Oscars filled with Academy Award firsts, and no masks

The 2022 Academy Awards were filled with multiple firsts as Hollywood gathered together Sunday evening for one of its biggest events since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Not a single mask to be seen on the red carpet," Rebel News correspondent Avi Yemini noted. "The fad is officially over." The 2022 Oscars is one of the first major official Hollywood events to be largely mask-free in more than two years.

The evening was a night of firsts for diversity in the Academy Awards as well.

Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes and Regina Hall made Academy Awards history as it was the first time three women have hosted the event. The Oscars had been hostless for three years since comedian Kevin Hart stepped down in 2019 following outcry over some of his old tweets.

The New York Times won its first-ever Oscar for the short documentary "The Queen of Basketball." 

NBC reports that Ariana DeBose became the "first openly Afro Latina and first openly queer woman of color" to win an Oscar for acting after she won the category for Best Supporting Actress for her role of Anita in "West Side Story." 

Troy Kotsur became the first deaf man to win an Oscar after winning Best Supporting Actor for his performance in "CODA."

Ten films ranging from dramas to musicals were nominated for Best Picture: "Nightmare Alley," "Don't Look Up," "Belfast," "CODA," "Drive My Car," "Dune," "King Richard," "Licorice Pizza," "Power of the Dog" and "West Side Story."

Academy Award nominees for Best Actor in a Leading Role included Javier Bardem for "Being the Ricardos," Benedict Cumberbatch for "The Power of the Dog," Will Smith for "King Richard," Andrew Garfield for "tick, tick... BOOM!" and Denzel Washington for "The Tragedy of Macbeth."

Oscar Nominees for Best Actress in a Leading Role included Jessica Chastain for "The Eyes of Tammy Faye," Oliva Colman for "The Lost Daughter," Penélope Cruz for "Parallel Mothers," Nicole Kidman for "Being the Ricardos" and Kristen Stewart for "Spencer."