Conan O’Brien’s Oscars debut took an awkward turn after a joke he made about Scarlett Johansson and June Squibb enraged viewers. The 97th Academy Awards host faced huge backlash on the internet after many people found his comment inappropriate and disrespectful!
So, it happened this way. Johansson, 40, and Squibb, 95, were about to present the award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling (won by The Substance). Before welcoming them on stage, O’Brien referred to the two actresses as his “hall passes.”
For those unfamiliar, a “hall pass” is a term used to describe someone a person’s partner has supposedly given them permission to be intimate with.
The joke didn’t sit well with many watching at home! Numerous social media users took to X (formerly Twitter) to express how disappointed they were with the remark he made. One user wrote, “Ew, introducing two women as your ‘hall pass’—Conan, I knew you’d f—up.” Another person commented, “Hall pass joke in 2025?”
A third comment read, “The hall passes joke felt disrespectful, idk.” The criticism didn’t stop there. Another comment read, “‘Hall pass’ is such a disgusting concept, and to so casually use it—yuck.” Another user slammed, “Ugh, I hate a hall pass joke.”
Despite his years in comedy, the 61-year-old host was immediately called out for making a remark some deemed outdated and inappropriate, especially on such a global stage.
The “hall pass” comment wasn’t O’Brien’s only controversial moment of the night. The comedian also made a bold joke about the ongoing rap feud between Kendrick Lamar and Drake, which took a rapid escalation earlier this year following Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime performance on February 9.
June Squibb presenting Best Make-Up & Hairstyling at the #Oscars
“I got a little makeup done too. I’m actually being played by Bill Skarsgård right now. Half of the time you see me, it’s Bill Skarsgård”
See the full winners list: https://t.co/cDPncK6OIM pic.twitter.com/PL06OY6wzQ
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) March 3, 2025
During the show, O’Brien shocked the audience with a quip where he took the reference to Lamar’s diss track Not Like Us, which accused Drake of being a “certified p—dophile”—a claim that Drake has repeatedly denied and is now at the center of a lawsuit. O’Brien joked, “Well, we’re halfway through the show. Which means it’s time for Kendrick Lamar to come out and call Drake a ‘p—dophile’.” The remark was met with audible gasps from the audience, after which O’Brien cheekily added, “Don’t worry—I’m lawyered up. Anyway!”
Drake has officially been called a pedophile in a Song, at the Grammys, on Amazon platformed concert, at the Super Bowl and the Oscar award show.
Conan O’Brien during the #Oscars called him a PDF FILE and said, “I’m lawyerD up anyway”
— Pulitzer Tony 🍉 (@timetravellla) March 3, 2025
Though O’Brien’s quick-witted humor has been a staple of his career, many Oscars viewers felt his jokes missed the mark and marked them to be tasteless and unnecessary. Whether O’Brien will address the backlash isn’t clear yet, but one thing is obvious—his first time hosting the Oscars won’t be wiped from viewers’ memories anytime soon!
