There Was Just a Tie at the 2026 Oscars — Here's What Happened and How They Handled Acceptance Speeches
There Was Just a Tie at the 2026 Oscars — Here's What Happened and How They Handled Acceptance Speeches
Liza EsquibiasMon, March 16, 2026 at 1:18 AM UTC
0
Natalie Musteata and US filmmaker Alexandre Singh; David Breschel, Mike Yung, US filmmaker Sam Davis and US filmmaker Jack PiattCredit: Patrick T. Fallon / AFP -
Kumail Nanjiani announced a rare Oscars tie at the 2026 ceremony on Sunday, March 15
The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva both won for Best Live Action Short
This marks the seventh tie in Academy Awards history, with the most recent occurring in 2013
A rare moment occurred at the 2026 Oscars on Sunday, March 15.
While presenting the award for Best Live Action Short at the 2026 Academy Awards ceremony, Kumail Nanjiani revealed that for only the seventh time in Oscars history, there was a tie in the category.
“It’s a tie. I’m not joking, it's actually a tie,” he told the audience. “Everyone calm down, we're gonna get through this. Focus up, calm down, remain calm. I’m gonna name one winner, they’ll come up, accept their award, and then I’ll come back and name another winner.”
Kumail NanjianiCredit: Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty
The first to win was The Singers. In their acceptance speech, producers Sam A. Davis and Jack Piatt highlighted the significance of the tie.
“We don’t know that was a thing, but we’re happy to be up here,” they said.
Nanjiani then returned to the stage to present the second winner, teasing that it was “ironic that the short film Oscar is gonna take twice as long." He then revealed that Two People Exchanging Saliva also scored a victory.
Alexandre Singh and Natalie Musteata accepted the award, thanking the Academy’s support of “a film that is weird and queer and made by a majority of women.”
“That is why we make films, isn't it? Because we believe that art can change people’s souls,” Signh added before poking fun at Timothée Chalamet’s recent comments that “no one cares” about theater and ballet. “Maybe it takes 10 years time, but we can change society through art, through creativity, through theater and ballet.”
Advertisement
US curator Natalie Musteata and US filmmaker Alexandre Singh accept the Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film for "Two People Exchanging Saliva" onstage during the 98th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 15, 2026.Credit: Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty
The first ever Oscars tie happened at the fifth ceremony in 1932, when Fredric March and Wallace Beery both won for Best Actor for their roles in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and The Champ, respectively.
The rules at that time allowed for anyone within three votes of the winner to also be named a winner, and Wallace had one vote less than March. The Academy later changed the rules so a tie could only be declared if both received the same amount of votes.
The second instance happened in the Best Documentary Short category in 1950, when So Much for So Little and A Chance to Live tied. Then, in 1969, Katharine Hepburn (The Lion in Winter) and Barbra Streisand (Funny Girl) tied for Best Actress.
The fourth tie was for Best Documentary (Feature) in 1987, with Artie Shaw: Time Is All You've Got and Down and Out in America both winning. The fifth came in 1995 (in the same category as this year’s tie) for Best Live Action Short Film. The winners were Trevor and Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life.
In 2013, the most recent tie was between Zero Dark Thirty and Skyfall in the Sound Editing category. Mark Wahlberg, who was presenting the award that year, showed his surprise at the tie when he opened the envelope and exclaimed: “No B.S., we have a tie!”
— sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
See PEOPLE's coverage of the 98th Academy Awards, airing live on ABC and Hulu on March 15.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
