Conan O’Brien Says He Cut Jokes Backstage During 2025 Oscars

Despite months of preparation, Conan O’Brien wasn’t sure which jokes he was actually going to deliver at the 2025 Oscars.

“There are times where you think, ‘We’ve got a good joke here, but I’m not gonna do it. It doesn’t feel right.’ We made a lot of changes backstage,” O’Brien, 61, shared with E! News at the 2025 Vanity Fair Oscar Party on Sunday, March 2. “You just decide, ‘Oh, this is a better joke,’ or you think of something in the moment, and you just go with it, and those can be blessings.”

On Sunday night, the late-night host kicked off the annual awards show with a monologue featuring jokes directed at Timothée Chalamet, a cameo from Adam Sandler and even a performance discussing the art of not wasting time.

According to O’Brien, many of the jokes viewers heard were developed weeks before showtime.

“There’s the agony of before — preparation, getting ready — and that goes on for months,” he said. “Then we worked so hard that by the time we got to the point where it was time to go, I couldn’t wait. And it was a really great crowd. They were laughs, thank God.”

While O’Brien doesn’t want to toot his own horn after his hosting performance, he’s grateful that things went well.

“I’m letting people compliment me,” he joked at Vanity Fair’s annual celebration. “I was really happy with how it went. It’s an honor to be asked to do it, and I’m just happy that people seem very pleased. And now I’m really happy to sleep for two weeks.”

O’Brien’s hosting gig came at a unique time for the comedian. In December 2024, the podcast host mourned the death of both of his parents. One month later, O’Brien and his family had to evacuate their homes during the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles.

“Everybody I know has been affected,” he told the Associated Press in January. “The fire got very close but my house survived. But we won’t be back in there for a long time. And I’m the lucky one. I mean, I know so many people who lost their homes and I’m just, was ridiculously lucky. So we want to make sure that that show reflects what’s happening and that we put a light on the right people in the right way.”

During the 2025 Oscars, firefighters and first responders received a standing ovation when they appeared onstage inside the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

“On behalf of all of Los Angeles, thank you for all that you do,” O’Brien said during the telecast. “These are heroes.”