There was a rare tie at the 2026 Academy Awards in the live-action short film category, with The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva sharing the award.
Kumail Nanjiani announced the tied award, drawing oohs from the audience, with The Singers awarded first on stage, followed separately by the Two People Exchanging Saliva team.
Nanjiani quipped that it was “ironic that the short film Oscar is going to take twice as long”, while host Conan O’Brien said the tie had “just ruined 22 million Oscar pools.”
A tie is very rare at the Oscars but not entirely unprecedented.
According to the Academy there has been six previous ties; Skyfall and Zero Dark Thirty in 2013 for sound editing; in 1995 for live-action short film; in 1987 for documentary feature; Katharine Hepburn and Barbra Streisand in 1969 for best actress; in 1950 for documentary short; and Fredric March and Wallace Beery in 1932 for best actor (though this was not a true tie under the current rules).
Musical comedy The Singers is directed by Sam A. Davis and was acquired by Netflix. Dystopian French-language short drama Two People Exchanging Saliva is directed by Natalie Musteata and Alexandre Singh and was distributed by The New Yorker.
In his winners speech - which he managed to make after the Oscars show initially tried to cut the mic - Singh took a playful dig at best actor nominee Timothée Chalamet’s comments about dying art forms. ”We can change society through art, through creativity - through theatre and ballet - and also cinema,” said Singh.
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