In a major break with tradition, the Oscars will leave ABC, its broadcast home since 1976, and move to YouTube in 2029 as the Academy tries to court younger and more global audiences.
The Wednesday announcement surprised the entertainment industry and marked a turning point in how people consume content and how they will continue to do so. Disney-owned ABC will continue to air the show until its 100th anniversary in 2028, per <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/oscars-bolt-from-abc-to-youtube-starting-in-2029-1236453188/">The Hollywood Reporter</a>.
YouTube will stream the Academy Awards ceremony and related content on its platform, which boasts two billion users worldwide. This includes red-carpet pre-shows, behind-the-scenes footage, nominee announcements, and the Governors Awards, where honorary Oscars are presented.
Neal Mohan, CEO of the streaming giant, said in a statement Wednesday: “The Oscars are one of our essential cultural institutions, honoring excellence in storytelling and artistry. Partnering with the Academy to bring this celebration of art and entertainment to viewers all over the world will inspire a new generation of creativity and film lovers while staying true to the Oscars’ storied legacy.”
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ABC also issued a statement, saying, “ABC has been the proud home to The Oscars for more than half a century. We look forward to the next three telecasts, including the show’s centennial celebration in 2028, and wish the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences continued success.”
The Oscars have suffered a steep, decades-long ratings decline, exacerbated by a major drop during the pandemic, with only occasional minor upticks since. Viewership was up 1% this year, reaching 19.7 million viewers. 
While this year’s host, Conan O’Brien, mostly steered clear of politics, the Oscars are known for being a leftist lovefest, which has drawn criticism from the potential audience. This includes the show itself and the projects that get nominated. O’Brien was invited back to host in 2026.
This year, the anti-Israel film “No Other Land” won Best Documentary Feature. Daily Wire podcast host Matt Walsh had his runaway hit documentary, “Am I Racist?” snubbed by the Academy in 2024 despite its massive popularity and cultural impact.

Oscars

Oscars Trade ABC For YouTube In 2029, Because Fewer People Are Watching Anyway

The Oscars Ditch ABC, Will Air Exclusively On YouTube Beginning In 2029

Academy Awards

Entertainment

U.S.

YouTube

Ratings are down. Cultural prestige? Sinking as we speak. Yet the Best Picture race is one even casual movie fans tend to track. It’s the night’s biggest honor, and having a Best Picture logo next to a film title still holds some sway in the culture.
That’s even though most people didn’t see, or can’t remember, the last few Best Picture winners.
And, each awards season, experts track which film has the best chance to win that Oscar trophy. It’s the ultimate horse race, with box office results, critical reviews, and cultural resonance influencing the outcome.
Is this year’s race over already, weeks before some Oscar-bait films have even reached theaters? It sure looks that way.
Director Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” stars Leonardo DiCaprio and has already won multiple honors, and the awards season has barely begun. The film swept the National Board of Review’s 2025 honors, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor (DiCaprio).
That’s in addition to best picture wins with the Atlanta Film Critics Circle, the Gotham Awards, and the New York Film Critics Circle. The film also scored big with Sight and Sound’s 2025 Best Films Of The Year List, topping its 2025 chart.
More will follow, no doubt.
<div id="attachment_1010711" style="width: 471px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1010711" class="size-large wp-image-1010711" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Movie-OBAA-461x576.jpg" alt="Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures - copyright Warner Bros. Pictures" width="461" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Movie-OBAA-461x576.jpg 461w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Movie-OBAA-240x300.jpg 240w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Movie-OBAA-768x960.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Movie-OBAA-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Movie-OBAA.jpg 1638w" sizes=" (max-width: 461px) 100vw, 461px" />Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures &#8211; copyright Warner Bros. Pictures</div>
“One Battle After Another” stars DiCaprio as a bumbling protester who hangs up his revolutionary jacket to raise his mixed-race daughter (Chase Infiniti). His radical past comes back to haunt them when a racist, out-of-control Colonel (Sean Penn) tracks his daughter down for nefarious purposes.
It doesn’t take Peter Falk’s iconic Columbo to sleuth out why “One Battle After Another” is generating so much critical adoration. Yes, Anderson is a top-tier filmmaker, and some of the sequences in the film prove exhilarating.
The film’s political point of view is pure catnip to a community wedded to progressive ideals. The story’s heroes are anti-government radicals who will do whatever it takes to free illegal immigrants taken into U.S. custody.
If that means holding U.S. officials at gunpoint, setting off fireworks, or bombing buildings, so be it. The U.S. forces shown throughout the film are almost uniformly cruel, callous, or just plain evil. A subplot involving a White Nationalist group feels too extreme even for your average MS NOW anchor.
It wasn’t for movie critics, apparently. They’ve endlessly praised the film to the tune of a 94% “fresh” rating at RottenTomatoes.com. The general public liked it, albeit less, via an 85% “fresh” score.
Some scribes have tried to <a href="https://variety.com/2025/film/columns/no-one-battle-after-another-is-not-a-left-wing-film-1236556461/">downplay the film’s far-Left politics</a>, a funnier take than any late-night monologue.
<div id="attachment_1010715" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1010715" class="size-large wp-image-1010715" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Leo-robe-864x576.jpg" alt="Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures - copyright Warner Bros. Pictures" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Leo-robe-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Leo-robe-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Leo-robe-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Leo-robe-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Leo-robe-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Leo-robe-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Leo-robe.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures &#8211; copyright Warner Bros. Pictures</div>
It helps that no other 2025 release has “Best Picture” written all over it. Director Chloe Zhao’s “Hamnet” is getting early raves, but the film has barely registered at the box office ($1.7 million to date) and offers a maudlin subject. The film imagines what William Shakespeare and his wife endured after the loss of their son.
The Boss biopic “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere” flopped in theaters and didn’t get enough critical love.
Art remains subjective, but Hollywood politics are another matter. Not only does “One Battle After Another” reflect the industry’s hard-Left embrace of open borders, it’s a thumb in the eye to both ICE and President Donald Trump.
The latter will be irresistible to Academy voters. And, chances are, the film’s key stars will lean into that sentiment during awards season.
The various arts honors do more than help predict which films and actors will emerge triumphant on Oscar night. They let the early winners test out their acceptance speeches, another unwritten part of their Oscar campaigns.
Uncork a few fiery “thank you… and” speeches, hitting all the “approved” targets along the way, and a star’s Oscar chances perk up.
Now, imagine what DiCaprio would say at the Oscar podium while collecting his second Best Actor statue for “One Battle After Another.” He used his 2017 podium time to promote his Climate Change agenda.
<div id="attachment_1010725" style="width: 808px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1010725" class="size-large wp-image-1010725" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-645717450-798x576.jpg" alt="HOLLYWOOD, CA - FEBRUARY 26: Actor Leonardo DiCaprio speaks onstage during the 89th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood &amp; Highland Center on February 26, 2017 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)" width="798" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-645717450-798x576.jpg 798w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-645717450-300x217.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-645717450-768x554.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-645717450.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 798px) 100vw, 798px" />Kevin Winter/Getty Images</div>
There’s less than zero chance he won’t blast President Trump’s attempt to enforce immigration laws in any 2026 speech. And he won’t be alone.
Recent Oscar ceremonies have dialed back, to a degree, on the hard-Left polemics. Even far-Left host Jimmy Kimmel hasn’t leaned into his progressive bona fides in recent years.
That will change in 2026 after a full year of President Trump’s return to the White House. Is there a better film to reflect that “resistance” than “One Battle After Another”? That’s rhetorical.
We still have a few more weeks before the year ends. Films like “Marty Supreme,” starring perennial Oscar-bait Timothee Chalamet, hit theaters on Christmas Day. Still, anyone who grasps Oscar culture knows a heavy favorite when he or she sees one.
There is one dark path forward that could derail “One Battle After Another.” The film’s gauzy framing of violence against immigration enforcement took an ugly turn when real attacks on ICE agents broke out close to the film’s release.
The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/second-illegal-immigrant-detainee-dies-after-dallas-ice-shooting">September attack on a Dallas-based ICE facility</a> didn’t kill any U.S. agents, but it did leave two illegal immigrants dead. The media complex didn’t connect the attack to “One Battle After Another,” but if similar events follow, the connection may be unavoidable.
Hollywood may want to shrug off any ties between the film and actual carnage, but it might be enough of a problem to coax Oscar voters to select another, less incendiary film.
* * *
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic, and editor of <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
* * *
50% off DailyWire+ annual memberships will not return for another year, so don’t miss this deal! Join now at <a href="http://dailywire.com/cyberweek">DailyWire.com/cyberweek</a>.

Oscars Leo

Is the Best Picture Race Already Over?

actors

Leonardo DiCaprio

Movies

Woke Culture

After decades of snubs, actor Tom Cruise was awarded an Academy Honorary Award at the Governors Awards on November 16.
Despite being nominated several times for Oscars in the past, including for his work on “Born on the Fourth of July” (1989), “Jerry Maguire” (1996), “Magnolia” (1999), and “Top Gun: Maverick” (2022), the 63-year-old movie star has never won. His fans believe he was being unfairly shunned by the Academy.
“The cinema, it takes me around the world,” Cruise said during his emotional acceptance speech. “It helps me to appreciate and respect differences. It shows me also our shared humanity, how alike we are in so, so many ways. And no matter where we come from, in that theater, we laugh together, we feel together, we hope together, and that is the power of this art form. And that is why it matters, that is why it matters to me.&#8221;
He added, “So making films is not what I do, it is who I am.”
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Tom Cruise Receives an Honorary Oscar Award | The 16th Governors Awards Presented By @ROLEX" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NWZKuueumJE?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
“My love for cinema began at a very early age, as early as I can remember,” Cruise said. “I was just a little kid in a darkened theater, and I remember that beam of light just cut across the room, and I remember looking up, and it seemed to be just exploded on the screen. Suddenly, the world was so much larger than the one that I knew.”
He went on to say that, for him, films “sparked a hunger for adventure, a hunger for knowledge, a hunger to understand humanity, to create characters, to tell a story, to see the world.”
Cruise said, “It opened my eyes. It opened my imagination to the possibility that life could expand far beyond the boundaries that I then perceived in my own life. And that beam of light opened a desire to open the world, and I have been following it ever since.”
The award was presented by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, who is directing Cruise in an upcoming movie coming out next year.

Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise Awarded First Ever Oscar, Gives Emotional Speech

Celebrities

Actress Zoe Saldaña claims the golden Oscar statue she won for Best Supporting Actress in the musical drama “Emilia Pérez” is “gender fluid.”
“We have it in my office and my Oscar is gender fluid,” the 46-year-old celeb told <a href="https://people.com/zoe-saldana-emilia-perez-oscar-is-trans-exclusive-11752455">People</a> during a red carpet premiere for her new movie, “Elio.”
Saldaña added that the statue is “trans” and “goes by they/them” pronouns.
“Emilia Pérez” racked up 13 Academy Award nominations this year, but wound up only winning two. The film was a frontrunner early on, but was plagued by controversy, including some controversial tweets that resurfaced from the film&#8217;s Best Actress nominee, Karla Gascon, who is a man who identifies as a woman.
Saldaña won Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Rita Mora Castro, a lawyer who helps a Mexican drug cartel kingpin undergo so-called “gender-affirming” surgery. 
During her BAFTA acceptance speech, Saldaña called the film a “creative challenge of a lifetime” and said it “defies categorization.”
Saldaña is not the first to declare that her Oscar statue has a gender – or lack thereof. 
In 2023, Jamie Lee Curtis announced that she was referring to her Best Supporting Actress Oscars trophy as “they/them” in honor of her 27-year-old child, who identifies as transgender. Curtis won that year for “Everything Everywhere All At Once.”
“I’m in support of my daughter Ruby. I’m having them be a they/them,” Curtis said while getting emotional, per Variety. “I’m going to just call them ‘them.’ They/them, and they are doing great, they’re settling in, and I just, in my life, I never saw it in a million years that I’d have this couple days, and I’m very moved by the whole thing.”
Ruby Guest is one of two children Curtis has with her husband, Christopher Guest.

Zoe Saldana

‘Emilia Perez’ Actress Insists Her Oscar Statue Is Trans, Uses They-Them Pronouns

'Emilia Perez' Actress Insists Her Oscars Statue Is Trans, Uses They-Them Pronouns

Transgender

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences made a change to the rules for Oscars voting that shocked fans who can’t believe it hasn&#8217;t been the standard all along.
Several new <a href="https://press.oscars.org/news/awards-rules-and-campaign-promotional-regulations-approved-98th-oscarsr">guidelines</a> were announced Monday, including a rule saying, “Academy members must now watch all nominated films in each category to be eligible to vote in the final round for the Oscars.”
“Absolutely insane this wasn’t already a thing,” one X user replied to the update, echoing what so many others were saying. “Were they just voting on vibes before?” another chimed in.
Commenters also wondered if some films in the past may have been overlooked or snubbed because of it.
“This honestly makes me question the integrity of previous Oscar wins,” another reply <a href="https://x.com/sash_jpg/status/1914423182448005584">said</a>. “Imagine if Dune: Part Two didn’t get an award simply because voters couldn’t be bothered to sit through a two-hour film, and the clip they saw felt too boring or confusing without context. There are so many great films that probably lost out this way.”
Others questioned how the new rule would be enforced.
“How will you prove this? I could go to the theater and sleep through every one or play the screeners to an empty couch. It seems this is more wish fulfillment than actual enforceable policy,” one person <a href="https://x.com/deltamagnet/status/1914413354162250034">wrote</a>.
The Academy announced other updates in addition to the new rule for voting, including a rule saying the use of generative AI and digital tools will &#8220;neither help nor harm the chances of achieving a nomination.”
This comes amid a huge debate over the use of AI in the movie industry, with actors and directors divided on how and when it should be used. There was controversy about the use of AI in “The Brutalist” this past awards season. The historical drama took home three Academy Awards, including Best Actor.
It was discovered that Adrien Brody’s Hungarian accent was tweaked using AI to adjust vowel and consonant sounds using an editor’s voice. The director justified the move, saying it was a tiny fix that didn’t touch the actual performance.

Oscars Mandate Voters Must Watch All Films Before Voting, Sparking Mockery Online

Hollywood

Actress Cate Blanchett explained why we should stop televising awards shows, reminiscing about when stars could just enjoy the party without worrying about their every move being recorded.
Speaking on the “Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang” podcast, the 55-year-old actress said that the Academy Awards, among other Hollywood shows, should “go back to the day when it wasn’t televised,” The <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/cate-blanchett-awards-shows-shouldnt-be-televised-anymore-1236168677/">Hollywood Reporter</a> noted.
The actress said with the invention of smartphones, there are just “so few spaces that you can go now, where you are private.”
“That’s what I loved about the late 80s [was] going to all of the dance parties in Sydney for Mardi Gras. People were just there,” Blanchett said. “They were so present, you know, they were just together, collectively, having a great time.”
“It was non-aggressive. No one was being recorded. No one cared what anyone did,” she added.
The podcast hosts and Blanchett then slammed the TikTok trend of having lip-reading influencers post videos on the platform claiming to reveal what stars were saying to each other at these events.
“I mean, I say, I know it’s blasphemy, go back to the day when it wasn’t televised,” the “Oceans Eight” star said. “Bring that back and just have a great party where people can just let go.”
“I mean, the industry is so scattered and at such a point … which I think potentially could be exciting or could really be depressing, but it’s at a pivot point, and so we need to gather together and celebrate what it is that we do, without it having to have any public-facing,” she added.
“I mean, the fashion is great, and all of that stuff,” Blanchett continued. “We’ll find out in the end who won or who didn’t win. But it would be so nice that that happened behind closed doors. [It would be] absolutely a very different evening.”
Blanchett is a two-time Oscar winner, after taking home Best Supporting Actress for her performance in “The Aviator” in 2005 and Best Actress in 2014&#8217;s &#8220;Blue Jasmine,&#8221; the outlet noted.
The first Academy Awards to be televised was in 1953. It was the 25th ceremony. Earlier this month, the academy celebrated its 97th Oscars show hosted by former late-night host Conan O’Brien.
As host of the 2025 Oscars, O’Brien mainly steered away from politics and received praise for his job hosting the awards show where the telecast viewership jumped to its highest ratings in five years, according to The <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/oscars-conan-obrien-host-2026-1236164868/?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=exacttarget&amp;utm_campaign=Today+In+Entertainment+March+17+2025&amp;utm_content=594036_3-17-2025&amp;utm_id=594036&amp;utm_term=9718857">Hollywood Reporter</a>.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/conan-to-return-for-2026-oscars-amid-rave-reviews" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Conan To Return For 2026 Oscars Amid Rave Reviews</a>

Cate Blanchett

Cate Blanchett: Awards Shows Should No Longer Be Televised

Former late-night host Conan O’Brien will return to host the 2026 Oscars amid rave reviews of his job helming this year’s 97th Academy Awards.
O’Brien received praise for his job hosting the 2025 Oscars where the telecast viewership jumped to its highest ratings in five years, according to The <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/oscars-conan-obrien-host-2026-1236164868/?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=exacttarget&amp;utm_campaign=Today+In+Entertainment+March+17+2025&amp;utm_content=594036_3-17-2025&amp;utm_id=594036&amp;utm_term=9718857">Hollywood Reporter</a>.
“We are thrilled to bring back Conan, Raj, Katy, Jeff and Mike for the 98th Oscars,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and outgoing president Janet Yang said in a statement from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Monday.
“This year, they produced a hugely entertaining and visually stunning show that celebrated our nominees and the global film community in the most beautiful and impactful way,” it added.
“Conan was the perfect host — skillfully guiding us through the evening with humor, warmth and reverence. It is an honor to be working with them again.”
O’Brien later released his own statement, cracking a joke about Adrien Brody, who set a record this year for the longest Oscars acceptance speech when he won Best Actor for “The Brutalist,” <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/03/17/nx-s1-5330694/conan-obrien-oscars-host#:~:text=Comedian%2C%20longtime%20talk%20show%20host,Arts%20and%20Sciences%20announced%20Monday.">NPR</a> noted.
&#8220;The only reason I&#8217;m hosting the Oscars next year is that I want to hear Adrien Brody finish his speech,” the former talk show host said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Conan O’Brien will return to host the 2026 Oscars, after earning rave reviews and helping to net a five-year high in total Oscars viewership. <a href="https://t.co/5MPQK4XE0H">https://t.co/5MPQK4XE0H</a>
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) <a href="https://twitter.com/VanityFair/status/1901710373604212928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
It was initially reported that total viewership of the O&#8217;Brien hosted Academy Awards was down 7%, with approximately 18.1 million people tuning in to watch the 97th Academy Awards on ABC.
However, those numbers were later revised to show that a total of 19.7 million viewers watched the show, making it the most-watched primetime entertainment program of the 2024-2025 season, that wasn’t sports or news, the Academy noted. The Oscars also had the highest rating in the key demographic of adults, ages 18-49, scoring a 4.54 rating, per the Academy.
To put those numbers into context, in 2022, the Academy Awards had 16.6 million viewers, 18.8 million in 2023, and 19.5 million in 2024.
As host of the 2025 Oscars, O’Brien mainly steered away from politics and cracked jokes about things like “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/movies">Emilia Pérez</a>” star Karla Sofía Gascón, who became the first <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/transgender">trans-identifying</a> man in history to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.
Pretending to be Gascon’s publicist, O’Brien held his hand up to his head like he was on the phone and screamed, “You tweeted what?!” Gascon recently made headlines due to unearthed tweets that went viral, which included critical statements on Muslims and George Floyd.
The 98th Oscars will take place on Sunday, March 15, 2026. It will be held at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will be televised live once again on ABC, the Academy noted.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/here-are-all-the-winners-of-the-97th-oscars" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Here Are All The Winners Of The 97th Oscars</a>

Conan O’Brien

Conan To Return For 2026 Oscars Amid Rave Reviews

Conan O'Brien

Ratings

Conan O’Brien revealed a few skits he proposed for his hosting gig earlier this month at the 97th Academy Awards that were rejected due to how they presented the famous gold Oscar statue.
The late-night host avoided most hot-button topics and politics during his time onstage, but he did want to have some fun with the Oscar statue. The 61-year-old celeb said the Academy turned him down, however.
O’Brien said his idea was to portray a 9-foot-tall Oscar statue as his domestic partner, Variety <a href="https://variety.com/2025/film/news/conan-obrien-scrapped-oscars-opening-movie-parody-1236336452/">reported</a>. “We’re fighting about things couples fight about,” he said of the concept during a recent episode of the “Conan Needs a Friend” podcast he did with head Oscars writer Mike Sweeney. 
“At one point, I thought wouldn’t it be great if it’s just on the couch? Let’s lay it on a really big couch and I’ll be vacuuming and say, ‘Could you at least lift your feet? Or could you at least get up and help? Load the dishwasher?’ We wanted to do it and they just said, ‘No, no no, that can’t happen.’”
“One of the people from the Academy came forward and said, ‘Oscar can never be horizontal.’ And that blew my mind. Like, wow, this is like the thigh bone of St. Peter. This is a religious icon,” the comedian added.
O’Brien said when he pitched the idea of the Oscar statue wearing an apron and serving him dinner, he was told, “No clothing on Oscar. Oscar is always naked.” 
Another proposed concept that never got off the ground included O’Brien inserting himself into some of the Best Picture-nominated features, starting with “Wicked.”
“It was the idea that, ‘Oh, Conan’s now going to goof on all the movies,’” O’Brien said. “It starts with me and I’m in ‘Wicked’ and I’m all green, finishing ‘Defying Gravity’ or one of those songs. And I finish it and then you cut to the next thing, which is ‘Gladiator II’ and ‘clang, clang, clang’ with swords and you see that I’m a gladiator but then you notice that I’m still green. And then you go on to ‘Conclave’ and you see people voting with their ballots and one of the hands is still green.”
“The whole thing was that the dye wouldn’t come off and we had to shoot it in one day,” he said. 
Overall, O’Brien was praised for his hosting performance, with the major complaint being that the whole thing was played too safe, and the ceremony ended up long and boring.

Conan O’Brien Reflects On Rejected Oscars Bit: ‘This Is A Religious Icon’

Conan O'Brien Reflects On Rejected Oscars Bit: 'This Is A Religious Icon'

Trans-identifying actor Karla Sofía Gascón, the first man nominated for the Best Actress award, claims he dealt with dark thoughts amid his Oscars controversy.
The Spanish actor said the days leading up to the 97th Academy Awards earlier this month were the “most exposed” period of his life and &#8220;things escalated&#8221; to an extreme point for him.
After controversially getting the first nomination as a male for Best Actress, Gascón was getting a lot of promotional buzz from progressive voices. However, when his past social media posts <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trans-identifying-best-actress-nominee-will-attend-oscars-despite-tweet-controversy">criticizing</a> George Floyd and Islam resurfaced, the actor was caught up in an avalanche of backlash, largely from the Left.
“Absurd and even delirious accusations were thrown at me, which deeply hurt my spirit. Things escalated to a point, and so quickly, that I couldn’t even breathe,” the actor said, per <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/mar/10/karla-sofia-gascon-emilia-perez-speaks-out-oscars-season">The Guardian</a>. “Amid this unexpected, devastating storm, there have been moments when the pain has been so overwhelming that I contemplated the unthinkable,” Gascón continued.
“I harbored darker thoughts than those I considered in some of my previous, no less intimate and personal struggles. And I asked myself: if I, with all my strength and preparedness to deal with rage and rejection, am on the edge, what would have become of someone with fewer emotional resources to resist this onslaught? Somehow, I made it. Others would not have survived this brutal winter I am about to wrap up.”
The musical drama “Emilia Pérez” received 13 nominations at the Oscars but wound up taking home just two golden statues: Best Supporting Actress for Zoe Saldaña and Best Song for El Mal.
After the ceremony, Gascón told The Hollywood Reporter that he “loved the ceremony&#8221; and &#8220;found it very enjoyable” but said he would have preferred different circumstances. “I would have liked to experience it more normally, from the happiness of being nominated, of celebrating, as I am now, full of love, a person who puts her soul and her being into her work and who gives herself to others,” he said. 
Among the past social media posts that landed Gascón in hot water in Hollywood were posts highlighting George Floyd&#8217;s drug abuse and criticizing Islam.
“Let me get this straight, a guy tries to pass off a counterfeit bill after consuming methamphetamine, an idiot policeman arrives and goes too far in arresting him, killing him, ruining the lives of his family and his colleagues, and turning the guy with the bill into a martyr hero,&#8221; he tweeted in June 2020. He went on to describe Floyd as “a drug addict swindler.&#8221;
In a November 2020 tweet, Gascón wrote about Muslims in Europe: “Sorry, is it just my impression or are there more and more Muslims in Spain? Every time I go to pick up my daughter from school there are more women with their hair covered and their skirts down to their heels. Maybe next year instead of English we’ll have to teach Arabic. Until we ban religions that go against European values and violate human rights, such as Islam, under the protection of freedom of worship, we will not end part of the huge problem we face.”
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a free hotline for individuals in crisis or distress or for those looking to help someone else. It is available 24/7 at 1-800-273-8255.

Karla Sofia Gascon

Trans-Identifying ‘Emilia Perez’ Actor Says He ‘Contemplated The Unthinkable’ During Tweet Scandal

Trans-Identifying 'Emilia Perez' Actor Says He 'Contemplated The Unthinkable' During Tweet Scandal

World

Actor Kieran Culkin is not a conservative by any stretch. Like most of Hollywood, he’s got unapologetically liberal views and has been vocal about his disdain for President Trump. But despite holding these beliefs, he’s also made headlines recently for expressing some refreshing takes on fatherhood which deserve to be celebrated.
In an industry rife with celebrities <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/thank-god-we-dont-have-children-seth-rogen-brags-about-decision-to-stay-kid-free">bragging about being child-free</a> and actresses <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-former-americas-next-top-model-contestant-rebukes-michelle-williams-babies-do-not-keep-us-from-our-dreams">crediting abortion</a> for their successful careers, Culkin is an anomaly. The 42-year-old star began his career as a child actor with roles in major productions such as “Home Alone” and “Father of the Bride.” After a brief hiatus and some theater appearances, he hit his stride as an adult actor and won an Emmy for his role as the snarky bad boy Roman Roy in “Succession.” 
Now Culkin can add Oscar to his list of awards, and that’s the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kieran-culkin-uses-oscars-speech-to-ask-wife-for-fourth-child">speech</a> that has everyone buzzing. The actor, who won Best Supporting Actor for “A Real Pain” at the 97th Academy Awards, used his time at the podium to sweetly petition his wife, Jazz, to have a fourth child. Culkin may be a liberal, but all the conservatives were left swooning.
“This is — please don’t play the music because I want to tell a really quick story about Jazz,” the actor said at the end of his speech, before going on to reference how after winning an Emmy, he had mentioned wanting to have a third baby.
“About a year ago, I was on a stage like this and I very stupidly, publicly said that I want a third kid from her because she said if I won the award, I would, she would give me the kid. It turns out she said that because she didn’t think I was gonna win, but then people came up to her and were like, you know, really annoying her … I think it got to her, but anyway.”
<div id="attachment_887723" style="width: 394px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-887723" class="size-large wp-image-887723" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2202412394-384x576.jpg" alt="THE OSCARS® &quot;The Oscars&quot; will be held on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will air live on ABC, Hulu and broadcast outlets in more than 200 territories worldwide. (Disney/Stewart Cook)KIERAN CULKIN (Photo by Stewart Cook/Disney via Getty Images)" width="384" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2202412394-384x576.jpg 384w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2202412394-200x300.jpg 200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2202412394.jpg 683w" sizes=" (max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px" />Stewart Cook/Disney via Getty Images</div>
“After the show, we’re walking through a parking lot, she’s holding the Emmy, we’re trying to find a car. Emily, you were there, so you’re a witness, and she goes, ‘Oh God, I did say that. I guess I owe you a third kid,’ and I turned to her and I said, ‘Really, I want four.’ And she turned to me, I swear to God this happened, it was just over a year ago, she said, ‘I will give you four when you win an Oscar.’ I held my hand out, she shook it, and I have not brought it up once until just now,” Culkin continued as the audience laughed.
“You remember that, honey? You do? Then, I just have this to say to you, Jazz, love of my life, ye of little faith. No pressure. I love you. I’m really sorry I did this again. And let’s get crackin’ on those kids. What do you say? I love you!” he concluded.
As mentioned, this wasn’t the only time Culkin had requested a baby after winning a major award. He did the same thing after winning an Emmy in 2024. And it’s also not the first time he’s gushed about fatherhood.
The actor <a href="https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/a43399530/kieran-culkin-succession-interview-2023/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Esquire in 2023 that after his run in “Succession” ended, he didn’t have anything else lined up, and said he did it intentionally. 
“I would like there to be nothing for a little while..,” Culkin said at the time. “I feel like what I’m supposed to do is be a stay-at-home dad. That’s where I feel like I’m the most me. And anything that takes me away from that is wrong.”
<div id="attachment_887731" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-887731" class="size-large wp-image-887731" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2202523665-864x576.jpg" alt="US actor Kieran Culkin, Oscar winner for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for &quot;A Real Pain&quot; poses with his wife Jazz Charton during the 97th Annual Academy Awards Governors Ball at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 2, 2025. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP) (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2202523665-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2202523665-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2202523665-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2202523665.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images</div>
The actor even said he almost quit “A Real Pain” when the scheduling dates were such that he’d be away from his family, including Jazz and their two young children, for a whole month. 
“I was like, ‘I can’t be away from the family for that long,’ and I had a flip-out,” he told The New York Times in December. “I was in Warsaw and I asked for one less day of press so I could go home for a day. I was home for 32 hours — and I was sick the whole time, so the trip was pointless — but I just needed to be home and see the kids. The work is so I can be home, not so I can be at work,” he added.
During the same interview, the actor said becoming a father changed everything for him.
“That’s why with this movie, I was like, ‘Why did I say yes to this? There’s no money here, I don’t see how this is going to benefit me or my family in any way.’ I don’t have the same mentality of when I was 26 and single, being like, ‘I’m going to Shreveport to do a movie for a few weeks, who cares?’ Now I have to go, ‘Where does it shoot and for how long? Can I bring the family? When, because are my kids going to be in school?’ All those things matter before I even start the conversation of will I do it or not.”
He added, “[T]he real stuff is me being home with my kids, when I’m reading them books and singing them songs until they go to sleep. That’s the whole point of life. The rest of it I’m doing so I can get back to that.”
Culkin, whose brother is well-known “Home Alone” star Macauley Culkin, is one of six kids, so big families are nothing new to him. But the actor didn’t get along with his father. Christopher Cornelius &#8220;Kit&#8221; Culkin and Patricia Brentrup never formally married but stayed together from 1974 until they broke up in 1995. Culkin and his dad are currently estranged.
The “Succession” star said his dad was abusive during childhood, per <a href="https://people.com/all-about-macaulay-culkin-parents-8408576">People</a>. Culkin also said his father, an aspiring actor himself, was jealous of his success.
&#8220;[He said] &#8216;Do good or I&#8217;ll hit you.&#8217; He was a bad man. He was abusive, physically and mentally — I can show you all my scars if I wanted to,&#8221; Culkin said during an appearance on the podcast WTF With Marc Maron in 2018.
The family didn’t have a lot of money. They shared a railroad style apartment in Manhattan&#8217;s Upper East Side as his father worked as a cab driver and at a Catholic Church and his mom earned money as a phone operator. The outlet noted that five kids shared two bunk beds in one room until Macauley started earning bigger paychecks with his successful film career.
<div id="attachment_887733" style="width: 394px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-887733" class="size-large wp-image-887733" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-104181879-384x576.jpg" alt="UNITED KINGDOM - CIRCA 1991: Macaulay Culkin, Kieran Culkin (Photo by Dave Benett/Getty Images)" width="384" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-104181879-384x576.jpg 384w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-104181879-200x300.jpg 200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-104181879.jpg 683w" sizes=" (max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px" />Dave Benett/Getty Images</div>
&#8220;It was just a hallway, and there were no separating doors, except for the bathroom, which didn&#8217;t have a lock,&#8221; the actor told Vanity Fair. &#8220;They raised seven kids in that apartment — for years! They just kept bringing babies home to this little space.&#8221;
Culkin has a better relationship with his mom, who he thanked during his 2024 Emmys acceptance speech. &#8220;My wonderful mom,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Thank you so much for doing everything you did for us. You&#8217;re an amazing woman.&#8221;
A rocky childhood hasn’t deterred the star from trying to create a stable family for himself. He and Jazz eloped in 2013, then welcomed daughter Kinsey Sioux in 2019, and son Wilder Wolf in 2021.
In December, he <a href="https://variety.com/2024/film/news/kieran-culkin-colman-domingo-method-acting-sing-sing-1236241031/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Variety that besides being a father, “nothing else matters.”
“When I look at my life before I had kids, I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, this was some guy who like, had hobbies and liked things. This isn’t a real person,&#8217;” he said. “… I’m a dad now, and that’s my only actual role in life is that, that’s real life, and all this is lovely, but I’m just trying to get home.”

Kieran Culkin

Kieran Culkin Is All In For Fatherhood: ‘That’s The Whole Point Of Life’

Kieran Culkin Is All In For Fatherhood: 'That's The Whole Point Of Life'

fatherhood

Parenting

Oscars viewership was down 7% this year, with approximately 18.1 million people tuning in to watch the 97th Academy Awards on ABC.
The total number is calculated by adding the Nielsen measurement of viewers on ABC to live streaming viewers watching the ceremony on Hulu. This is the first time numbers have decreased since 2021, when just 10.4 million viewers tuned in following the COVID pandemic, per <a href="https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/oscars-ratings-2025-viewers-1236326364/">Variety</a>.
Viewership has steadily been increasing since then until this year’s drop. The Academy Awards had 16.6 million viewers in 2022, 18.8 million in 2023, and 19.5 million in 2024, the outlet noted.
Despite fewer viewers, the broadcast was the most-watched primetime entertainment program this year that wasn’t sports or news. The Oscars also had the highest rating in the 18-49 demographic, increasing 3% compared to last year.
The outlet also noted that there were technical difficulties for people watching the awards on Hulu, which disrupted the broadcast just before Best Picture was announced at the end of the night.
First-time host Conan O’Brien mostly steered clear of politics and other hot-button issues throughout the night. “I think as host, I cannot ignore the moment we’re in right now, but also it’s threading a needle,” he said ahead of the hosting gig. 
“I want to do it with humor and also make sure the night doesn’t drift into only about that,” O’Brien added.
The comedian took a jab at Karla Sofia Gascón, a trans-identifying actor who was up for Best Actress, over old social media posts and joked about the Drake and Kendrick Lamar feud. He also added a joke about the Catholic Church while referencing the film &#8220;Conclave.&#8221;
“Anora,” a drama about a prostitute who weds a Russian oligarch, was the big winner on Sunday night, bringing home five golden statues. One of the most controversial moments of the evening came when Best Actress winner Mikey Madison thanked the “sex worker community” for her win.
Best Actor winner Adrien Brody refused to leave the stage when the music started playing and proceeded to give the longest acceptance speech in the history of the Academy Awards.
Another controversial moment came after “No Other Land” won Best Documentary Feature Film. The anti-Israel project was directed by Palestinian activist Basel Adra and left-wing Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham.
“We live in a regime where I am free under civilian law and Basel is under military laws that destroy his life and he cannot control, there is a different path,” Abraham <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/best-documentary-winner-gives-anti-israel-speech-slams-u-s-foreign-policy">said</a> during his speech. “There is a political solution without ethnic supremacy, with national rights for both of our people. And I have to say, as I’m here, the foreign policy in [the United States] is helping to block this path.”

Oscars Viewership Dropped This Year For First Time Since COVID

Nielsen Ratings

Television

The Oscar winner for Best Documentary Feature Film, “No Other Land,” is based on lies, according to an Israeli group that documents illegal Arab construction in Judea and Samaria, also known as the West Bank.
“No Other Land,” a documentary co-directed by left-wing Israelis and Arab activists, won the Oscar on Sunday night. Its Palestinian co-director, Basel Adra, took to the stage for his acceptance speech to accuse Israel of ethnic cleansing.
“‘No Other Land’ reflects the harsh reality that we have been enduring for decades and still resist as we call on the world to take serious actions to stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people,” Adra said.
His Israeli co-director, left-wing journalist Yuval Abraham, chimed in, claiming that he is free as an Israeli, while Adra is “under military law that destroys his life and he cannot control.”
But according to the Israeli NGO Regavim, the documentary relies on a “concoction of misrepresentations and outright fabrications.”
&#8220;This is a propaganda film that serves the false Palestinian narrative, and seeks to undermine the legitimacy of the State of Israel in the international arena in order to cause boycotts and sanctions of IDF fighters,” Meir Deutsch, director-general of Regavim, said in a statement.
Throughout the film, Adra documents his struggle to stop the Israeli Defense Forces from demolishing what are described as “ancient villages” in an area called Masafer Yatta, which is east of the Palestinian Authority town of Yatta. In reality, Regavim points out, all of the so-called villages of Masafer Yatta did not exist when Israel declared the area an IDF training zone for live-fire exercises in the early 1980s.
The name Masafer Yatta is believed to come from the word “traveling,” a reference to its distance from Yatta, or from the Arabic word for “nothing” or “zero,” a reference to the desert wasteland that was not suitable for anything.
<a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vRonWo2AVqBw9N4jhBx_Qxlp1BOsd7iBYx1LU5gX2FYJ61a9Sp_PXHRjnGrszj_odj9H65jsKESIr8Z/pub?start=false&amp;loop=false&amp;delayms=3000&amp;slide=id.p" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Aerial photographs</a> dating as far back as 1945 — some of which the Arabs submitted themselves to the Israeli Supreme Court — show no signs of a residential presence before the 1980s. Not until the 2000s does the area have signs of habitation in the images.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-886175" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Cover-images-25-919x576.png" alt="" width="919" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Cover-images-25-919x576.png 919w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Cover-images-25-300x188.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Cover-images-25-768x482.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Cover-images-25.png 1102w" sizes=" (max-width: 919px) 100vw, 919px" /></div>
The IDF routinely blocked attempts to build illegal structures on the training ground in the 1980s and 1990s when the Israeli Air Force and IDF were conducting live-fire exercises. However, Arab farmers and shepherds were allowed to use the zone when there were lulls in training to plant and harvest crops and graze livestock.
IDF Firing Zone 918, where Masafer Yatta is located, is within “Area C” of Judea and Samaria, which is under full Israeli control under the Oslo Accords. Yatta is located in “Area A,” which puts it under the full control of the Palestinian Authority. “Area B” is under dual Israeli and Palestinian Authority control.
In 2000, a group of Arabs petitioned to Israel’s High Court of Justice to block the demolition orders issued against their squatter structures, leading to a temporary injunction that suspended demolitions and prohibited new, permanent construction.
During the 12 years of deliberation over the petition, the group of Arabs continued to rapidly increase construction, which has been funded in part by European countries. Several photos Regavim has taken at the sites of the illegal building have signs attributing funding to the European Union, other European governments, and UK Aid, a foreign aid agency of the United Kingdom. Some of the signs state that the villages are part of “The State of Palestine.”
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-886177" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/EU-infrastructure-illegal-road-in-Firing-Zone-918-432x576.jpg" alt="" width="432" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/EU-infrastructure-illegal-road-in-Firing-Zone-918-432x576.jpg 432w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/EU-infrastructure-illegal-road-in-Firing-Zone-918-225x300.jpg 225w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/EU-infrastructure-illegal-road-in-Firing-Zone-918-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/EU-infrastructure-illegal-road-in-Firing-Zone-918-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/EU-infrastructure-illegal-road-in-Firing-Zone-918.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 432px) 100vw, 432px" /></div>
According to Naomi Kahn, the director of the international division of Regavim, the Palestinian Authority encourages and supports the illegal construction as a way of taking over Area C.
“Since the announcement by the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority in 2009 that the Oslo framework was no longer binding, the Palestinian Authority has poured all of its resources into de facto annexation of Area C.”
Kahn stresses that more than 60% of Areas A and B — the territory already under Palestinian Authority control — is empty and available for construction and development.
“They are putting facts on the ground in strategic points, forming the map of a Palestinian state in the entirety of Judea and Samaria — without the bother of negotiation or compromise with Israel.”
In 2012, the temporary injunction was extended, allowing grazing and seasonal agriculture, as well as year-round residences in the northern section where the IDF would only carry out “dry” training maneuvers, which do not involve the use of live ammunition.
The following year, another petition was filed while the illegal construction continued to grow, preventing the IDF from using the firing zone. The Arab appellants called for all structures to be legalized, arguing that they resided in the area before it became an IDF firing zone.
In 2022, the court handed down a decision that accused the Arab appellants of abusing the legal process and violating the injunctions against continuing construction. The court also found that many of the appellants owned permanent residences in Yatta.
Since the failed legal efforts, the international community has pressured Israel to stop the demolition orders, which has led to the elevation of “No Other Land” in the world press.
Though the film earned more than 25 times less than Matt Walsh’s 2024 film “Am I Racist,” which was not nominated for an Oscar, Adra and Abraham’s film continues to win awards, even in the aftermath of Hamas’s massacre, kidnapping, and raping of Israeli civilians.
“No Other Land” claims it ended filming in 2023 but pays a brief tribute to the October 7 attack, with the voice of an Arabic-speaking newscaster and the translation, “Netanyahu promised revenge that will be more painful for the attack Hamas carried out killing Israelis in unprecedented numbers. Israel killed thousands of Palestinians in Gaza while hundreds of Israelis are held hostage.”
“The short ‘tribute’ to October 7 in the Pallywood Propaganda Film ‘No Other Land’ show precisely how much they actually care about human life or coexistence,” Kahn said.
Israel’s Culture Minister Miki Zohar <a href="https://x.com/zoharm7/status/1896456450932658584" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> the film&#8217;s Oscar award a “sad moment for the world of cinema.”
“Instead of presenting the complexity of Israeli reality, the filmmakers chose to amplify narratives that distort Israel’s image vis-à-vis international audiences,” Zohar said. “Freedom of expression is an important value, but turning the defamation of Israel into a tool for international promotion is not art — it is sabotage against the State of Israel, especially in the wake of the October 7th massacre and the ongoing war.”

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