Laverne Cox left viewers cringing after she committed a blunder while presenting live from the 96th Academy Awards on Sunday night.
The Orange is the New Black actress, who was hosting the E! red carpet coverage, was interviewing fellow Hollywood star Marlee Matlin, who is deaf and communicates through sign language, when the gaffe occurred.
Instead of giving the microphone to Matlin’s interpreter, Cox mistakenly placed it in front of the CODA actress, who then pushed the microphone back in the direction of her interpreter.
The incident caused discomfort for those at home.
Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, one remarked: “Laverne did NOT just put the mic in front of marlee matlin for her to speak….”.
“Just watched Laverne Cox put the microphone in Marlee Matlin’s face instead of her interpreter’s,” another shared.
A third added: “Laverne Cox sticking a microphone in front of Marlee Matlin's face instead of her interpreter, and Marlee moving the mic mid-sign, is going to be a red carpet highlight for me tonight.”
Laverne Cox sticking a microphone in front of Marlee Matlin's face instead of her interpreter, and Marlee moving the mic mid-sign, is going to be a red carpet highlight for me tonight.
— Tom Robson🏳️🌈 (@ThomasMRobson) March 10, 2024
It wasn’t the only awkward gaffe on the night as Al Pacino didn’t name all of the movies nominated in the Best Picture category before announcing Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer the winner.
Things got off to a shaky start for the Scarface actor, 83, when he made a bizarre joke about reading Shakespeare when he first came out on stage at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles to present the final award of the night.
He said: “Wow. What... thank you. Oh, my friends. Thank you, thank you. I don't know. Should I do some Shakespeare now? That's in order, right? ‘To be... no, I'm not going to do, Sorry. Well, this is the time for the last award of the evening. And it's my honour to present it.”
Pacino, who holds an award for best actor for his role in the 1992 film Scent of a Woman, then failed to give the other nominees their due as he continued: “Ten wonderful films are nominated, but only one will take the award for best picture. And I have to go to the envelope for that. And I will. Here it comes. And my eyes see Oppenheimer, yes!”
Social media users could not get their heads around the gaffe, saying it “couldn’t have been more chaotic or confusing”.
The other films nominated in the category were American Fiction, Anatomy of a Fall, Barbie, The Holdovers, Killers of the Flower Moon, Maestro, Past Lives, Poor Things and The Zone of Interest.
Oppenheimer was the big winner of the evening, scooping seven of the 13 nods that it was up for.
The other big winner of the night was Poor Things, which received four awards – including Actress In A Leading Role for Emma Stone.
