The 2026 Oscars threw a curveball on Sunday evening when .
While announcing the winners in the Best Live Action Short Film category, Kumail Nanjiani looked shocked to reveal that there had been a tie.
The award was split between the creators of the short films Two People Exchanging Saliva and The Singers.
'And the Oscar goes to — it's a tie! I'm not joking, it's actually a tie,' the comedian said. 'Everyone, calm down, we're going to get through this.'
The shocking outcome appears to be only the seventh time that a tie has been announced in Academy Awards history.
While it occurred at the 2026 ceremony in one of the lower-profile categories, the most famous Oscars tie occurred in 1969, when Katharine Hepburn won for The Lion In Winter, while tied her for her screen debut in Funny Girl.
The 2026 Oscars threw a curveball on Sunday evening when one of the categories came down to a tie. While announcing the winners in the Best Live Action Short Film category, Kumail Nanjiani looked shocked to reveal that there had been a tie
The award was split between the creators of the short films The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva; (L–R) David Breschel, Mike Yung, Sam Davis and Jack Piatt accept for The Singers
Nanjiani revealed that he would only announce one film at a time so as to preserve the surprise for the second group of winners; directors Natalie Musteata (front left) and Alexandre Singh (front right) accept for Two People Exchanging Saliva
In order to preserve the surprise for the second of the two winners to be named, Nanjiani revealed that he would wait to announce the second winner until the first group was able to give its acceptance speech.
First up were directors Sam A. Davis and Jack Piatt, who won for The Singers, followed by the directing team for Alexandre Singh and Natalie Musteata.
The 98th are celebrating the best films of 2025, with the glitzy ceremony taking place at the Dolby Theatre in .
Ryan Coogler's Sinners leads the pack with a record-breaking 16 nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Michael B. Jordan
Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another landed in second place with 13 nominations, including Best Actor for Leonardo DiCaprio, Supporting Actor nods for Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn, as well as a Supporting Actress nomination for Teyana Taylor
Marty Supreme, directed by Josh Safdie, netted nine Oscar nods, with leading man Timothee Chalamet up for Best Actor and the movie nominated for Best Picture
The Best Actor race is currently a dead heat. While Chalamet dominated the early season with wins at the Golden Globes and Critics' Choice Awards, the momentum shifted after Jordan won at the Actor Awards, formerly known as the SAG Awards.
