Oscars shock with one of the only ties in history — 'I'm not joking'

It's a tie!

The Oscars on Sunday featured one of the only ties in the awards show's nearly 100-year history. In the category of best live-action short film, there were not one, but two winners: "The Singers" and "Two People Exchanging Saliva."

This was only the seventh tie ever at the Oscars, and the first in the live-action short category since 1995. The most recent Oscar tie was in 2013, when there were two winners in the category of sound editing: "Skyfall" and "Zero Dark Thirty."

Before that, the previous Oscar tie was in 1995, when there were two winners for the live-action short Oscar: "Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life" and "Trevor."

'I'm not joking,' says Kumail Nanjiani, announcing Oscars tie

The category was presented by Kumail Nanjiani, who, upon opening the envelope, announced, "It's a tie. I'm not joking. It's actually a tie. So everyone, calm down, we're going to get through this."

The comedian went on to name "The Singers," and its filmmakers came up to give a speech. He then named "Two People Exchanging Saliva," and the winners from that short came up to give their own, separate speech.

"Ironic that the short film Oscar is going to take twice as long," Nanjiani quipped before setting up the second speech.

Host Conan O'Brien soon after returned to the stage to joke, "I just want to say congratulations to both winners: You just ruined 22 million Oscar pools."

Other previous Oscar ties have occurred in categories including best actor and best actress; in 1969, both Katharine Hepburn from "The Lion in Winter" and Barbra Streisand from "Funny Girl" received the Academy Award for best actress.

There was also a best actor tie at the 1932 Oscars, between Fredric March from "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" and Wallace Beery from "The Champ." The Academy notes, though, that this was not a true tie because March earned one more vote, but the rules dictated that a nominee would receive an award if they came within three votes of the actual winner. That rule has since been changed.

Mark Wahlberg presented the most recent Oscar tie in 2013, where he was joined by the animated character Ted, voiced by Seth MacFarlane. "We have a tie," Wahlberg said at the time, drawing gasps. "No BS. We have a tie."

'The Singers,' 'Two People Exchanging Saliva' winners react to shocking Oscars tie

The Oscars may be a competition, but in the pressroom, "The Singers" and "Two People Exchanging Saliva" filmmakers were all smiles as they reflected on their shocking tie.

"For me, that was incredible," Jack Piatt, producer for "The Singers," said. "We got to know all the filmmakers in our category, so that was really special. I wish there could be a five-way tie, to be honest with you."

"The Singers" director Sam Davis added that it was an honor to tie, giving kudos to the "Two People Exchanging Saliva."

"I told them if we lost, I hope we lost to them, because I saw sort of how incredible their film was, and none of us could imagine what the outcome would be," Davis said. "And certainly we didn’t imagine this."

Natalie Musteata and Alexandre Singh, the directors of "Two People Exchanging Saliva," were equally complimentary. "We're also a little bit Oscar geeks, so we actually discussed that this could happen, but couldn’t possibly imagine," Singh said.

Full list of every Oscars tie in history

With Sunday's added into the pack, these are all the ties in the history of the Oscars to date:

• Best actor, 1932: Fredric March ("Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde)" and Wallace Beery ("The Champ")
• Best documentary short subject, 1950: "A Chance to Live" and "So Much for So Little"
• Best actress, 1969: Katharine Hepburn ("The Lion in Winter") and Barbra Streisand ("Funny Girl")
• Best documentary, 1987: "Artie Shaw: Time Is All You've Got" and "Down and Out in America"
• Best live-action short, 1995: "Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life" and "Trevor"
• Best sound editing, 2013: "Skyfall" and "Zero Dark Thirty"
• Best live-action short, 2026: "The Singers" and "Two People Exchanging Saliva"

Contributing: Charles Trepany