The Awardist Oscars Naked John Cena pays tribute to 50th anniversary of Oscars streaker More like, John Seen-him-all.... By Maureen Lee Lenker Maureen Lee Lenker Maureen Lee Lenker is a senior writer at Entertainment Weekly with over seven years of experience in the entertainment industry. An award-winning journalist, she's written for Turner Classic Movies, Ms. Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, and more. She's worked at EW for six years covering film, TV, theater, music, and books. The author of EW's quarterly romance review column, "Hot Stuff," Maureen holds Master's degrees from both the University of Southern California and the University of Oxford. Her debut novel, It Happened One Fight, is now available. Follow her for all things related to classic Hollywood, musicals, the romance genre, and Bruce Springsteen. EW's editorial guidelines Updated on March 10, 2024 11:12PM EDT John Cena bared it all for the Oscars. The 96th Academy Awards marked the 50th anniversary of the infamous 1974 moment when a streaker ran across the stage behind host David Niven as he introduced Elizabeth Taylor. At the 2024 Awards, Kimmel mentioned the moment, cueing Cena's entrance saying, "Can you imagine a naked man at the Oscars today?" He then repeated the line, emphasizing each word before Cena tentatively stuck his head out from the wings, revealing his bare chest. Kimmel and Cena had a back-and-forth as the wrestler-turned-actor explained that he'd changed his mind about doing the streaker bit. Kimmel feined frustration as Cena argued that it was inappropriate at such an "elegant" event. Kimmel lobbed back the accusation that Cena wrestles naked, to which he replied, "I wrestle in jorts!" "Jorts is worse than naked!" rebutted Kimmel. Jimmy Kimmel and John Cena at the Oscars. Kevin Winter/Getty Images Finally, after much cajoling, the naked Cena emerged from backstage, strategically holding a winners' envelope in front of his private parts. It was then revealed that Cena was introducing the award for Best Costume Design as he said, "Costumes are so important. Maybe the most important." The remark evoked laughs as his nudity drove home the truth of his statement. And in case you're wondering, yes, Cena really was naked (or at least as naked as he was allowed to be on network television). Host of entertainment podcast The Talk, Matthew Belloni tweeted a side view of Cena showing what appeared to be a mostly bare butt. Kimmel returned to the stage to announce the nominees since Cena couldn't open the envelope without exposing himself. After a clip package, the camera cut back to Cena now sporting a pink curtain trussed like a toga, seemingly pulled from the stage itself (or at least meant to look like it was). But unlike the streaker — of whom David Niven famously quipped, "Isn't it fascinating to think that probably the only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping off his clothes and showing his shortcomings?" — Cena gives the Oscar a run for its money for most impressively toned naked man on that stage. See the full 2024 Oscar winners list here, updated live throughout the ceremony. Related content: See all the stars at the 2024 Oscars Messi, the handsome Anatomy of a Fall dog, has his own seat at the Oscars 2024 Oscars: See the complete winners list, updating live during the 96th Academy Awards