John Cena’s ‘nude’ Oscars gag has become one of the must buzzed-about moments from the night — and now show producers are explaining just how it happened.
“We made sure that, for all intents and purposes, he looked like a Ken doll up front,” Walt Disney Television executive VP Rob Mills told Variety.
Cena’s “crack,” he added, “was covered in the back and then the envelope was Velcro-ed on there so it wouldn’t fall. But beyond that, he was naked.”
Per Mills, “a bulge cannot be showing, and you can’t show crack” when it comes to the Federal Communications Commission’s rules about what can be shown on live television. “It was also, ’What happens if he drops that card?’ ”
The wrestler-actor, 46 — who, fittingly enough, starred in the hit Barbie as a Ken doll merman — joined ceremony host Jimmy Kimmel onstage for an homage to the infamous onstage streaker of the 1974 Oscars. Appearing au naturel to present the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, the Birkenstock sandal-clad Cena had only the category’s envelope covering his crotch.
According to Mills, the exact amount of Cena’s skin to be shown was a subject of contention between ABC ceremony producers and the FCC. “There was a lot of reticence of not just a fine from the FCC, but potential complaints,” the producer said.
The standards and practices executives “were sweating” according to Molly McNearney.
“I think at the end we all got to a spot where we were comfortable, S&P [standards and practices] was comfortable, and it didn’t compromise the comedy a bit,” said McNearney, an executive producer of the Oscars ceremony and Jimmy Kimmel Live!
“I was very thankful that we didn’t have to send [Cena] out there in tighty whities, which I’m sure legal would have preferred.”
When the Ricky Stanicky star appeared onstage with only the envelope, social media was abuzz with debates about how much, if any, clothing was behind it.
“That’s what I wanted!” McNearney told Variety. “Maybe it’s not what [the FCC’s standards and practices team] wanted. That’s definitely what I want!”
The 2024 Oscar for Best Costume Design went to Holly Waddington of Poor Things. Cena handed her the trophy in a makeshift toga that was hastily tied on during the category’s presentation montage.
“You have to do those embarrassing moments on screen where you’re asked to give of yourself and be vulnerable,” Cena recently told PEOPLE, “whether it’s dressed as a merman, whether it’s in your tighty whities or in a Britney Spears outfit — you’ve got to wholeheartedly commit.”
He added that often, “confidence and foolish courage is all you need.”
They can go head and pull this same stunt next year with Dwayne Johnson. We wouldn’t mind at all!
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