Oscars cut off KPop Demon Hunters speech in ‘brutal’ live moment

NEW YORK – The appropriate length of an awards show acceptance speech has always been a contentious topic. How long is too long? Does the category matter? What about the actual number of winners onstage? Should everyone get a turn at the microphone?

While there are no hard and fast rules, and the demands of television mean producers need to keep things moving along, a particularly merciless interruption of a speech at the Academy Awards on March 15 struck many viewers as a step too far. (For previous Oscars, producers had established a 45-second rule.)

When Golden from Netflix animated movie KPop Demon Hunters (2025) made Oscar history by becoming the first K-pop song to win Best Original Song, a half-dozen songwriters took the stage.

After singer and songwriter Ejae, fighting back tears, delivered a short speech, in which she said the win was “not about success, it’s about resilience”, one of her co-writers, Yu Han Lee, approached the microphone.

He got out “I would like to thank” from what appeared to be prepared remarks before a snare drum and a crashing cymbal drowned him out. The songwriters gesticulated, pleading for more time. But the music played on and the show went to commercial.

The hard-line move surprised many in the audience, both at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, where the ceremony was being held, and at home. On the Oscars’ official YouTube channel, the awkward scene was edited out.

Ejae later told reporters backstage that she had hoped to thank Rei Ami and Audrey Nuna, her fellow singers on Golden, but that she “didn’t get to because they cut us off”. She added: “They killed it with their singing, and they’re just incredible people, and I love them so much.”

A representative for the Oscars did not immediately respond to a request for comment on March 16.

The scene onstage stood in stark contrast to a moment in the ceremony when winners successfully outlasted an attempted cut-off.

When Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans and Michelle Wong won Best Animated Feature Film for KPop Demon Hunters, they overcame an instrumental version of Golden encouraging them offstage.

Acceptance speeches throughout the night varied in length.

Amy Madigan, who won for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Weapons (2025), spent nearly three minutes onstage. Paul Thomas Anderson, who picked up trophies for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director and Best Picture for One Battle After Another (2025), spoke for roughly two minutes, or less, each time.

By March 16, clips of the music forcing the Golden songwriters offstage had circulated widely on social media, with many people calling the move “rude” and “brutal”.

Some people in the comments of the clip on the Oscars YouTube channel questioned why there had been more than ample time for a lengthy Bridesmaids (2011) bit, but not enough for the winners to speak.

“If we have time for spoofs, we have time for winners’ speeches,” one person wrote. “After all, that’s what the award show is about.”

There are reasons, some argue, for producers to keep speeches tight, even beyond simple broadcast time.

In 2025, Adrien Brody set the record for the longest Oscar acceptance speech – five minutes and 40 seconds – after winning Best Actor for his work in The Brutalist (2024).

Mr Kyle Buchanan, who reports on the Oscars for The New York Times, wrote that Brody “badly needed both a stopwatch and an exit line”. At the ceremony on March 15, Brody was a presenter – and kept his comments notably brief.

Some award shows have tried to shuffle off long-winded winners more gracefully, or more humorously, than on March 15.

American stand-up comedian Nate Bargatze, as the host of the Emmys in September 2025, pledged US$100,000 (S$127,600) to non-profit organisation Boys & Girls Club of America, only to deduct US$1,000 for every second that winners went over their allotted time. He had hoped that a charitable cause would lead to brevity. The results were mixed.

At the Academy Awards in 2001, producers promised a high-definition television set to the Oscar winner who spoke for the shortest length of time. The gambit was not wholly successful.

Accepting the Best Actress award for her work in Erin Brockovich (2000), Julia Roberts began: “I have a television, so I’m going to spend some time here to tell you some things.” NYTIMES