People are debating Adrien Brody's Oscars kiss with Halle Berry 20 years later
With Halle Berry set to present at the 2023 Oscars, people have once again been discussing the bizarre moment which saw Adrien Brody kiss the movie star without warning.
The incident unfolded at the 75th Annual Academy Awards in 2003, when Berry presented Brody with the Best Actor trophy for his role in The Pianist.
Viewers were shocked when he took to the stage and, out of the blue, grabbed her face, and the pair embraced for an uncomfortably long kiss.
Though the passionate aside was brushed off at the time, Berry admitted in a 2017 interview with Andy Cohen that the kiss wasn't planned and she had no idea what was going on.
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"That was not planned, I knew nothing about it," she said. "I was like, 'What the f**k is happening right now?' That is what was going through my mind.
"I was there the year before and I know the feeling of being out of your body. I just f**king went with it."
Amid laughter from the audience, Cohen asked how the kiss was, to which Berry replied: "I don't know, I was too focused on what the f**k was going on."
Although the Monster's Ball star made her thoughts on the matter loud and clear, it continued to be celebrated as a positive moment in Academy Awards history.
But following the #MeToo movement, which ushered in a new era for women in Hollywood, viewers began to look at the incident with fresh eyes.
Both Brody and the Oscars organisers have been criticised for the non-consensual kiss, which clearly wasn't something Berry would have agreed to, nor was she prepared for.
To this day, people continue to comment on the Academy Awards' YouTube clip of the kiss, which was named as one of its 'favourite Oscars moments' when it was uploaded 15 years back.
In the comments section, one person wrote less than a year ago: "Quick reminder to everyone here - do NOT force a kiss on someone EVER. It is literally sexual assault.
"She has literally said that she did not expect or want this to happen and was very unhappy about it. She only went along with it because she panicked and didn't know what to do."
More recently, another said: "Could you imagine Dave Chapelle walking up and doing Margot Robbie like that and the Academy being like 'moments like this are just the best'."
A third added: "He did not have her permission to kiss her. This is disgusting that the Academy would replay this, and as a 'favourite' Oscar moment at that. Shame on Brody and the Academy."
Over on Twitter, the conversation is much the same, with one person writing: "Halle Berry presenting at the Oscars made me think of Adrien Brody weird a**."
A second, who commented on the Oscars' 'crisis team' following the Will Smith/Chris Rock slap, said: "Adrien Brody forcibly kissed Halle Berry. They had no care about any of that but a slap is like a shooting to them."
"In 2003, Adrien Brody kissed Halle Berry during his acceptance speech without warning and without her permission," added another.
"Everyone just laughed and moved on, but in 2017 Halle Berry talked about how upsetting and shocking it was for her."
Tyla has contacted a rep for Adrien Brody and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for comment.
Topics: TV And Film, Celebrity, Oscars, News
Daisy Phillipson