“Hero” LA firefighters roast Bob Dylan, ‘Joker 2’ onstage at the Oscars

A group of LA firefighters were given a hero’s reception at the Oscars last night – and they took the chance to throw out a couple of jibes.

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The 97th Academy Awards went down in Los Angeles’ Dolby Theater on Sunday (March 2), with Sean Baker’s Anora taking home the biggest prizes, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress for Mikey Madison.

At one point, a team of the city’s fire department took to the stage and were given a standing ovation by the starry audience for their role in saving lives during the devastating wildfires that swept through the city in January.

Host Conan O’Brien introduced them and went on to say that there were “some jokes even I’m not brave enough to tell”, instead asking the firefighters to read the “controversial” jokes off the prompter.

LAFD captain Erik Scott said: “Our hearts go out to all of those who have lost their homes…and I’m talking about the producers of Joker 2.”

LAFD helicopter pilot Jonith Johnson was up next. “To play Bob Dylan, Timothée Chalamet learned how to sing,” he said. “In fact, his singing was so good, he almost lost the part.”

Finally, Pasadena Fire Department captain Jodi Slicker quipped: “It’s great to be back with Conan. Usually when he calls, he’s stuck in a tree.”

Other moments of levity at the ceremony included O’Brien making fun of Karla Sofía Gascón’s racist tweets controversy to her face, and Adam Sandler showing up in a blue hoodie and shorts while O’Brien was talking about the importance of dressing appropriately.

Among the controversies to emerge from the awards show were fans of Chalamet reacting angrily to the star losing in the Best Actor race to The Brutalist’s Adrien Brody and David Lynch being seen as under-represented in the In Memoriam segment.

Speculation arose that Gal Gadot had refused to present the Best Documentary prize to the winner No Other Land, a film exploring the destruction of the occupied West Bank’s Masafer Yatta in Palestine, due to her outspoken support for Israel. It later emerged, however, that she was never scheduled to present that award.

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