Of all the things to have on your Oscars 2024 bingo card, a naked John Cena was unlikely to be on there. But there the 16-time WWE World Champion was in all his buff glory, spare a pair of Birkenstocks.
In a skit, Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel joked that Cena was backing out of their arrangement to have him appear naked to announce the winner of one category. “It’s an elegant event,” said Cena to Kimmel. “Honestly you should feel shame at suggesting such a tasteless idea… the male body is not a joke.”
“Mine is,” Kimmel quipped, before pointing out that Cena – also an actor in the Fast franchise, appearing in Bumblebee and The Suicide Squad; oh, he also dabbles as a rapper – wrestles naked, only to be corrected that he actually performs in “jorts”.
Cena – presumably at the awards for his turn as one of the many, many Kens in Barbie – went on to shuffle onto the stage, his manhood covered by a little envelope titled Best Costume Design. “Costumes… they are so important,” he said with, all credit to him, impeccable comic timing. “Maybe the most important thing there is. I… I can’t open the envelope?” Cue even more laughs.
The bizarre sketch, as explained by Kimmel, was apparently to celebrate the 50th anniversary of when a man, photographer and gallery owner Robert Opel, streaked on stage, flashing the peace sign, while David Niven was hosting the 46th Oscars back in 1974. You can watch that below.
As seen in the archive footage, after the naked moustachioed fella had exited the stage, and after a little chuckle, the unruffable Niven then quipped: “Isn’t it fascinating to think that probably the only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping off and showing his shortcomings?”
Proof, once again, that the right host for these awards is worth their weight in an Oscars gold man.
