93rd Academy Awards

Chloé Zhao, Best Picture co-winner and Best Director winner

Frances McDormand, Best Picture co-winner and Best Actress winner

Anthony Hopkins, Best Actor winner

Daniel Kaluuya, Best Supporting Actor winner

Youn Yuh-jung, Best Supporting Actress winner

Emerald Fennell, Best Original Screenplay winner

Florian Zeller, Best Adapted Screenplay co-winner

Thomas Vinterberg, Best International Feature winner

Jon Batiste, Best Original Score co-winner

H.E.R., Best Original Song co-winner

Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger (‡).[24]

There were two recipients of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award:[25]

• Tyler Perry – for his active engagement with philanthropy and charitable endeavors in recent years, including efforts to address homelessness and economic difficulties faced by members of the African-American community.
• Motion Picture & Television Fund – for the emotional and financial relief services it offers to members of the entertainment industry.

Due to the ceremony date change, the Academy changed the eligibility deadline for feature films from December 31, 2020, to February 28, 2021. AMPAS president Rubin and CEO Hudson explained the decision to extended the eligibility period saying, "For over a century, movies have played an important role in comforting, inspiring, and entertaining us during the darkest of times. They certainly have this year. Our hope, in extending the eligibility period and our Awards date, is to provide the flexibility filmmakers need to finish and release their films without being penalized for something beyond anyone's control."[55]

The Academy also revised its release and distribution requirements by allowing for films that were released via video on demand or streaming to be eligible for the awards on the condition that said films were originally scheduled to have a theatrical release and were subsequently uploaded to AMPAS's online screening service within 60 days of their public release. AMPAS also amended its theatrical exhibition qualifying rules to allow films debuting in theaters located in New York City, Chicago, the San Francisco Bay Area, Atlanta, and Miami to qualify for the awards in addition to venues in Los Angeles.[56] Moreover, a week of nightly screenings at a drive-in theater within the aforementioned cities also rendered films eligible for consideration.[57]

Furthermore, the Academy made changes to specific award categories. The Best Sound Mixing and Best Sound Editing categories were combined into a single Best Sound category due to concerns from the Sound branch that the two categories had too much overlap in scope.[58] The rules for Best Original Score were changed to require that a film's score include a minimum of 60% original music, with franchise films and sequels being required to have a minimum of 80% new music.[59] Finally, preliminary voting for Best International Feature Film was also opened to all voting members of the Academy for the first time.[60]

Many viewers and television critics believed Chadwick Boseman's impending win for Best Actor was a reason that producers saved the category as the last to be presented at the ceremony.

In a break with tradition, the lead acting categories were presented last after the awarding of Best Picture, with Best Actor coming last.[61] This led many viewers to believe that the ceremony's producers were anticipating Chadwick Boseman posthumously winning Best Actor, which could have been accompanied by a tribute to the actor; Boseman had been considered a strong frontrunner for the award.[62][63] When presenter Joaquin Phoenix announced that Anthony Hopkins was the winner of the category, Phoenix said that the Academy accepted the award on behalf of the latter, who was not present, and the ceremony came to an abrupt end.[63] It was later reported that Hopkins, who did not want to travel from his home in Wales, offered to appear via Zoom, but the producers declined his request.[63] The day after the ceremony, he released an acceptance speech on Instagram, in which he thanked the Academy, said that he "really did not expect" to win, and paid tribute to Boseman.[62] The selection of Hopkins over Boseman was controversial, with some feeling like it was a setup,[64][65] though Boseman's brother reported the family did not have any hard feelings toward the Academy.[66]

In a subsequent interview with the Los Angeles Times, Soderbergh said that switching the traditional order of awards was planned before the nominations were announced, claiming "actors' speeches tend to be more dramatic than producers' speeches". He said that the possibility of Boseman's widow accepting the award "would have been such a shattering moment" and "there would be nowhere to go after that". Soderbergh also defended the decision to not allow acceptance speeches via Zoom.[67]

Many media outlets received the broadcast negatively.[14][15] Television critic Mike Hale of The New York Times wrote, "Sunday's broadcast on ABC was more like a cross between the Golden Globes and the closing-night banquet of a long, exhausting convention." He also commented, "The trade-off — whether because of the smaller crowd, the social distancing, or the sound quality in the cavernous space — was what felt like a dead room, both acoustically and emotionally. There were powerful and moving speeches, but they didn't seem to be generating much excitement, and when the people in the room aren't excited, it's hard to get excited at home."[68] Rolling Stone columnist Rob Sheffield noted, "The most flamboyantly unplanned and half-assed Oscar Night in recent history was a grind from beginning to end." He also criticized the production of the "In Memoriam" segment saying that the montage was edited at an inappropriately fast pace.[69] Kelly Lawler of USA Today commented, "While it was certainly challenging to stage the show safely, last month's Grammys proved that it is possible to make something entertaining and engaging amid the pandemic. Unfortunately, the Oscars producers seemingly missed that show. The Oscars were a train wreck at the train station, an excruciatingly long, boring telecast that lacked the verve of so many movies we love."[70]

Others gave a more favorable review of the show. Time columnist Judy Berman wrote that the ceremony "was more entertaining than the average pre-COVID Oscars. It started out especially strong." She also added, "Every part of this year's ceremony felt more intimate and less stuffy than just about any awards show I can remember. For once, the art and community of film seemed to take precedence over the business of film."[71] Associated Press reporter Lindsey Bahr commented, "The 93rd Academy Awards wasn't exactly a movie, but it was a show made for people who love learning about movies. And it stubbornly, defiantly wasn't trying to be anything else."[72] Darren Franlch of Entertainment Weekly gave an average review of the telecast, but singled out the winners and presenters for providing memorable moments throughout the show.[73]

The American telecast on ABC drew in an average of 10.4 million people over its length, which was a 56% decrease from the previous year's ceremony.[74] The show also earned lower Nielsen ratings compared to the previous ceremony with 5.9% of households watching the ceremony.[7] In addition, it garnered a lower rating among viewers between ages 18–49 with a 2.1 rating among viewers in that demographic.[75] It earned the lowest viewership for an Academy Award telecast since figures were compiled beginning with the 46th ceremony in 1974.[76]

In July 2021, the ceremony presentation received eight nominations for the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards.[77] Two months later, the ceremony won for Outstanding Production Design for a Variety Special (Alana Billingsley, Joe Celli, Jason Howard, and David Rockwell).[78]

The ceremony was subject to various forms of censorship in China and its territories. Due to scrutiny over Nomadland director Chloé Zhao—a Chinese-American citizen who reportedly made comments critical of China in a 2013 interview with Filmmaker magazine—the ceremony telecast was pulled by its local rightsholders in the mainland, and all discussions of the ceremony were censored from Chinese social media and news outlets.[79][80]

In addition, Hong Kong broadcaster TVB announced that the ceremony would not be shown live in the region for the first time since 1969. A TVB spokesperson told AFP that this was a "commercial decision". It was speculated that the decision was in retaliation for the nomination of Do Not Split, a documentary on Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests in 2019, for Best Documentary Short Subject.[81]