Oscars 2026 recap: The biggest winners and best moments

Host Conan O'Brien guided viewers through the evening.

Last Updated: March 15, 2026, 10:52 PM EDT

The biggest and brightest stars from across Hollywood and the world of entertainment gathered in Los Angeles on Sunday for the 98th Academy Awards.

"One Battle After Another" won the Oscar for best picture, while Jessie Buckley and Michael B. Jordan took home the Academy Awards for leading actress and leading actor. "One Battle After Another" won six total Oscars -- including best picture -- out of 13 nominations.

Scroll below to see how the night unfolded.

Mar 15, 2026, 9:40 PM EDT

Ludwig Göransson wins Oscar for best original score for 'Sinners'

The cast of "Bridesmaids" presented Göransson with the award, his third Oscar win overall.

In his acceptance speech, Göransson paid tribute to his dad, who he said bought his first blues album in Sweden in 1964.

"The music was so powerful that it changed my dad's life, and he devoted his whole life to music," Göransson said, adding that it was his dad who introduced him to the guitar, which "became everything to me."

"It was the guitar that opened up a lot of doors for me, and it was the guitar that brought me over to the States and it was the guitar that eventually led me to one of the greatest storytellers of our time, Ryan Coogler," Göransson said. "Ryan, thank you for your vision and making a movie that resonated with the whole world."

Goransson is up for another Oscar tonight for best original song for "I Lied To You" from "Sinners."

Mar 15, 2026, 9:36 PM EDT

'Bridesmaids' cast reunites onstage

The Oscars brought the cast of "Bridesmaids" together 15 years after the film’s 2011 release.

Rose Byrne, who is nominated for best actress this year for "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You," was joined onstage by Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Melissa McCarthy and Ellie Kemper to present the award for best original score.

Melissa Mccarthy, Rose Byrne, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph and Ellie Kemper present at the 98th Academy Awards, March 15, 2026 in Hollywood, Calif.
Mike Blake/Reuters

McCarthy said on the red carpet earlier in the evening that she would film another “Bridesmaids” movie immediately, saying, “We really need comedies.”

Mar 15, 2026, 9:34 PM EDT

'Mr. Nobody Against Putin' wins Oscar for best documentary feature film

"Mr. Nobody Against Putin" won the Oscar for best documentary feature film.

David Borenstein, the film’s co-director, shared a powerful message while accepting the award, saying the film "is about how you lose your country."

David Borenstein, Pavel Talankin, Helle Faber and Alzbeta Karaskova win the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature Film for "Mr. Nobody Against Putin" at the 98th Academy Awards, March 15, 2026 in Hollywood, Calif.
Mike Blake/Reuters

"What we saw when working with this footage, it’s that you lose it through countless small little acts of complicity. When we act complicit, when a government murders people on the streets of our major cities. When we don't say anything, when oligarchs take over the media and control how we can produce it and consume it," Borenstein said.

Other nominees in the category included "The Alabama Solution," "Come See Me in the Good Light," "Cutting Through Rocks," and "The Perfect Neighbor."

Mar 15, 2026, 9:25 PM EDT

'All the Empty Rooms' wins Oscar for best documentary short film

"All the Empty Rooms,” which documents the bedrooms left behind when children are killed in school shootings, won the Oscar for best documentary short film.

Gloria Cazares, whose 9-year-old daughter Jackie was killed in the 2022 Robb Elementary School mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and whose bedroom was among those included in the documentary, spoke onstage as the filmmakers accepted the Oscar.

Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones win the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Film for "All the Empty Rooms" at the 98th Academy Awards, March 15, 2026 in Hollywood, Calif.
Mike Blake/Reuters

Since Jackie’s murder, “her bedroom has been frozen in time,” Cazares said.

“Jackie is more than just a headline. She is our light and our life," she said. "Gun violence is now the No. 1 cause of death in kids and teens. We believe that if the world could see their empty bedrooms, we would be a different America. Thank you.”

Other nominees in the category were "Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud," "Children No More: 'Were and Are Gone'," "The Devil is Busy" and "Perfectly a Strangeness."

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