The 2026 Oscars stepped away from the traditional as they paid a heartfelt tribute to the creatives, actors, and cinematic greats who passed away in the past year. Billy Crystal, Rachel McAdams, and Barbra Streisand took to the podium to speak of them both as artists and friends.

Comedian and actor Billy Crystal took the audience on a nostalgic journey of his best friend, director Rob Reiner's most memorable films, which he described by saying, "Rob’s movies will last for lifetimes because they were about what makes us laugh and cry and what we aspire to be far better in his eyes, far kinder, far funnier and far more human." From the likes of Stand By Me, Say Anything, This is Spinal Tap, Mr. President, A Few Good Men and When Harry Met Sally, which Crystal co-starred in with actress Meg Ryan. He was later joined onstage by an ensemble of actors - Meg Ryan, Kiefer Sutherland, Fred Savage, Demi Moore, Kevin Pollack, Jerry O' Connell, Wil Wheaton, John Cusack, Ione Skye, Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, among others. - who had starred across Reiner's movies.

With a line from the beloved film The Princess Bride, Crystal closed his tribute with a collective acknowledgment of the gift that was working with Reiner, saying "For us who had the privilege of working with and knowing and loving him, all we can say is, 'Buddy, what fun we had storming the castle."

Rachel McAdams, who co-starred with the late great Diane Keaton in The Famly Stone, stepped up to the podium to pay tribute to her mentor and friend, who she described as "...a legend with no end." She spoke of how Keaton, in the first ten years of alone of her stellar five-decade long career, already had films like Annie Hall, The Godfather, and Reds in her filmography. "...There isn't an actress of my generation who was not inspired by and enthralled with her absolute singularity," said McAdams. "She wore so many hats, literally and figuratively: actress, artist, author, activist. But no hat more important to her than being mother to her two children."

The actress also paid tribute to "fellow Canadian," the beloved comedian Catherine O' Hara, saying "She made us laugh until we cried."

To honor the iconic director and actor Robert Redford was his friend, singer and actress Barbra Streisand. The two were co-stars in the 1973 drama The Way We Were. She described him as an "...intellectual cowboy who blazed his own trail," and lauded him for his political convictions and courage. She closed her tribute by dedicating and singing a few lines from the theme song of their film.