It’s hard to believe that it has been 12 years since that infamous Oscars selfie – and a lot has changed for those who crammed themselves into the frame.
If you cast your mind back to 2014, host Ellen DeGeneres grabbed some of the biggest names in movies 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 Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, and Channing Tatum among those flashing a huge smile for the snap.
Ahead of the 2026 Academy Awards, taking place in LA on Sunday, 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 now been canceled…
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 DeGeneres 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 Bradley Cooper, with Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Spacey, Brad Pitt, Lupita Nyong’o – and her brother, Peter – Angelina Jolie, DeGeneres, Streep, Tatum, Roberts, and a tiny slice of Jared Leto’s head making it into the final shot.
The A Star Is Born actor managed to get some of the night’s winners in the snap – Leto and Nyong’o took home the best supporting actor and actress trophies respectively, while Pitt served as producer for 12 Years A Slave, which was named best picture.
DeGeneres, who served as the presenter for the ceremony, took to Twitter to bless us with the image, penning: ‘If only Bradley’s arm was longer. Best photo ever. #oscars.’
It quickly racked up nearly 3million retweets, almost 2million likes, and around 170,000 replies.
Now, reflecting on the famous photo, it’s hard not to marvel at how much has changed for those involved.
Ellen DeGeneres ‘canceled’ by fans
At the time the picture was taken, DeGeneres was a staple on our screens, having hosted The Ellen Show for 11 seasons and often serving as the go-to personality for big award shows.
However, that all changed in 2020 when her series was hit with intense backlash as former employees voiced that the set was filled with racism, fear, and intimidation, leading to huge scrutiny.
Anonymous staff members also accused executive producers of rampant sexual assault and harassment.
DeGeneres 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, she announced that her program would be ending, 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, Spacey was accused of sexual assault in 2017.
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.
Rapp filed legal action in September, 2020, and sought around $40million in damages.
Spacey fiercely denied all allegations against him, and stood trial in New York in 2022 over the claims – where he was found not liable.
Following this case, he stood trial at Southwark Crown Court 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 in 2023, 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.’
In 2025, Guy Pearce recalled his experience working with Spacey in the 1997 thriller, LA Confidential – speaking of his alleged advances during filming.
The Brutalist actor first raised his ‘uncomfortable’ experience during the height of the MeToo movement, shortly after the American Beauty actor was accused of historic sexual assault.
In a previous interview, he described his co-star as a ‘handsy guy’ – he later clarified that, although he wasn’t ‘sexually assaulted or molested’, he was ‘made to feel uncomfortable’.
Appearing on an episode of Andrew Feinberg’s podcast, Awards Chatter, Pearce reflected on his experience once more, sharing that he was ‘young and susceptible’ at the time.
‘Ah, that’s nothing. Ah, no, that’s nothing,’ he said. ‘Did that for five months, and really I was sort of scared of Kevin because he’s quite an aggressive man.
‘He’s extremely charming and brilliant at what he does — really impressive, etc. He holds a room remarkably. But I was young and susceptible, and he targeted me, no question.’
Pearce was reluctant to call himself a victim, vowing ‘even though I probably was a victim to a degree; I was certainly not a victim by any means to the extent that other people have been to sexual predators.’
‘I was in London working on something, and I heard [the reports] and I broke down and sobbed, and I couldn’t stop,’ he said of the news of Anthony’s allegations against Kevin.
‘I think it really dawned on me the impact that had occurred and how I sort of brushed it off and how I had either shelved it or blocked it out or whatever. That was a really incredible wake-up call.
‘I don’t want him to get away with what he gets away with.’
Shortly after Pearce’s comments, Spacey responded with a video on Twitter to address the claims.
‘We worked together a long time ago,’ Spacey said, addressing Pearce directly. ‘If I did something then that upset you, you could have reached out to me. We could have had that conversation.
‘But instead, you’ve decided to speak to the press, who are now, of course, coming after me, because they would like to know what my response is to the things that you said. You really want to know what my response is? Grow up.’
Spacey then claimed that Pearce flew to Georgia about a year after L.A. Confidential ‘just to spend time with me’.
‘I mean, did you tell the press that too, or does that not fit into the victim narrative you have going?’ he added. ‘I apologize that I didn’t get the message that you don’t like spending time with me.
‘Maybe there was another reason, I don’t know, but that doesn’t make any sense. That you would have just been leading me on, right? But here you are now on a mission, some 28 years later, after I’ve been through hell and back.’
Brad and Angelina’s messy divorce
Another cancelation occurred in 2016 when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie announced their shock split, officially bringing ‘Brangelina’ to an end with a hugely messy divorce that has only ‘ended’ in recent months.
The world was left reeling when it was revealed that Pitt had ended his marriage to Friends star Jennifer Aniston and had sparked a romance with Angelina, following their collaboration 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 locked in a bitter dispute over their Chateau Miraval business, as well as the custody of their brood.
In a lawsuit filed in 2022, Jolie alleged that Pitt drunkenly attacked her and their children 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 was investigating the incident, but this was dropped, and the case was closed, with Pitt 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.’
In the fallout from the messy split, a few of their children have opted to change their names.
In May 2025, Shiloh Jolie-Pitt filed documents to drop her famous dad’s surname shortly after she turned 18.
Vivienne also appears to have dropped her dad’s name, while Zahara reportedly introduced herself as Zahara Markey Jolie while joining Spelman College’s Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
On December 30, 2024, after years of court battles, their divorce was officially finalized.
The divorce paperwork was signed at the end of the year, with Jolie’s lawyer James Simon telling Daily Mail that she is ‘relieved this one part is over.’
‘Frankly, Angelina is exhausted. More than eight years ago, Angelina filed for divorce from Mr Pitt,’ he added.
‘She and the children left all of the properties they had shared with Mr Pitt, and since that time she has focused on finding peace and healing for their family.’
Who took the famous 2014 Oscars selfie?
Although DeGeneres was the one who launched into the star-studded crowd with her phone in hand, and eventually uploaded it onto Twitter, Bradley Cooper 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.
This article was first published on March 2, 2024.
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