Oscars 2026 Makes History with Rare Tie in Best Live Action Short Category

In a stunning and extremely rare turn of events, the 98th Academy Awards ceremony in 2026 witnessed a tie in the Best Live Action Short category, crowning two winners for just the seventh time in the Oscars' 98-year history. Presenter Kumail Nanjiani was forced to think on his feet as he announced the unprecedented result to a surprised Hollywood audience.

"It's a Tie — I'm Not Joking"

As comedian-turned-actor Kumail Nanjiani began to read the winner for Best Live Action Short, he paused dramatically before declaring, "It's a tie — I'm not joking. It's actually a tie." Nanjiani then humorously advised the room of Hollywood elites to "remain calm" as he invited the first set of winners, The Singers, to accept their award.

Director Sam A. David expressed his astonishment during his acceptance speech, stating, "I didn't know that was a thing — a tie." The situation became apparent to all involved as the unusual nature of the announcement unfolded.

Nanjiani's Comic Relief and Second Winner Announcement

In his introductory remarks, Nanjiani had already set a lighthearted tone by joking that some of history's most iconic films could have worked as shorts, such as "Some of That Jazz" and "The King's Tweet." When it came time to announce the second winner, he couldn't resist pointing out the bizarre contradiction.

"Ironic that the short film Oscar is going to take twice as long," Nanjiani teased before revealing, "And the second Oscar goes to Two People Exchanging Saliva." Directors Natalie Musteata and Alexandre Singh accepted the award, with Musteata expressing pride in sharing the honor.

"I believe this has only happened three times in history before and we are so happy to be sharing this Oscar with The Singers," Musteata said, slightly off in her statistical knowledge. "We love all of our fellow nominees and we're so, so grateful to everyone who has supported our film and who made this film."

The Rarity of Oscars Ties

Two winners in one category is incredibly rare, especially in modern times, due to more than 10,000 industry representatives casting their votes. The director's estimate was corrected by historical records, which show that only six ties had occurred previously across almost a century of the awards.

The most recent tie before 2026 happened in 2013 when Zero Dark Thirty and Skyfall matched for votes in the Sound Editing category. Perhaps most famously, it occurred in 1974 when Katharine Hepburn and Barbra Streisand both won Best Actress.

This year marks the second time the Best Live Action Short has resulted in two winners, with 1995 crowning both Trevor and Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life.

Previous Oscars Ties in History

Here are the previous six Oscars ties that have occurred throughout the awards' long history:

1932 — Best Actor: Fredric March (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) and Wallace Beery (The Champ)
1950 — Best Documentary Short: So Much for So Little & A Chance to Live
1969 — Best Actress: Katharine Hepburn (The Lion in Winter) and Barbra Streisand (Funny Girl)
1987 — Best Documentary (Feature): Artie Shaw: Time Is All You've Got & Down and Out in America
1995 — Best Live Action Short: Trevor and Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life
2013 — Sound Editing: Zero Dark Thirty (Paul N. J. Ottosson) and Skyfall (Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers)

The 2026 Oscars will be remembered not only for its winners but for this extraordinary moment that highlighted the unpredictable nature of artistic recognition and voting procedures in the film industry.