Conan O’Brien Reveals the Surprising Oscars Jokes He Wasn’t Allowed to Do

Conan O’Brien is shedding light on the strict rules that involve the Oscars.

Speaking on the Wednesday, March 13 episode of his podcast “Conan Needs a Friend”, the comedian, 61, revealed that there were firm do’s and don’ts when it came to the Oscar statuette.

“At one point, I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if it’s just on the couch?’” O’Brien, who hosted the Oscars earlier this month, said. “Let’s lay it on a really big couch and I’ll be vacuuming and say, ‘Could you at least lift your feet? Or could you at least get up and help? Load the dishwasher?’”

However, O’Brien added that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences quickly shot down his ideas due to the strict rules governing “Oscar” the statuette.

Related: Conan O’Brien Uses Oscars Monologue to Repeatedly Troll Timothee Chalamet

Getty Images (2) As Conan O’Brien kicked off his opening monologue at the 97th Academy Awards, he couldn’t resist repeatedly trolling nominee Timothée Chalamet. “Timmy Chalamet is up for Best Actor tonight, you’re amazing and you look amazing. I love that suit. You will not get hit on your bike tonight,” O’Brien, 61, said during the Sunday, […]

“One of the people from the Academy came forward and said, ‘Oscar can never be horizontal,’” O’Brien said. “That blew my mind. Like, wow, this is like the thigh bone of St. Peter. This is a religious icon.”

Another skit O’Brien’s team suggested was depicting the trophy as a housewife in an apron which would be serving the host leftovers. This too, was rejected by the powers that be.

Earlier this month, O’Brien opened up about cutting his own Oscars jokes at the eleventh hour – some were dropped as late as while backstage as the ceremony was about to commence.

“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 told E! News on 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.”

During the monologue that did make it to air, O’Brien took jabs at Timothée Chalamet and Adam Sandler made a cameo. The comedian told the outlet that a lot of preparation went into the performance beforehand.

“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.”

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

John Shearer/97th Oscars/The Academy via Getty Images 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 […]

Among his hilarious jokes, was O’Brien repeatedly trolling Chalamet throughout the evening.

“Timmy Chalamet is up for Best Actor tonight, you’re amazing and you look amazing. I love that suit. You will not get hit on your bike tonight,” O’Brien joked during the awards ceremony, referring to the actor receiving a fine for taking a rideshare bike to the London premiere of A Complete Unknown. 

He added, “Safe! Amazing actor. Timothée is nominated for his portrayal of Bob Dylan, yeah. Bob Dylan wanted to be here tonight, but not that badly.”