Rachel Zegler Joked About Her Belated Oscars Invite on Stage

Rachel Zegler addressed the elephant in the room — her belated invitation to the Academy Awards – while presenting the award for visual effects at Oscars 2022.

She shared the stage with EuphoriaJacob Elordi, Jacob’s star, will present the award. “I never thought that I would stand on this stage,” he said. She jumped in to joke, “And I never thought that I’d be here six days ago.”

The quip was a reference to her statements over the past few weeks about not attending the ceremony this year, even though she is the lead in the Best Picture-nominated film West Side Story. “IDK y’all I have tried it all but it doesn’t seem to be happening,” she reportedly also wrote in the comments section of an Instagram post. “I will root for ‘West Side Story’ from my couch and be proud of the work we so tirelessly did 3 years ago. I hope some last-minute miracle occurs and I can celebrate our film in person but hey, that’s how it goes sometimes, I guess. thanks for all the shock and outrage — I’m disappointed, too. but that’s OK. So proud of our movie.”

Luckily, Disney and the Academy came through with the invite; she tweeted later, “Well folks, I can’t believe I’m saying this but… see you on Sunday!” Just in time for a witty one-liner about the whole unfortunate situation.

Twitter made a few jokes about Jacob, who stands 6’5″ tall, and Rachel, who stands much shorter. Not everyone can be a short monarch.