‘Don’t worry, I’m lawyered up!’: the best quotes of the 2025 Oscars

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Conan O’Brien

On Wicked: “The perfect movie for anyone who’s ever finished watching The Wizard of Oz and thought, Sure, but where did all the minor characters go to college?”

On Karla Sofía Gascón: “Anora uses the F-word 479 times. That’s three more than the record set by Karla Sofía Gascón’s publicist … Karla if you are going to tweet about the Oscars tonight, my name is Jimmy Kimmel.”

On The Brutalist: “I loved The Brutalist. I really did. I didn’t want it to end. And luckily, it didn’t.”

On Conclave: “If you haven’t seen Conclave, it’s a movie about the Catholic Church, but don’t worry.”

On Anora: “Anora is having a good night … I guess Americans are excited to see somebody finally stand up to a powerful Russian.”

On A Complete Unknown: “Timothée Chalamet is nominated for his portrayal of Bob Dylan. Bob Dylan wanted to be here tonight – but not that badly.”

On Flow: “This is the first time Latvia has won an Oscar. Ball is in your court, Estonia!”

Midway through the broadcast: “It’s halfway through the show, which means it’s time for Kendrick Lamar to come out and call Drake a pedophile ... don’t worry, I’m lawyered up!”

Amy Poehler

Presenting best original screenplay: “I am honoured to be here to present the two most important awards of the night: most athletic and best hair … I believe it was William Shakespeare who said, ‘Writing is a bitch.’”

Presenting best adapted screenplay: “The next award, for best adapted screenplay, includes stories that go on journeys all around the world. Amazing if you think about it, because we all know how hard it is to find the right adaptor. Thank you.”

Kieran Culkin

Accepting the Oscar for best supporting actor: “I should thank my mom and Steve for trying to raise me. You are really good people, you gave it your best shot. I love you mum.”

On asking his wife Jazz for a third child onstage at the Emmys: “About a year ago I was on the stage like this and I very publicly, stupidly said that I wanted a third kid from her, because she said that if I won the award, she would give me the kid. Turns out she said that because she didn’t think I was going to win … After the show, we’re walking through a parking lot … and she goes, ‘Oh, God, I did say that! I guess I owe you a third kid.’ And I turned to her, and I said, ‘Really, I want four.’ And she turned to me – I swear to God, this happened, it was just over a year ago – she said, ‘I will give you four when you win an Oscar.’ I held my hand out, she shook it, and I have not brought it up once until just now. I just have this to say to you, Jazz – love of my life, ye of little faith – no pressure. I love you. I’m really sorry I did this again, and let’s get cracking on those kids. What do you say?”

June Squibb

Presenting the award for best makeup: “I got a little makeup done too, and I’m actually being played by Bill Skarsgård right now. Half the time you see me in public, it’s Bill Skarsgård. The real June Squibb is at home with a book right now.”

Mick Jagger

Presenting the award for best original song: “I am greatly honoured to be invited to give this award for the best original song tonight. Much as I love doing it, I wasn’t the first choice to give this award out. The producers really wanted Bob Dylan to do this. Bob didn’t want to do it, because he said the best songs this year were obviously in the movie A Complete Unknown. Bob said [doing an impression]: ‘You should find somebody younger.’ I said, ‘OK, I am younger! I am young and Bob, I will do it!’ So here I am!”

Zoe Saldaña

Accepting the award for best supporting actress: “And to my husband, with that beautiful hair! You’re just – the biggest honour in my life is being your partner. You hung the moon in our beautiful perfect sons, Cy, Bowie and Zen. They fill our skies every night with stars. My grandmother came to this country in 1961. I am a proud child of immigrant parents with dreams and dignity and hardworking hands. And I am the first American of Dominican origin to accept an Academy award, and I know I will not be the last! I hope the fact that I’m getting an award for a role where I got to sing and speak in Spanish – my grandmother, if she were here, she would be so delighted.”

Zoe Saldana accepts the award for best supporting actress.

Sean Baker, director, writer and editor of Anora

Accepting the award for best editing: “I saved this film in the edit – that director should never work again!”

Accepting the award for best director: “We’re all here tonight and watching this broadcast because we love movies. Where did we fall in love with the movies? At the movie theatre. Watching a film in a theatre with an audience is an experience. We can laugh together, cry together, scream in fright together, perhaps set in devastated silence together. And in a time in which the world can feel very divided, this is more important than ever. This is a communal experience you simply don’t get at home. And right now, the theatre-going experience is under threat … it is up to us to support them. During the pandemic we lost nearly 1,000 screens in the US. This is my battlecry. Film-makers, keep making films for the big screen. I know I will.”

Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham, co-directors of No Other Land

Basel Adra, accepting the award for No Other Land: “About two months ago I became a father and I hope to my daughter that she will not have to live the same life I am living now, always fearing settler violence, home demolitions and forcible diaplacement that my community, Masafer Yatta, is facing every day under Israeli occupation. No Other Land reflects the harsh reality that we have been enduring for decades and still resist as we call on the world to take serious actions to stop the injustie and stop the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.”

Yuval Abraham: “We made this film, Palestinians and Israelis, because together our voices are stronger. We see each other, the atrocious destruction of Gaza and its people, which must end. The Israeli hostages, brutally taken in the crime of October 7, which must be freed. When I look at Basel, I see my brother. But we are not equal. We live in a regime where I am free, under civilian law. And Basel is under military law, which have destroyed his life and he cannot control. There is a different path, a political solution, without ethnic supremacy, with national rights for both our people. And I have to say, as I am here, the foreign policy in this country is helping to block this path. Why? Can’t you see that we are intertwined? That my people can be truly safe if Basel’s people are truly free and safe? There is another way. It is not too late for life for the living.”

Victoria Warmerdam, director and writer of I’m Not a Robot

Accepting the award for best live action short, to the film’s producer Trent: “We level-headed Dutch people don’t say this often, but I love you.”

Adrien Brody

Accepting the best actor award for The Brutalist: “I am here once again to represent the lingering traumas and the repercussions of war and systematic oppression and of antisemitism and racism and of othering. I pray for a healthier and a happier and a more inclusive world, and I believe if the past can teach us anything, it’s a reminder to not let hate go unchecked. Let’s fight for what’s right, keep smiling, keep loving one another. Let’s rebuild together.”

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