OSCARS viewers were left stunned when two winners were announced for one category – a rare occurrence in the 98th annual awards show’s history.
Fans at home shared their confusion on Sunday when two nominees nabbed the win for Live Action Short Film.
Comedian Kumail Nanjiani presented the award at the ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
Before revealing the winner in the prestigious category, the actor warned that two names would be called, and that it indeed wasn’t a mistake.
He explained that both recipients would come onstage separately to accept their awards and give their speeches.
The Singers was the first announced, followed by Two People Exchanging Saliva, which experienced an awkward blunder when the spotlight went dark, cutting off the winners’ mid-speech.
After a few moments of silence and an uncomfortable look from host Conan O’Brien, the spotlight turned back on, and they resumed their speech.
There have only been six other times when a tie has occurred at the Academy Awards.
The first tie occurred at the 5th annual ceremony in 1932 when Fredric March (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) and Wallace Beery (The Champ) both won the Best Actor award.
Technically, Fredric won by one vote over Wallace, but at the time, the rules stated that anyone within three votes of the winner would receive the award.
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A tie happened again in 1950 in the Best Documentary Short category, in which So Much for So Little and A Chance to Live both were awarded the trophy.
This was the case in 1969 when Katharine Hepburn (The Lion in Winter) and Barbra Streisand (Funny Girl) both received the Best Actress honor.
The fourth tie occurred in 1987 when the award for Best Documentary (Feature) went to Artie Shaw: Time Is All You’ve Got and Down and Out in America.
It wasn’t until 1995 that another tie was called in the Best Live-Action Short Film category, with the statue going to Trevor and Franz Kafka’s It’s a Wonderful Life.
The last instance was in 2013 when the Sound Editing category had two Oscar winners: Zero Dark Thirty (Paul N. J. Ottosson) and Skyfall (Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers).
Most Awarded Oscar Winners of All Time
Best Director:
John Ford — 4 wins
- The Informer (1935)
- The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
- How Green Was My Valley (1941)
- The Quiet Man (1952)
Frank Capra — 3 wins
- It Happened One Night (1934)
- Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
- You Can’t Take It with You (1938)
William Wyler — 3 wins
- Mrs. Miniver (1942)
- The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
- Ben-Hur (1959)
Best Actor in a Leading Role:
Daniel Day‑Lewis — 3 wins (most in history)
- My Left Foot (1989)
- There Will Be Blood (2007)
- Lincoln (2012)
A slew of actors are tied in second place having won 2 Oscars, including: Marlon Brando, Tom Hanks, Dustin Hoffman, Sean Penn, Anthony Hopkins, and more.
Best Actress in a Leading Role:
Katharine Hepburn — 4 wins
- Morning Glory (1933)
- Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967)
- The Lion in Winter (1968)
- On Golden Pond (1981)
Frances McDormand — 3 wins
- Fargo (1996)
- Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
- Nomadland (2020)
Meryl Streep — 3 wins (two lead, one supporting)
- Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) — Supporting Actress
- Sophie’s Choice (1982) — Lead Actress
- The Iron Lady (2011) — Lead Actress
Best Actor in a Supporting Role:
Walter Brennan — 3 wins
- Come and Get It (1936)
- Kentucky (1938)
- The Westerner (1940)
Many actors are tied for the second place honor with 2 nominations, including: Michael Caine, Denzel Washington, Gene Hackman, Jack Nicholson, Christoph Waltz, and Mahershala Ali.
Best Actress in a Supporting Role:
Dianne Wiest — 2 wins
- Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
- Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
Shelley Winters — 2 wins
- The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)
- A Patch of Blue (1965)
Maggie Smith — 2 wins
- The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) — Lead Actress
- California Suite (1978) — Supporting Actress
Social media erupted with fans’ confusion over whether it was normal for there to be two winners in one category.
“Today I learned that a tie at the Oscars is actually possible. I didn’t know that was a thing. Who knew?!” one viewer wrote on X.
“So far this #Oscars, we’ve got endless roasts about opera and ballet, an unusual amount of AI comments, and even an award that resulted in a tie… which I didn’t know was a thing (it’s only happened seven times in 98 years),” another said.
“A tie in 2026 is crazy,” a third reacted.
“We just had a tie in the #Oscars for best short film. I never knew that was a thing!” a fourth added.
