The Oscar selfie
You might remember it as Ellen DeGeneres Oscars selfie
The archive does not hold a copy of this image that it may show.
Most viral ever31 of 32
2014·The social era·dramatic
A crowded photograph taken on stage at the Academy Awards that broke the retweet record and Twitter itself.
At a glanceThe facts
- Remembered as
- Ellen DeGeneres Oscars selfie
- Spread in
- 2014
- Began as
- A photograph
- Where it started
- Format
- Photograph
- Uploaded by
- Ellen DeGeneres, from her account @TheEllenShow
- Made by
- Bradley Cooper, who held the phone
- Recorded
- At the 86th Academy Awards, on 2 March 2014
- Record
- Most retweeted tweet, passing Barack Obama’s 2012 tweet, until 2017
- Origin
- Not an upload originally
- Available
- Not held by ViralWorld
What this wasThe story
Partway through the 86th Academy Awards on 2 March 2014, host Ellen DeGeneres gathered a row of stars — Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence, Brad Pitt, Lupita Nyong'o and others — and handed the phone to Bradley Cooper because his arms were longer. She posted it and asked the audience to make it the most retweeted picture ever. They did so before the broadcast ended, passing two million retweets and taking Twitter offline.
It provoked a genuine copyright argument — DeGeneres licensed the image to the Associated Press although Cooper had pressed the button — and an unexpected protest, the "sealfie", from Canadian Inuit objecting to DeGeneres's donations to anti-sealing groups. It is routinely listed among the most influential photographs ever taken.
Why it matteredWhat changed
A photograph taken during a live broadcast was retweeted two million times before the broadcast ended, and Twitter went offline for twenty-four minutes that evening.
TimelineIn order
- Record
At 2.7 million retweets it has long passed the previous record of 778,000.1
- Posted
DeGeneres posts the photograph during the ceremony. It is retweeted 700,000 times in half an hour.1
- Record
A teenager’s tweet asking Wendy’s for free chicken nuggets passes it.1
What people misrememberSet straight
Commonly remembered asEllen took it.
ActuallyBradley Cooper took it. She posted it.1
Commonly remembered asIt was a paid stunt.
ActuallySamsung, a sponsor of the broadcast, said the photograph was unplanned. DeGeneres sent the tweet from an iPhone.1
LegacyWhat it left behind
- Samsung gave three million dollars to two charities on the strength of the retweets.1
Why it is here: something the internet still knows by name · a moment that changed what the internet did next · it got out of its own corner of the internet fast · still being watched and quoted years later
This began as a photograph, not as a video. Originally published on Twitter.
Where it came fromWhat we know
There is no original upload to identify: this did not begin as one. There is no copy of it here either — what it was, when it appeared and what people called it is what this page can tell you.
Nothing here is claimed to be the first publication of this Moment, because the first publication was not an upload. This began as a photograph, not as a video. Originally published on Twitter.
Not established. This index only names a creator where the evidence supports it.
ConnectedFollow it further
- Referred to by SelfiePhrase · 2013
The Oscar selfie of 2014 is given as the record-setting example, passing 2.8 million retweets in a day.
SourcesWhat was read
Sources last read on . That date is about the history on this page. Whether the media still plays is checked separately and can change any day. How ViralWorld documents things