As expected, the Drake and Kendrick Lamar beef that defined 2024 has now reached the Oscars stage.
During Sunday’s ceremony, host Conan O’Brien marked the halfway point of the show with a quick but pointed Drake-Kendrick joke:
“Well, we’re halfway through the show, which means it’s time for Kendrick Lamar to come out and call Drake a pedophile. Don’t worry. I’m lawyered up.”
Check out the moment below.
The joke references Kendrick’s Grammy-winning track “Not Like Us.” Last month, Kendrick performed this Drake-dissing Hot 100 hit (previously rumored to be involved in a lawsuit) during the Super Bowl halftime show.
In a tweet posted shortly after Conan’s joke aired, writer Skyler Higley, who has worked on After Midnight and CONAN, revealed he “wrote the Kendrick Lamar joke and bet our executive producer $50 that it would kill.” He proudly announced he “just made $50.”
Earlier in the evening, O’Brien, hosting the Oscars for the first time, slipped in a few jokes about the major controversy surrounding Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón’s recently uncovered tweets and her reactions to the criticism she faced.
On $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, his new collaborative album with PARTYNEXTDOOR, Drake throws in a few general references to beef without directly mentioning Kendrick. In “Gimme a Hug,” for instance, he raps, “Fuck a rap beef, I’m tryna get the party lit.”
As for this year’s Oscar winners, both The Substance and Anora were among the night’s early victors. Check out the complete list of winners here.
