Ellen DeGeneres Makes ‘Hunger Games’ Reference At The Oscars


The whole tone of the Oscars are usually set within the first five minutes of the host’s monologue. Luckily host and comedian Ellen DeGeneres pretty much had it in the bag by making half of it about Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence.

During the opening DeGeneres made sure to trend her speech with a Hunger Games reference, having compared the Academy Awards to the premise of the story. DeGeneres started it off by saying, “For those of you watching around the world, it’s been a tough couple of days here in Los Angeles — it’s been raining,” she referenced the rare weather Los Angeles has been having, and killed the joke by finishing it off “We’re fine. Thank you for your prayers.”

As stated, one of her best received jokes of the ceremony was the Hunger Games comparison before she went ripping into Jennifer Lawrence for being so clumsy.

“It’s The Hunger Games. There are camera everywhere, Jennifer Lawrence is here, it’s The Hunger Games.”

DeGeneres reminded everyone that the Hunger Games actress fell last year while she was going up to receive her Best Actress award. At the mention of her fall, Lawrence played it up, and looked mortified in her seat next to her beau Nicholas Hoult and co-star Bradley Cooper. If that wasn’t enough. DeGeneres included her recent fall on the red carpet that happened moments before the awards started. It was a terrific on the fly improvisation by DeGeneres and a great hook to get audiences invested in the lighthearted spirit of the ceremony.

Unfortunately Ellen DeGeneres’ monologue wasn’t foolproof. A dig at Hollywood legend Liza Minnelli is being called a “transphobic” move by DeGeneres, who herself is openly gay. The joke itself was short as DeGeneres addressed the performer, “Hello to the best Liza Minnelli impersonator I’ve ever seen. Good job, sir.”

Besides Ellen’s snafu with Liza, DeGeneres seemed to win over the support of viewers with her interaction with the celebrities during the night. One notable moment of the ceremony is when she whipped out a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 phone and got the Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence in on an epic celebrity group selfie which included Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Lupita Nyong’o, Bradley Cooper, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Kevin Spacey, Channing Tatum, and Jared Leto.

Another memorable moment with the Oscar hopefuls is when DeGeneres decided to host an impromptu pizza party. It’s not every day you see the host along with Brad Pitt handing out slices of pizza out to Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, and Jared Leto. Of course when Ellen didn’t have money for the delivery man studio head honcho Harvey Weinstein picked up the bill from the audience.

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