Oscars viewers have branded a bizarre James Bond musical segment as “pointless” – and one of the “worst” moments in the ceremony’s history.
Around 90 minutes into the four-hour-long event, a tribute to the British spy franchise’s outgoing producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson was introduced, one week after the rights to 007 were acquired by Amazon.
The sequence was kicked off by Demi Moore’s Substance co-star Margaret Qualley, who performed a dance routine to the iconic Bond theme, before singers Doja Cat performed “Diamonds are Forever” and Raye sang “Skyfall”.
Lisa, the Thai singer currently seen in season three of The White Lotus, also featured, dancing to “Live and Let Die”.
Find the full list of 2025 Oscar winners here
Viewers watching along at home questioned the length of the sequence, with many wondering whether Daniel Craig’s replacement as Bond was about to be announced. However, that wasn’t to be.
“I’m a huge James Bond fan but unless they are announcing the new Bond I don’t see the point…” one person wrote on X/Twitter, with another chiming in: “This James Bond montage and performance is cool and all, but it has no relevance to… anything about the last year in movies.”
An additional viewer wrote: “I’m so confused. Why are we honouring Bond if there’s no new movie out and we don’t even know when the next movie is coming out?”
One boldly declared it “One of the worst tributes I have ever seen at the Oscars”.
It was also argued that the segment should have been scrapped in favour of performances of this year’s Best Original Song nominees.
Jonathan Ross, who was leading the UK’s Oscars coverage on ITV, joked that the choreographed sequence made him think “we’d gone to Strictly Come Dancing’s Blackpool special”.
“Those songs are so iconic – and even though all three of them are great singers, it’s not the same,” he said, with Mariella Frostrup stating: “I didn’t really understand the concept, to be honest.”
This year’s Oscars race was the closest in years, with the ceremony considered a three-horse race between Sean Baker’s critical darling Anora, Brady Corbet’s sweeping epic The Brutalist and pope drama Conclave.
Ultimately, Anora became the evening’s big winner, taking home five trophies in total, including Best Picture.
Actors in contention to become Oscar winners included Demi Moore (The Substance) and Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown) – but both lost out on the night, with Mikey Madison taking home Best Actress and Adrien Brody winning his second Oscar for his role in The Brutalist.
The actor was criticised for his “indulgent” acceptance speech after appearing to throw his chewing gum at his girlfriend, Georgina Chapman.
This year’s ceremony was hosted by an “incredibly silly” Conan O’Brien, who shocked with jokes about the Emilia Pérez-Karla Sofía Gascón controversy and also Canadian rapper Drake, which drew gasps from the crowd.
Elsewhere, Andrew Garfield was praised for a touching interaction with Goldie Hawn.
