Ryan Gosling explains why he laughed during the ‘surreal’ Oscars mix-up

It’s been a month since the infamous “envelope-gate” incident at the Academy Awards, and it seems we still can’t stop talking about it. I’m sure there are two people who really wish we would already. In the sea of all of the chaos that ensued on stage after Warren Beatty mistakenly announced that La La Land won Best Picture, Ryan Gosling simply stood on stage giggling like a kid.

His reaction might have come off as a bit odd, and the 36-year-old actor was finally ready to tell his side of the story at the Adobe Summit in Las Vegas on Wednesday. Yes, Adobe as in Photoshop and Acrobat. Ryan was a last-minute replacement for Bradley Cooper at the event. Why he would be there either is a mystery to me, unless he’s a closet Illustrator savant or something. (Side fun fact: Ryan doesn’t know Photoshop.)

But, I digress. The reason for Ryan’s Oscar reaction is totally relatable if you’ve ever burst into a fit of laughter at an inappropriate moment (like I did in church many a time as a kid).

What really was happening as I was watching, it was surreal anyway, I was watching people start to have this panicked reaction in the crowd and guys were coming on with headsets and I felt like someone had been hurt. I thought there was some kind of medical situation, and I had this worst case scenario playing out in my head.”

And then I just heard, ‘Oh Moonlight won,’ and I was so relieved that I started laughing. But truthfully, I was also so thrilled that Moonlight won, I know the director…I’ve worked with them before. It’s such a ground breaking film, made for a million dollars, and incredible achievement and I’m so happy for them that they were being recognized.

[From Entertainment Tonight]

Also at the summit, Ryan talked about how he’s become the subject of memes (like the “Hey, Girl” one that was everywhere) and went into detail about the origin of the viral video “Ryan Gosling won’t eat his cereal.”

I think what is happening with the cereal one which is interesting is that made me aware of the potential power of them is that there was a kid named Ryan McHenry who I think was Scottish and was high and watching the film “Drive” with cereal and thought it was really funny to try and make it look like I wouldn’t eat my cereal … it just caught on to the point where … I couldn’t even leave my house in L.A. and go walk down the street without people yelling at me ‘why won’t you eat your cereal.’ It even got to the point where when I would film a scene, sometimes I would see the spoon coming out and I would think, this guy’s going to cereal the piece.”

“So I had this weird relationship to it. It was a part of my day-to-day. So, eventually he got cancer and passed away and it was strange because I didn’t know this person and I never met him – yet he was a part of my life. And I mean I was for him in a small way. And the only thing I could think to do was to eat my cereal. So I just filmed a little vine of me doing that…and it felt full circle and closed and, you know, it struck me that also there was inconsequential things … there’s kind of a connective power…yet to be tapped. Right now, it’s sort of a Bambi on Ice phase.

[From 3 News Las Vegas]

I love that he was honest about the Oscar incident and seems to own his viral appeal. If he could get me free Photoshop, he’d be the perfect guy.

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone received Outstanding Performers of the Year Award

Emma Stone at The 89th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood

Ryan Gosling having breakfast at Little Dom's

Photos: Getty Images, WENN.com, Fame Flynet

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26 Responses to “Ryan Gosling explains why he laughed during the ‘surreal’ Oscars mix-up”

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  1. Margo S. says:

    Faye Dunaway actually announced la la. Warren took the hit. Still can’t even believe that happened. So funny.

  2. Chelly says:

    I love his face

  3. Laura says:

    The real question is – why was he speaking at the Adobe Summit? Is he an expert at InDesign or something?

    • Jeesie says:

      Just a celebrity guest. Most of these tech events pay a famous person or two to show up.

      • Naya says:

        This. They pay really big money for just an hour of your time and all you have to do is take some interview type questions on a stage, shake some hands and endure some selfies. Elijah Wood did one at my brothers job a few years ago, it was a big event in which they were marking some anniversary and launching new products. Their office rumor was that Elijah got a quarter million for it. if thats true then BCoop or Goslings asking price might be a cool million.

    • manda says:

      I think they just needed a charming man, for whatever reason. I think ryan gosling is much more interesting and entertaining in person (like I’ve met either, but you get what I mean) than bradley cooper, but omg, when BC starts speaking french… so sexy

    • Peeking in says:

      Apparently it’s much more than just “a celebrity guest”. Lainey had an interesting write up about this in her introduction section yesterday. I had no idea companies like Adobe and Walmart had such huge influence in the entertainment industry,

    • QueenB says:

      When are you more likely to buy: looking at Ryan Gosling or looking at a tech bro?

      • Anitas says:

        He’s one of those universally liked celebs, men think he’s cool, women find him dreamy. And it’s not like he’s usually shilling stuff left and right either.

    • BeefJerky says:

      Adobe Summit has 12,000 people attend. It’s not about its more well-known photoshop or illustrator products– they make the big money on their web platform and their marketing cloud. They did unveil a really cool, minority-report-level Sensei tool, capable of scanning people on the fly and changing ads to target you more specifically.

  4. KJA says:

    I have a bad habit of laughing during inappropriate times. Normally it’s during stressful situations and it’s like my mind doesn’t know how to react so I just start giggling.

    • Esmom says:

      I have a friend with the same problem. It can get stressful. I’ve had to usher him out of the room at both a wedding and a funeral.

      Ryan’s cereal story was kinda bizarre. I guess I’ve never thought about how much these meme/viral things can affect the subject of them.

      • KJA says:

        I haven’t had a situation like that thankfully-I’m just not very good with stress.

        The meme thing is strange. I’ve found myself wondering about the random people that become reaction gifs or memes on the internet, and how they actually feel about it. Often it’s in good fun, but others can be quite cruel

    • Erinn says:

      I get like that too – when things are awkward the first response I can come up with is laughing awkwardly. Which does nothing to alleviate the awkward.

    • perplexed says:

      This happens to me too.

    • manda says:

      I do, too. I laugh when I’m nervous, and when I was a kid it was really bad, and people would get mad at me because they thought I was laughing at them 🙁

      • LadyT says:

        That’s sad. Adults should understand that a little kid’s reaction to stress or being in trouble can be nervous smiling. It’s not taunting or defying at all.

    • Ayra. says:

      I do too, I remember the worst time was when I was speaking to a friend, and she told me one of her family member just died and I just burst out giggling. It was horrible, I don’t even know why I start laughing.

  5. Ainsley says:

    Same. My boss went to sit in her chair at work a few months ago and it skidded away from her, causing her to fall off and smoke her head off a table. Ambulance had to come for her to get staples, and all I could do was laugh. It was mortifying, everyone was crowding around her all worried and sympathetic and I had to leave because my stupid response was to giggle like an idiot.

  6. Abby says:

    I think one of my favorite things about Ryan is how good-natured he is when confronted with silly internet memes.

  7. QueenB says:

    I dont understand why people were wondering. The Oscars go to great lengths to not have that happen so its obvisouly funny when it goes wrong. Biggest stage, most glamorous night… thats a height that makes schadenfreude more delicious.

    • Anitas says:

      Yeah, I can’t believe he even had to offer any explanation. It’s not like there was some sort of tragedy taking place for his giggle to be considered inappropriate. Envelopes got mixed up FFS, it’s hardly a sombre moment.

    • LadyT says:

      I know. It looked to me like he was looking down in the audience at his sister with a “Can you believe this is happening ???!!!” smile/laugh. Seems like a perfectly natural response to me.

      • Originaltessa says:

        It’s embarrassing to be standing up on stage accepting an award you didn’t win. I can think of like three ways a person could react to such a situation, and shaking your head and laughing seems like the top most natural reaction.

  8. S says:

    The cereal thing – i think i vaguely heard about it but no idea about the man dying. how perfectly lovely of Gosling to do that simple tribute. Hey boy, if you and Eva ever need a break, you are totally on my freebie list so call me?