced their disappointment over what some called a “robbery” on Sunday night.
Moore was widely considered the frontrunner for her role in The Substance, a psychological horror film in which she plays an aging fitness instructor who undergoes a dramatic transformation after taking a mysterious youth-restoring potion.
However, it was 25-year-old Madison who took home the award, delivering a surprise victory that left many at the Dolby Theatre stunned.
Announced as the winner by Emma Stone, Madison admitted the moment felt “very surreal,” saying, “I grew up in Los Angeles, but Hollywood felt so far away.”
She went on to pay tribute to the sex worker community, vowing to continue being an ally and advocate.
Madison also praised her fellow nominees, calling their work “intelligent, beautiful, and breathtaking.”
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As she acknowledged Moore directly, cameras captured the Ghost star in the audience, placing both hands on her heart and offering a warm smile, dressed in a custom silver Armani Privé gown.
Madison has expressed admiration for her fellow nominees before. Last month, after winning Best Lead Actress at the 2025 BAFTAs, she delivered a heartfelt tribute to the talented women she was nominated alongside.
However, social media erupted with posts insisting that Moore should have won, with many calling it a "robbery" and some even labeling it the "biggest Oscars snub ever."
One fan penned: “Mikey Madison did not deserve that award. Demi not getting best actress for The Substance will go down in history as one of the biggest snubs in Oscar history.”
Another quipped in reference to The Substance: “Wow Demi Moore getting passed up for a younger brighter star someone should make a movie about this.”
Mikey Madison did not deserve that award. Demi not getting best actress for The Substance will go down in history as one of the biggest snubs in Oscar history.
— J (@jordanvaldezzzz) March 3, 2025
Look, OK….I Love Mickey Madison, but DEMI MOORE WAS ROBBED. pic.twitter.com/57Ec93N4SA
— Chris DeRose (ScartchyDeRose.bsky.social) (@ScratchyDerose) March 3, 2025
“Demi Moore losing to Mikey Madison is basically the plot of the Substance,” another added.
“Look, OK….I Love Mickey Madison, but DEMI MOORE WAS ROBBED,” another echoed.
Elsewhere, American actor Adrien Brody was among the big winners at the Oscars on a night which saw Anora leading the pack with five wins.
Anora also won best picture, film editing, original screenplay and best director for Sean Baker, who used his speech to make a plea for the return of theatregoers to cinemas following the pandemic.
Baker has become the first person to win four Oscars for a single film at one ceremony. Previously Walt Disney won the same amount in one night but for different films.
Brody, 51, now a double-Oscar winner, took home the leading actor gong for The Brutalist, a film about a Jewish-Hungarian architect who flees the horrors of the Second World War for a better life in the US.
As music played him off stage mid-speech, he added: “I’m here once again to represent the lingering traumas and the repercussions of war and systematic oppression and of antisemitism and racism and of othering and I pray for a healthier and a happier and a more inclusive world.”
American actress Zoe Saldana declared she is a “proud child of immigrant parents” during a tearful acceptance speech after winning the best supporting actress Oscar.
She won the Oscar, her first, for her role in Netflix’s Spanish-language film Emilia Perez, in which she plays a lawyer called Rita who helps a Mexican drug lord change gender.
Kieran Culkin, 42, won the best supporting actor Oscar early on in the evening, beating Edward Norton, Guy Pearce and his Succession co-star Jeremy Strong in the category, as the 97th awards show got under way in Los Angeles.
He scooped the gong for A Real Pain, the Jesse Eisenberg-directed film about two cousins who go to their grandmother’s home country of Poland to trace their roots.
It was a bad night for the British in the main acting categories, but members of the UK film industry were honoured in several behind-the-scenes roles.
British composer Daniel Blumberg won original score and Lol Crawley, who grew up in Wales, won the cinematography Oscar, both for The Brutalist.
Other Britons included special effects artist Paul Lambert, who was part of the best visual effects winning team behind science fiction film Dune: Part Two, which stars Timothee Chalamet, and designing pair Nathan Crowley and Lee Sandales for best production design for musical Wicked.
British writer Peter Straughan won the adapted screenplay gong for papal drama Conclave.
The night’s host, US comedian Conan O’Brien, referenced the controversy surrounding Emilia Perez during his opening monologue, and later in the evening he appeared to make reference to criticism of US President Donald Trump’s views on Russian President Vladimir Putin amid the war with Ukraine.
Kill Bill star Daryl Hannah referenced the war in Ukraine, saying “Slava Ukraini”, the country’s salute, as she presented the film editing award, which was won by Anora.
Actress and singer Grande opened the show singing The Wizard Of Oz song Somewhere Over The Rainbow, and was later joined by her co-star Erivo for a duet of Defying Gravity from Wicked.
Another musical tribute saw singers Raye, Blackpink member Lisa and US rapper and singer Doja Cat perform a James Bond tribute.
The performance honoured James Bond producers Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, who were announced as winners of the Academy’s Irving G Thalberg Memorial Award in 2024 and given Oscar statuettes at the Governors Awards.
Last month, Amazon MGM Studios announced they would take creative control over the 007 character with a new venture that will see them co-own the franchise rights with Wilson and Broccoli.
Oscar winner Morgan Freeman introduced the In Memoriam segment and paid tribute to actor Gene Hackman, who was last month found dead along with his wife, Betsy Arakawa and their dog, at their home in New Mexico.
Multiple nominees including Chalamet-starring A Complete Unknown, prison-set Sing Sing, The Apprentice, about Trump’s early years as a real estate developer, Nickel Boys, based on the novel from Colson Whitehead, and vampire film Nosferatu went home empty-handed on the night.
