Viewers of the 2024 Academy Awards may have seen a bit more of professional wrestler and actor John Cena than they would have imagined.
During a skit with Academy Awards host Jimmy Kimmel before presenting the award for best costume design, Cena shuffled onto stage practically naked, with only an envelope covering his nether regions.
John Cena walks onto the #Oscars stage. https://t.co/UNgGySGz3r pic.twitter.com/zPrsl5oiCy
— Variety (@Variety) March 11, 2024
Commemorating a piece of Oscars history
Kimmel began the "bit" by sharing a piece of history, commemorating the 50th anniversary of "the craziest moment in Oscars history".
Back in 1974, during the 46th Annual Academy Awards, a naked man ran across the stage, catching the presenter by surprise.
Kimmel then asked the audience if they could imagine a nude man running across the stage today and repeated the question.
Cena could be seen in the back, poking his head out from behind a wall.
Screenshot via YouTube/ABC News
Kimmel asked why he was not running across the stage, and Cena replied that he changed his mind: "I changed my mind. I don't want to do the streaker bit anymore."
The two began bickering back and forth, with Cena saying that the streaking was a tasteless idea and the male body was not a joke. To which Kimmel replied, "Mine is".
When Kimmel could not persuade Cena to run across the stage, Cena took Kimmel's envelope to cover himself and shuffled across the stage.
Screenshot via YouTube/ABC News
"Costumes, they are so important," Cena said as he presented the award for the best costume design.
Cena was wearing a pair of Birkenstock sandals.
When he did not lift up the envelope to read the nominees, Kimmel stepped in to help cue the nomination reel.
A video from X by a Hollywood Reporter reporter showed that as the reel played, people from the stage crew ran onto the stage and covered Cena up, with some help from Kimmel.
The reporter then clarified that Cena was not fully naked but was wearing a modesty pouch.
I did not mean this literally. He was wearing a modesty pouch. Fully nude is too racy for TV. https://t.co/Ru87AkanQg
— Chris Gardner (@chrissgardner) March 11, 2024
Top photos via YouTube/ABC News