John Cena went fully nude for a comedy at this year’s Oscar ceremony in Los Angeles, and the audience adored it.
The amusing stunt, staged in collaboration with presenter Jimmy Kimmel, came as Cena was about to walk on stage to deliver the Best Costume Design award, for which the nominations were Poor Things, Oppenheimer, Barbie, Napoleon, and Killers of the Flower Moon.
Kimmel addressed the audience, “Can you envision a naked man running across the stage today? Wouldn’t that be crazy? The comedian was referring to an event at the 1974 Academy Awards in which a streaker dashed across the stage.
Cena responded to Kimmel’s comment by peaking through the curtain and stating, “I changed my mind. I do not want to do the streaker bit. I simply don’t feel right about it. You should be ashamed for suggesting such a nasty joke at such an attractive event.”
“The male body is not a joke!” the WWE star remarked.
Finally, Cena stepped out onto the platform to give the aforementioned award to the winner, Poor Things, his modesty shielded – seemed – only by the envelope carrying the winning nomination.
WTF IS JOHN CENA DOING ??!? pic.twitter.com/j098cHFBKO
— juju đź’° (@ayeejuju) March 11, 2024
Shortly after the skit, a social media post showed that Cena was actually wearing skin-painted underpants behind the envelope.
“He’s actually wearing skin-painted underwear,” one X user commented. “Great job by the makeup department.”
“That is disappointing!” I say go all-in! “Or all out!” another person said. “He probably wanted to, but was told he couldn’t.”
“This guy is getting out of hand,” a third said.
Needless to say, Cena’s ‘naked’ presence generated quite a sensation inside the Dolby Theater, where the 96th Academy Awards were held, and many people online had their say about it as well.
Though Cena himself was not nominated for an Oscar this year, he did take a little role in the famous 2023 film Barbie.
Interestingly, the 46-year-old recently stated that he was encouraged not to take a role in the film previous to its huge popularity.
“The agency is just going by what they know,” Cena stated on the Howard Stern Show a few weeks ago.”
“And they understand that this entity, this commodity, gravitates toward these things, so we should stay in this lane.”
“But I am not a commodity.” “I’m a human being, and I believe that every opportunity is an opportunity,” he explained. “I think the perspective from an agency standpoint was: This is beneath you.”
“But also to the agency’s credit, immediately they acquiesced, and I was like: No we’re going to do it.”
Did you see this year’s Oscars ceremony? Let us know your thoughts.