Sometimes the best part of an awards show isn’t the show itself — it’s how the audience reacts to the night’s events.
Plenty of stars have been caught on camera making a less-than-gracious loser’s face or candidly expressing their distaste for a particular performer or joke and the meme-worthy moments have lived on for ages in social media history.
At the 2020 Grammy Awards, Billie Eilish became the youngest person to ever win the Grammy Award for Song of the Year and could hardly contain her surprise when her name was announced. Surrounded by family and friends in the audience, the “Bad Guy” singer placed her hands over her mouth in full shock.
A few weeks later, she gave viewers another top-notch reaction GIF when she was caught cringing as Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig sang off-key at the 92nd annual Academy Awards.
One year later, awards shows were forced to make some major adjustments to their routine productions when the coronavirus pandemic put Hollywood on pause. The 78th Golden Globe Awards took place nearly two months later than usual and hardly had any audience members attending in person as Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosted from two separate venues. However, the unique circumstances allowed fans to catch a glimpse of their favorite stars in their element at home.
Jason Sudeikis stole the show via Zoom while Norman Lear thanked the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for honoring him with the Carol Burnett Award in February 2020. The Ted Lasso star was hooked on Lear’s every word as he tuned in virtually wearing a tie-dyed sweatshirt.
When the All in the Family creator acknowledged that he was getting close to 99, Sudeikis couldn’t contain his surprise. At the bottom corner of the screen, he was caught with his mouth agape, wowed by Lear’s long run in Hollywood.
The We’re the Millers actor later accepted his own award that night for Best Actor in a TV Series, Musical or Comedy — but his speech wasn’t as well-rehearsed as Lear’s. Sudeikis earned a friendly “wrap it up” gesture from fellow nominee Don Cheadle as he struggled to express his gratitude to the HFPA.
“Hey, that’s just Kansas City love,” Sudeikis joked of the moment during a virtual press conference after his Golden Globes win. “If anyone was going to tell me … he knew I’d listen to him. That’s all that is. A lot of people don’t know that he’s an excellent stage manager as well as an American acting icon. The guy’s got chops, you know?”
Scroll down to see some of the most hilarious awards show reactions!