"One must rise so another may fall" — Internet reacts to Conan O'Brien's Oscars cold open where he comes out of Demi Moore's body

Every year, the host of the Oscar ceremony opens the event with a parody of a movie that has been nominated that year. Conan O'Brien was hosting the Oscars 2025, for the first time on March 2, 2025, and continued the tradition by spoofing the 2024 horror film The Substance. The body horror film stars Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley.

The skit for the Oscars 2025 opens with an Oscar staff member knocking on Conan's backstage room, informing him that it was time to go on stage. On the other side of the door, Demi Moore was shown inside a bathroom, injecting herself with a pale liquid, as seen in her film The Substance.

As the injection starts taking effect, Moore faints on the floor, and her back is torn open, from where Conan O'Brien emerges, dressed in a tuxedo. As he admires himself in the mirror, the host notices that one of his shoes is missing. To retrieve the shoe, he goes back inside Moore's body and comes out with the other shoe in his hand.

The video clip of the skit was uploaded by Conan O'Brien's X handle and has since gone viral, receiving over 720K views and 8K likes. Netizens have been reacting to it, with many stating that the "prophecy is fulfilled," as others praised the skit.

"Finally, the prophecy is fulfilled. One must rise so another may fall."

Some netizens appreciated the skit, noting that it was a "good opening," while others joked about it shushing the conspiracy theories in Hollywood.

"Was a good opening. Congrats. That's the only part I watch. lol" - commented an X user.

"Not sure this is going to help shush the conspiracy theories about Hollyweird!" - posted a second one.

"This almost makes me miss the days when I still recognized the movie scenes which Oscar skits are parodying." - added a third netizen.

Meanwhile, others claimed they watched the Oscars solely for Conan.

"Only reason I tuned in to watch all these out-of-touch celebrities pat each other on the back is for Conan... that too he doesn't have much screen time," wrote a fourth one.

"You don't mock someone who was killed and tortured and whose family never saw their body again. I'm still here It's a true story that happened in Brazil during the most disastrous period in Brazil, and to this day the body of this person who was tortured has never been found, " replied another netizen.

"If you where funny it would be ok but like your cousin who had to rob bill hicks ...you just are not that funny....yawn," another user noted.

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Demi Moore's The Substance is nominated in five categories at the Oscar

Demi Moore's 2024 movie, The Substance, the subject of O'Brien's opening skit for the ceremony, was nominated in five categories at the Oscars 2025. This included Moore's nomination for the Best Actress award.

The other awards that the film is competing for include:

• Best Picture
• Best Director - Coralie Fargeat
• Best Original Screenplay
• Best Make-up and Hairstyling

The Songbird actress made her appearance at the Oscars on Sunday, dressed in a sparkly silver floor-length gown. Demi Moore told ABC News on the red carpet that being nominated for the award was "an incredible honor," stating that the last few months were "beyond [my] wildest dreams."

"Truly there are no words to fully express my joy and overwhelming gratitude for this recognition," she said.

Moore's The Substance has already found success at major award ceremonies since 2024, including the SAG Awards, the Golden Globe Awards, and the Cannes Film Festival.

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While the Best Actress award is yet to be announced, Moore is up against Cynthia Erivo from Wicked, Mikey Madison from Anora, Fernanda Torres from I'm Still Here, and Karla Sofia Gascon from Emilia Perez in the category.