During Sunday’s Oscars, host Kumail Nanjiani caused quite a stir with an ill-considered joke referencing Schindler’s List.
The comedian was on stage to announce a tie for the Best Live Action Short Film category, amidst a gathering of Hollywood’s elite.
Nanjiani attempted humor by proposing shorter movie titles, but his reference to Schindler’s List as ‘Schindler Post It’ did not sit well with many in attendance and viewers at home.
He remarked, “There’s a real skill in crafting a short film. In fact, I believe many feature-length movies might work better as shorts.”
Nanjiani suggested, “We could remake some of these long films into shorts to save time.”
He continued the bit by humorously abbreviating other well-known films, like changing It’s A Wonderful Life to It’s A Wonderful Month, and The King’s Speech to The King’s Tweet.
He added: ‘Schindler’s Post-It’ to the end of his list.
The 1993 film directed by Steven Spielberg is based on the story of Oskar Schindler, portrayed by Liam Neeson, who saved 1,200 Jews from the Nazis.
Comedian Kumail Nanjiani referred to film Schindler’s List as ‘Schindler’s Post-it note’ while attempting a gag about movie titles being shorter at the Oscars
Social media users immediately reacted negatively to the comment
Not only did it fail to raise laughs in the room, but viewers were disgusted.
‘Can’t say that Schindler’s List joke was uh in any good taste,’ said one viewer.
Another added: ‘A list isn’t a form of stationery, so ‘Schindler’s post-it’ doesn’t make any sense. bad joke.’
‘That was as CHEAP leftist antisemitic comment by this f***, Kumail Nanjiani… Schindler’s Post-It. Don’t invite him back’, another said.
One other said: ‘Why the f*** would you make a joke about short films, Schindler’s Post-it?’
Nanjiani was handing out the award for Best Live Action Short on Sunday when he made the remark.
The award ended up being a draw between The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva.
‘And the Oscar goes to – it’s a tie! I’m not joking, it’s actually a tie,’ the comedian said. ‘Everyone, calm down, we’re going to get through this,’ he said.
The most recent tie came during the 2013 Oscars, when Zero Dark Thirty and Skyfall drew in the sound editing category.
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Where should comedians draw the line when joking about sensitive historical tragedies at major events?
Neeson as Oskar Schindler in the 1993 movie, which won seven Academy Awards
There have been five other ties in Oscars history, making Sunday’s the seventh.
The awards show fell flat with viewers as film enthusiasts claimed the ceremony was a ‘joke’ and criticized Conan O’Brien’s ‘awful’ hosting skills. Others ripped the program for running late and cutting acceptance speeches short.
In his closing sketch, O’Brien told he’ll be ‘host for life’ before being bizarrely replaced by Mr. Beast.
‘This was a boring ceremony overall very predictable and nothing new,’ one person wrote on X.
‘This Oscars is sorta a flop idk. Conan flop, awkward jokes from presenters, ugly a** stage (yeah i said it) only saving this night is a Sinners Best Picture I’m not playing,’ another wrote.
‘The Oscars cutting off that speech for Golden to make room for more overlong presenter bits that land with a thud… booooooo,’ one person wrote.
‘If Conan’s whole awkward opening was cut we wouldn’t be cutting people off,’ wrote a second person.
‘Nooo you don’t get it those very unfunny 10min skits are so much more important we need time for those!’ added a third.
The awards show fell flat with viewers as film enthusiasts claimed the ceremony was a ‘joke’ and criticized Conan O’Brien’s ‘awful’ hosting skills, O’Brien is seen here giving out high-fives backstage
Paul Thomas Anderson is seen here clutching his three Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for ‘One Battle after Another’
‘The fact one of the intro people had a skit about being played off like a minute later was salt in the wound too. Why is the academy adding categories when they can’t even allow enough time and respect to the pre-existing categories? It makes no sense,’ wrote a fourth.
There were few upsets during the show as winners largely played out as expected in a ‘predictable’ fashion.
Jessie Buckley won Best Actress, dedicating the award to the ‘beautiful chaos in a mother’s heart,’ while One Battle After Another won Best Picture.
Sinners, which led the night with a record-breaking 16 nominations, took home Best Screenplay, Best Original Score and Best Cinematography.
Michael B. Jordan won Best Actor for his dual role as the Smokestack Twins, beating out Timothee Chalamet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ethan Hawke and Wagner Moura for the coveted award.
Chalamet’s Marty Supreme, directed by Josh Safdie, skipped out on all nine Oscars the film was nominated for.
