The 'Oppenheimer' and 'Barbie' stars playfully roasted one another on stage at the 96th Academy Awards.
Not only are the 96th Academy Awards Hollywood's biggest night, but it also officially ends the age-old rivalry between 2023's biggest films: Greta Gerwig's Barbie and Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer. Appropriately dubbed as "Barbenheimer," the movie weekend was the biggest film event of 2023, and during Sunday night's ceremony, two of the phenom's central players took the chance to roast one another for one last time.
Ryan Gosling, who was nominated for playing Ken in Barbie, and Emily Blunt, who was nominated for the first time for her portrayal of Kitty Oppenheimer in Oppenheimer, showed off their natural comedic chops when they took to the stage to introduce a tribute to stunt workers.
"Ken and Kitty, just leaving all of that trouble in the dust, right, Ryan?" Blunt said to her Fall Guy co-star, to which he responded, "I'm just happy that we can finally put this 'Barbenheimer' rivalry aside."
Blunt quickly proved that a truce between the two wasn't in the cards as she added: "The way this awards season turned out, it wasn't that much of a rivalry. Just let it go," referencing how Oppenheimer has dominated awards season with several wins.
"It's true. You guys are doing very well, you know? Congratulations. I think I kind of figured out why they call it 'Barbenheimer,' and they didn't call it 'Oppen-Barbie,'" Gosling replied. "I think you guys are at the tail end of that because you were riding Barbie's coattails all summer."
Gosling's zinger was a nod to the fact that, according to Variety, Barbie's movie exceeded box-office expectations and outsold Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer.
"Thanks for Kens-plaining that to me, all right," Blunt quipped. "Mr. 'I need to paint my abs on to get nominated!' You don't see Robert Downey doing that."
Shots fired! Especially since after the skit -- which led to a tribute to stunt performers -- Downey won the award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Oppenheimer, beating out Gosling.
'Barbenheimer' will still battle for Best Picture at night's end. Barbie fans also have Gosling's live rendition of "I'm Just Ken" to look forward to!
The single is nominated for Best Original Song at this year's Oscars and the performance is the first time Gosling performs the hit single this awards season. The song snagged Gosling his first Billboard Hot 100 placement and won a Critics Choice Award -- to Gosling's surprise.
"[It's] me, Ryan, Andrew -- the Kens are special guests," writer and producer Mark Ronson previously told ET of the performance. "Maybe '80s Ken, I don't even know how many people [will be] on stage, there's so many people!"
On Friday, Gosling was spotted as he hit the stage inside the Dolby Theatre to practice ahead of his performance on Sunday. For the early run through, Gosling sported a ballcap, sunglasses and a Grave Diggers T-shirt, still giving off the hard rock and too-cool-for-school Kenergy of his character.
His wife, Eva Mendes, showed her support for her Oscar-winning hubby on social media.
Although Ronson and co-writer and producer Andrew Wyatt lament that the performance surprise had been "out of the bag," they tease that "there's still a secret" that'll surprise viewers.
"There's always another level," Wyatt shared. "There's levels. There's always levels."
"We'll have a hint of pink," Ronson added.
The 2024 Academy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, airs live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 10, at 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET on ABC. Follow along at ETonline.com for full Oscars coverage, including red carpet arrivals, the complete winners list and more.
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