Emmy Awards Gala, 2024. It happened last night. Actors Matty Matheson and Ebon Moss-Bachrach picked up the award for Best Comedy Series for The Bear along with the rest of the cast and to celebrate, they kissed. The audience applauded. "It was nice," they both said later in the press room chatting with the media, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Apparently, not for everyone. Some comments, such as those that can be read on the Instagram profile of the specialized fashion publication The Cut, which celebrated the kiss by posting an image of the moment, seem to come from another era. "Hollywood is gross, how come everyone thinks this is okay?" someone asks. He then adds that phrase that was already a joke on The Simpsons 30 years ago: "Doesn't anyone think about children?"
Kisses (romantic, celebratory, euphoric, spontaneous or performative) are a fundamental part of awards shows and often great rivals to the winners or the dresses (if not embarrassing slaps) in the conversation the day after. We have picked up a few that also brought tail.
Britney Spears and Madonna at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards.Christopher Polk (FilmMagic)
Britney Spears, Madonna and a pop memory
Although the truth is that Christina Aguilera was also part of the performance that opened the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, the television montage made sure that the moment of Madonna and Britney Spears' kiss is already part of pop history as it has alternated with the stunned face of her ex-boyfriend. Justin Timberlake. Madonna sang "Like a Virgin" dressed as a gentleman and the two young stars were his wives. The kiss, halfway through the performance, did its job. It was only talked about the next day and on an internet whose social networks (forums, at the time) were beginning to sentence the conversation. Madonna went on Oprah Winfrey's show to talk about what happened, Spears went on Larry King's. In short, it became clear that two women kissing on stage was still a source of shock well into the <>st century.
Naomi Watts and Nicole Kidman at the 2015 Women In Film Crystal + Lucy Awards.Charley Gallay
Nicole Kidman, Naomi Watts and a kiss with a message
It happened at the Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards, 2015. Award-winning Nicole Kidman explained on stage that at age 14 she turned down a role in a Jane Campion film because the script required her to kiss a woman while wearing a shower cap. "I wanted to be the kind of actress who went with her hair down and kissed men. Today it is clear to me. Jane, if you're here, I'm ready to put on a shower cap and kiss any woman in the room." At that moment, she put on a beanie and her friend Naomi Watts appeared on stage (also wearing a beanie) to kiss the actress. "Let's fight for what we want and don't apologize for it," Kidman concluded.
Bad Bunny kisses a dancer during his performance at the 2022 MTV VMAs.Noam Galai (Getty Images for MTV/Paramount G)
Bad Bunny, a dancer and a downpour of homophobia
We're back to the MTV Video Music Awards, specifically to the year 2022. Although Bad Bunny made history by being the first Latino to win Artist of the Year at those awards, it was a kiss on stage with one of his dancers that made headlines. Seconds earlier, the Puerto Rican had also kissed a dancer, but it was the kiss with Nigel O'Brian that sparked the reaction on social media. And doubly so. On the one hand, the usual hatred arising from homophobia at seeing two men kissing, and on the other, the suspicion among the LGBT community itself when some voices emerged that put on the table the possibility that a heterosexual singer kissing another man could be an attempt to generate publicity among that audience (a practice known as queerbaiting) and a mere promotional tool from which to profit. The debate was enriching, but as in the previous cases, it was just a kiss.
Angelina Jolie and her brother James Haven at the 2000 Oscars.Jim Smeal (Ron Galella Collection via Getty)
Angelina Jolie, Her Brother James, and a Much-Interrupted Innocence
When the actress received the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 2000 for Innocence Interrupted, she dedicated the award to her brother, James Haven. "I'm blown away and very much in love with my brother right now. He just hugged me and told me he loves me and I know he's so happy for me. To my mother, who is the bravest and most beautiful woman I have ever met, to my dad, who is a great actor and a better father. James, I have nothing without you. You're the strongest, most incredible man I've ever met." Although they had already kissed at the Golden Globes, it was the subsequent kiss at the Vanity Fair after party that caused many to accuse the brothers of incest. Such a misguided accusation actually contributed to Jolie's image as a rebellious, savage and wayward young woman. He collected knives, wore black, claimed to be bisexual and, as the icing on the cake, a kiss perceived as incest. It created controversy, but above all, it ended up creating a myth.
Adrien Brody kisses Halle Berry at the 2003 Oscars.TIMOTHY A. CLARY (AFP via Getty Images)
Halle Berry, Adrien Brody and Revisionism
We're still at the Oscars, 2003. When Halle Berry picked up the Oscar for Best Actress for Monster, a milestone for being the only black woman to win it (she still is in 2024), Adrien Brody (in charge of presenting her with the statuette) kissed the actress passionately. That moment is already one of the most iconic in the history of awards, but historical revisionism has made us rethink what we should have really felt when we saw this kiss in which consent is the great absentee. We realized this last year, when on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, the actress confessed that the kiss was not at all prepared. When the presenter asked him if he liked it, he said he didn't have the slightest idea. "I was too busy trying to figure out what the hell had happened," the actress said.
Moment of the kiss between Marc Giró and Alberto San Juan in the program presented by the former, 'Late Xou'.
Marc Giró, Alberto San Juan and a kiss with history
A Spanish example, television and recent. Just a few days ago, the host of Late Xou, Marc Giró, explained to the guest on his show, Alberto San Juan, that he is unable to forget a summer scene in which the actor entered a cafeteria, told a woman "I'm already here" and gave her a passionate kiss. Shortly after, the two kissed, a moment that aroused the applause of the audience and why deny it, the joy of the presenter. What happened next should make us proud to live in a society like Spain's: nothing happened.
Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling kiss at the 2005 MTV Movie Awards.Kevin Winter (Getty Images)
Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling and a flashback
MTV Movie Awards, 2005. When the actors picked up the (well-deserved) award for Best Kiss at the MTV Movie Awards thanks to that contemporary romantic classic called Noah's Diary, they didn't just give themselves a chaste peak with which to pay tribute to the fiery moment that earned them recognition. Each one stood at one end of the stage and in true Dirty Dancing style, they prepared an aerial kiss with which to remember the iconic moment of the film.
John Travolta kisses Scarlett Johansson on the red carpet at the Oscars in 2015.Kevin Mazur (WireImage)
John Travolta, Scarlett Johansson and a Necessary Explanation
We're back to the Oscars, but without going into the gala. We stayed on the red carpet of the awards. Year 2015. It's hard to describe John Travolta's kiss to Scarlett Johansson, because she looked as astonished and uncomfortable as the world when she saw the image. The curious moment is set in the era of the photobomb (a person gets in front of the frame of a photo or a shot to create a comical, curious or unexpected effect), but this kiss left the world so dumbfounded that Johansson later had to clarify that in reality, the image was completely out of context. "There's nothing strange, creepy or inappropriate about John Travolta. The image circulating is an unfortunate snapshot of an encounter that was very sweet and totally welcome. The photograph doesn't reflect what happened next if you look at the videos," he told the Associated Press. Sometimes a thousand words are worth more than a picture.
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