Adrien Brody’s acceptance speech at the 97th Academy Awards on March 2, 2025, became the most talked-about moment of the night—not for his victory, but for its unusual length and offbeat moments. The 51-year-old actor secured his second Best Actor Oscar for his role in The Brutalist, two decades after his first win for The Pianist in 2003. However, his speech, clocking in at an unprecedented five minutes and 40 seconds, broke an eight-decade-old record, drawing mixed reactions from audiences and critics alike.
Even before he began speaking, Brody made an unconventional entrance by spitting out his chewing gum and tossing it toward his girlfriend, Georgina Chapman. The moment, captured on camera, quickly went viral. In a post-Oscar interview, Brody later explained, “I could’ve swallowed it, but I didn’t think about that. I had to get rid of it somehow.” Chapman, however, admitted that she did not catch the gum, which ended up landing on the Oscars carpet.
The Longest Speech in Oscar History
Once on stage, Brody promised to be brief—but did the exact opposite. As the orchestra attempted to play him off, he insisted, “Turn the music off. I’ve done this before. It’s not my first rodeo.” He continued for nearly six minutes, thanking over a dozen people, including his parents, The Brutalist director Brady Corbet, and co-stars Guy Pearce and Felicity Jones.
The speech exceeded the previous record set by British actress Greer Garson in 1943, whose five-minute-and-30-second address led the Academy to implement time limits and the practice of “playing off” winners with music. However, Brody disregarded the cue, extending his remarks with reflections on the fragility of acting and the challenges of Hollywood. “Acting is a very fragile profession. It looks very glamorous, and in certain moments it is, but it can all go away,” he said, also addressing issues of racism and antisemitism.
Social Media Erupts
While Brody held the stage, social media exploded with reactions. Many found his speech “self-indulgent,” with some joking that it lasted longer than The Brutalist itself—a three-and-a-half-hour film featuring an intermission. One viewer tweeted, “Adrien Brody’s speech is gonna have an intermission,” while another quipped, “We as a nation must agree to never honor Adrien Brody’s acting abilities again.”
Cillian Murphy, last year’s Best Actor winner for Oppenheimer, presented Brody with the award and became an unintended star of the night due to his reaction. Standing behind Brody, Murphy’s facial expressions shifted from polite attentiveness to what social media dubbed a “thousand-yard stare.” Memes flooded the internet, with users joking that Murphy had entered “power-saving mode” during the speech. One viral post read, “You can see the exact moment he mentally clocked out.”
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Halle Berry’s ‘Payback’ Kiss
Adding to the night’s surreal moments, Halle Berry surprised Brody with a kiss on the red carpet, a callback to their infamous Oscars moment in 2003. When Berry presented Brody with his first Oscar for The Pianist, he had spontaneously kissed her, leaving her visibly shocked. This time, Berry took the initiative. “That was one hell of a night for him, and for me as well,” she told reporters. “Tonight, I had to pay him back.”
The reunion between Berry and Brody fueled further discussion about their controversial moment from two decades ago. Reflecting on the 2003 kiss in a recent interview, Brody stated, “We live in a very conscious time, which is a wonderful thing. And nothing that I ever do or have done or would’ve done is ever done with the intention of making anyone feel bad.” Berry, for her part, had previously congratulated Brody on his Golden Globe win for The Brutalist, indicating that any lingering controversy had been put to rest.
A Night of Upsets and Technical Glitches
Despite Brody’s dominance in the headlines, Anora was the night’s biggest winner, taking home five Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress for Mikey Madison. The ceremony, however, suffered from technical issues, particularly for online viewers. This year marked the first time the Oscars were streamed live on Hulu, but glitches caused some digital audiences to miss key moments, including Brody’s speech.
Ratings for the broadcast reached 18.1 million viewers, slightly lower than last year’s 19.5 million. While still an improvement over the pandemic years, where viewership had dropped to as low as 10.4 million, the figures indicate a continued struggle to regain the Academy Awards’ former peak of over 40 million viewers a decade ago.
Despite mixed reviews, the night was hailed as one of the better Oscar telecasts in years. Critics praised host Conan O’Brien, with one outlet calling his debut “successful in more ways than not.” However, Brody’s record-breaking speech—along with his gum-throwing incident—ensured that his win would be remembered for reasons beyond just his performance in The Brutalist.