Mikey Madison triumphed over Demi Moore in the Best Actress Oscars category – and fans are reacting by sharing the same clip.
In one of the evening’s biggest surprises, breakout star Madison, 25, clinched Best Actress for her performance as a sex worker in Sean Baker’s comedy-drama Anora.
The victory came as a shock with the trophy expected to go to Moore, 62, who was nominated for her role in Coralie Fargeat’s body horror film The Substance.
Moore looked thrilled for Madison who appeared stunned to hear her name called by presenter Emma Stone. Fans of the Ghost star, however, were less happy to see the actor “robbed” of the award, which was her first ever Oscar nomination.
Many of those disgruntled viewers posted their reactions on Twitter/X, sharing the same clip from The Substance in response.
A comment on misogyny and aging as a woman, The Substance stars Moore as Elisabeth Sparkle, a fading celebrity in Hollywood. Desperate to remain relevant, she takes a black market drug called the Substance, which generates a younger version of herself born out of a slit in her back: a woman in her twenties played by Margaret Qualley.
The two bodies switch consciousness every seven days. Things turn sour, however, when Qualley’s character Sue, starts to abuse the system in order to capitalise on her burgeoning fame as a TV fitness instructor. Elisabeth is powerless to stop her and deteriorates by the minute.
In one of the movie’s scenes, Elisabeth is at home watching her TV in fury as Sue appears on a late-night talk show to promote her new aerobics show, insulting Elisabeth in the process and calling her “jurassic”.
Sharing this scene on social media, fans were quick to point out the “irony” of the Oscars given that the veteran actor had lost out to the younger ingenue.
“Demi Moore watching Mikey Madison win the Oscar,” wrote one person alongside the clip, with another adding: “Demi Moore losing to Mikey Madison is basically the plot of The Substance.”
“The layers of irony to this year’s race as it relates to The Substance with Demi Moore losing to a younger actress,” said a third person.
Moore, though, seemed perfectly happy for Madison who praised her fellow nominees in her acceptance speech, calling their work “intelligent, beautiful, and breathtaking”.
As she acknowledged Moore directly, cameras captured the Indecent Proposal star in the audience placing both hands on her heart and smiling at Madison on stage.
It has been a stellar awards season for Moore who took home several awards for The Substance, including a Golden Globe and a Sag award.
In a rousing Golden Globe acceptance speech, she revealed that a Hollywood producer once called her a “popcorn actress”, explaining that his comment made her fell unworthy of success and acclaim.
Others nominated in the Best Actress category were Cynthia Erivo for Wicked, Karla Sofía Gascón for Emilia Pérez and Fernanda Torres for I’m Still Here.
Madison’s victory continued a winning streak for Anora, which was undeniably the big winner of the night – also taking home prizes for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Editing, and Best Original Screenplay.
Director and first-time nominee Sean Baker made Oscar history with his four-trophy haul.
Catch up with all the Oscars action here, and full list of winners here.
