The Academy Awards hit an all-time low in the ratings.
The Nielsen company says that 23.6 million people watched the awards show on Sunday, down from the previous record low of 26.5 million two years ago. ABC moved the broadcast a couple of weeks earlier than it has usually been, but that did not entice viewers.
The ceremony ended with “Parasite” becoming the first time a film not in the English language won best picture. It was a historic moment, but then the Oscars broadcast seemingly tried to cut off their acceptance speech early and the crowd was not having it.
Producer Kwak Sin-ae had been speaking for about a minute when another person stepped up to the mic to start talking. But that's when the Oscars broadcast cut to Jane Fonda, standing on the side of the stage, as the lights shining on the "Parasite" crew were turned down.
It didn't take long for the boos to rain down.
Some of Hollywood's biggest stars, including Tom Hanks and Charlize Theron, started chanting "Up! Up! Up!," in an attempt to get the producers to bring the lights back on.
The Oscars had no host this year, just like last year, but Steve Martin and Chris Rock appeared early for a round of jokes.
At the Oscars, Martin poked fun at the Iowa caucus while also reminding us of the Academy Awards' own voting screw-up a few years back.
"A couple of years ago, there was a big disaster here the Oscars where they accidentally read out the wrong name and it was nobody's fault, but they have guaranteed that this will not happen this year because the Academy has switched to the new Iowa caucus app," Martin said.