The 91st Academy Awards were held on February 24, 2019, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, and for the first time in three decades the ceremony had no host. Kevin Hart had been announced as host but stepped down after past homophobic tweets resurfaced. Earlier in the season the Academy had also floated a new Best Popular Film category, an idea that was widely panned and set aside. The show opened instead with Queen and Adam Lambert performing "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions," followed by an introduction from Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph and Amy Poehler, and it moved faster than usual.

Green Book, about the jazz pianist Don Shirley and his white driver on a concert tour through the segregated South, won three Oscars, including Best Picture, a result that surprised many observers who had favored Roma or Black Panther. Mahershala Ali won Best Supporting Actor for the film, his second win in the category.…