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Mick Jagger made an honest admission about Bob Dylan while presenting at the 2025 Oscars.
The Rolling Stones frontman, 81, was a surprise attendee at the Los Angeles ceremony on Sunday (2 March) and received a standing ovation from Hollywood stars, including fellow musician Elton John.
But when Jagger graced the stage to applause from the audience, he humbly revealed that he wasn’t actually the first choice to present the Best Original Song category. Jagger claimed that Dylan had been asked to attend due to the biopic of his life, A Complete Unknown, being nominated for eight Oscars, including Best Actor for Timothée Chalamet.
According to the “Gimme Shelter” singer, Dylan declined the invitation.
Find the full list of 2025 Oscar winners here
“As much as I love doing it, I wasn’t the first choice to give this award out,” Jagger said, adding candidly: “The producers really wanted Bob Dylan to do this.”
Jagger went on: “Bob didn’t want to do it because he’s had the best songs this year, well obviously, in the movie A Complete Unknown. Bob said, ‘You should find somebody younger.’ I said, ‘OK, I’m younger’ – so here I am.”
The award ultimately went to “El Mal”, the song featured in Netflix’s divisive musical drama Emilia Pérez, which also saw Zoe Saldaña win Best Supporting Actress.
Mick Jagger was a surprise attendee at the 2025 Oscars and talked about the academy losing its first choice – Bob Dylan (Getty Images)
This year’s Oscars race was the closest in years, with the ceremony considered a three-horse race between Sean Baker’s critical darling Anora, Brady Corbet’s sweeping epic The Brutalist and pope drama Conclave.
Ultimately, Anora became the evening’s big winner, taking home five trophies in total, including Best Picture.
Actors in contention to become Oscar winners included Demi Moore (The Substance) and Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown) – but both lost out on the night, with Mikey Madison taking home Best Actress and Adrien Brody winning his second Oscar for his role in The Brutalist.
The actor was criticised for his “indulgent” acceptance speech after appearing to throw his chewing gum at his girlfriend, Georgina Chapman.
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This year’s ceremony was hosted by an “incredibly silly” Conan O’Brien, who shocked with jokes about the Emilia Pérez-Karla Sofía Gascón controversy and also Canadian rapper Drake, which drew gasps from the crowd.
Elsewhere, Andrew Garfield was praised for a touching interaction with Goldie Hawn and viewers hit out at a Bond tribute for being the ceremony’s “worst” moment in years.
