At the 96th Oscars, film legend Al Pacino was on the stage to announce the biggest award of the night - the Best Picture Award. As is ritual, the presenters are supposed to announce the list of the nominees, which is usually followed by snippets of the movie clips. The Godfather star, however, skipped the usual drill and simply opened the envelope with the winner's name on it. "And my eyes see Oppenheimer," the veteran actor said announcing the big winner. And with that Al Pacino made the Internet an offer that they just couldn't refuse - an opportunity to generate memes galore. A section of the Internet thought the actor seemingly forgot the drill. Others joked and called it a "Goat'ed move." After much ado, Al Pacino explained what actually happened.
First, a look at what the Internet thought of the Al Pacino moment at the Oscars.
"Al definitely forgot to read the nominees," wrote a user. Goat emojis followed, because he is, well, Al Pacino.
Is it even a meme if it does not have The Simpsons template? A user on X accompanied the meme with these words, "Literally Al Pacino arriving, announcing Best Picture and leaving."
Mistake or not, the Internet clearly picked sides and the obvious pick was Mr Pacino himself. Inputs from another user, "Goat'ed move. Loving this," read the post.
Another user joked, "Straight and to the point. Wish the whole show was like this. LOL."
"Did Al Pacino miss the nominations or did they just skip all of that," a curious user asked.
More memes incoming.
This user dug out a GIF from Al Pacino's iconic Scent Of A Woman and jokingly wrote, "Clearly Al Pacino was not at rehearsal."
Amid all the chatter around his Oscar moment, Al Pacino, in a statement, clarified that it was not his decision to skip mentioning all the nominated movies and that the producers had asked him to. "There seems to be some controversy about my not mentioning every film by name last night before announcing the best picture award. I just want to be clear it was not my intention to omit them, rather a choice by the producers not to have them said again since they were highlighted individually throughout the ceremony. I was honored to be a part of the evening and chose to follow the way they wished for this award to be presented," read the statement by Al Pacino, reported Variety.
"I realize being nominated is a huge milestone in one's life and to not be fully recognized is offensive and hurtful. I say this as someone who profoundly relates with filmmakers, actors and producers so I deeply empathize with those who have been slighted by this oversight and it's why I felt it necessary to make this statement," read an excerpt from Al Pacino's statement, per Variety.