Sorry to make you feel ridiculously old, but this year marks an entire decade since that infamous selfie – and a lot has changed for those involved.
If you cast your mind back to 2014, host grabbed and managed to get them all in the same picture, with the result basically breaking the internet.
It also served as a who’s who for Hollywood, with , and among .
, taking place in LA on March 10, we couldn’t help but take a stroll down memory lane to reminisce over the accidental time capsule, and how so many of the stars have been canceled now…
Who is in the Oscars selfie?
Not to be dramatic but the world stopped turning for a few seconds during the ceremony – before the trophy for technical achievement was introduced – when Ellen, who was presenting the Awards, grabbed a few of the stars closest to her for a quick picture.
In a frantic moment that has been recreated countless times since, a Samsung phone was hoisted into the air by , with , , , – and her brother, Peter – , Ellen, Meryl, Channing, Julia and a tiny slice of ’s head making it into the final shot.
As well as actual Hollywood royalty, the Maestro actor managed to get some of the night’s winners in the snap – Jared and Lupita took home the best supporting actor and actress trophies respectively, while Brad served as producer for 12 Years A Slave, which was named best picture.
Ellen then took to Twitter to bless us with the image, penning: ‘If only Bradley’s arm was longer. Best photo ever. #oscars.’
At the time of writing, it has nearly 3million retweets, more than 2million likes and around 170,000 replies.
However, while glancing over the picture makes us feel ancient, we can’t help but marvel at how much has changed for those involved.
Ellen DeGeneres ‘canceled’ by fans
At the time, Ellen was a staple of our screens, having hosted the Ellen Show for 11 seasons, and was often the go-to personality for big award shows.
However, that all changed in 2020 when her series was hit with intense backlash as , fear, and intimidation, leading to huge scrutiny.
Anonymous staff members also accused executive producers of rampant sexual assault and harassment.
Ellen later delivered a candid statement addressing the claims, telling fans at the time: ‘As you may have heard, this summer there were allegations of a toxic work environment at our show and then there was an investigation.
‘I learned that things happened here that never should have happened. I take that very seriously and I want to say I am so sorry to the people who were affected.
‘I know that I’m in a position of privilege and power and I realized that with that comes responsibility, and I take responsibility for what happens at my show.
‘We have had a lot of conversations over the last few weeks about the show, our workplace, and what we want for the future. We have made the necessary changes and today we are starting a new chapter.’
In 2021,, but vowed that her decision to walk away had nothing to do with the allegations.
‘It almost impacted the show,’ she told the Hollywood Reporter. ‘It was very hurtful to me. I mean, very. But if I was quitting the show because of that, I wouldn’t have come back this season. So, it’s not why I’m stopping.
‘But it was hard because I was sitting at home, it was summer, and I see a story that people have to chew gum before they talk to me and I’m like, “Okay, this is hilarious.”
‘Then I see another story of some other ridiculous thing and then it just didn’t stop. And I wasn’t working, so I had no platform, and I didn’t want to address it on [Twitter] and I thought if I just don’t address it, it’s going to go away because it was all so stupid.’
Kevin Spacey accused of sexual assault
Three years after the selfie was taken, Kevin Spacey was accused of sexual assault in 2017.
Anthony Rapp accused the actor of assaulting him at a party in 1986, when he was 14 years old, claiming he was the victim of an ‘unwanted sexual advance’.
After the allegations were made, it was claimed the actor was dropped or recast from upcoming films and projects, including the sixth and final season of acclaimed Netflix drama, House of Cards.
Anthony filed legal action in September, 2020, and sought around $40million in damages.
Kevin fiercely denied all allegations against him, and stood trial in New York in 2022 over the claims –.
Following this case, in London over allegations, including sexual assault and indecent assault against four men in the UK, which he also denied.
After a highly-publicized trial last year, he was found not guilty and became tearful in court as the jury cleared him.
‘I imagine that many of you can understand that there’s a lot for me to process after what has just happened today,’ he told reporters afterwards.
‘But I would like to say that I am enormously grateful to the jury for having taken the time to examine all of the evidence and all of the facts carefully before they reach the decision and I am humbled by the outcome today.
‘I also want to thank the staff inside this courthouse, the security and all those who took care of us every single day. My legal team… for being here every day and that’s all I have to say for the moment. Thank you very much.’
Brad and Angelina’s messy divorce
Another cancelation occurred in 2016 when , officially bringing ‘Brangelina’ to an end with a hugely messy divorce that is still rumbling on today.
The world was left reeling when it was revealed that Brad had ended his marriage to Friends star Jennifer Aniston and had sparked a romance with Angelina, following their efforts on 2004’s Mr and Mrs Smith.
They went on to date for 12 years and tied the knot in 2014 – months after posing in the Oscars selfie together – and shared six children, Maddox, Pax, Shiloh, Vivienne, Knox and Zahara.
But it wasn’t to last and they went their separate ways two years later, before being declared legally single in 2019.
Despite this, they have been business, as well as the custody of their brood.
In a lawsuit filed in 2022, Angelina alleged that Brad while on a private jet.
In the paperwork, she claimed that her then-husband grabbed her by the head and injured her back and elbow, choked one of their children, and struck another.
It was previously revealed that the FBI were investigating the incident, but this was dropped and the case was closed – with Brad denying all claims at the time.
‘Brad has owned everything he’s responsible for from day one – unlike the other side – but he’s not going to own anything he didn’t do,’ his lawyer told Us Weekly in 2022.
‘He has been on the receiving end of every type of personal attack and misrepresentation.
‘Thankfully, the various public authorities the other side has tried to use against him over the past six years have made their own independent decisions.
‘Brad will continue to respond in court as he has consistently done.’
Who took the famous 2014 Oscars selfie?
Although Ellen was the one who launched into the star-studded crowd with her phone in hand, and eventually uploaded it onto Twitter, Bradley was the one who actually captured the iconic photo.
In a Medium blog post, Fred Graver, who worked on the TV team at Twitter on the night in question, revealed that Ellen had originally just planned to grab Meryl in for a quick snap on a Samsung phone, before everyone else spontaneously jumped in.
‘If you ever have a chance to watch a tape of Ellen going down to Streep, you’ll see the look of panic quickly fly across her face as her selfie with Meryl suddenly becomes a selfie with Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Lupita Nyong’o, Julia Roberts, Jared Leto, Kevin Spacey and – holding the camera – Bradley Cooper,’ he wrote.
‘When Bradley grabs the camera, you can see this kind of shocked look break on Ellen’s face. Would he know what to do?
‘Obviously, he did. The selfie was retweeted 750,000 times in 45 minutes, and in the end actually “broke Twitter” for a few minutes. I was in the green room and got to tell a delighted Ellen that she had LITERALLY broken Twitter.’
And the rest, as we know it, is history.
