Oscars 2026: In almost a century that the Academy Awards have been given out, only six times there have been ties. Presenting the Oscars 2026, presenter Kumail Nanjiani said, “It’s a tie”, leaving many in the audience confused.
There were two winners for the Best Live-Action Short Film category with The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva sharing the win.
A stunned Kumail Nanjiani opened the award envelope and commented, “I’m not joking, it’s actually a tie. So everyone calm down.” The presenter first called the first winner on the stage and then named the second winner, amid surprising murmurs in the Oscars 2026 audience.
Oscars 2026: The Rarity Of Tied Awards
The first instance of a tie happened way back in 1932 when Fredric March (Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde) and Wallace Beery (The Champ) tied for the best actor award. Later, March was announced as the only win before the Academy corrected the mistake.
In 1950, So Much for So Little and A Chance to Live tied in the best documentary short subject. Down and Out in America along with Artie Shaw: Time is All You’ve Got shared the honours in the best documentary feature in 1987. In 1995, Franz Kafka’s It’s a Wonderful Life and Trevor were announced the joint winners in the best short film live action category. Zero Dark Thirty and Skyfall shared the laurels for the best sound editing in 2013.
Most High-Profile Occurrence
The most high-profile occurrence of shared laurels at the Academy came in 1969 when Barbra Streisand won for Funny Girl and Katherine Hepburn for The Lion in Winter.
