Jonathan Ross slammed for mispronouncing stars’ names in ’embarrassing’ Oscars ITV coverage

ITV1 viewers are not impressed with Jonathan Ross’ coverage of the Oscars (Picture: ITV)

Jonathan Ross’ coverage of the 2026 Oscars hasn’t gone down well with ITV viewers.

The talk show host, 65, has been presenting the channel’s live Academy Awards broadcast for the past three years.

Each time, he’s joined by a panel to discuss this year’s nominees, offer predictions, and recap the winners.

Last awards season, Ross was slammed for his ‘insufferable’ takes on the Oscars, with audiences at home ‘begging for ad breaks’ – and unfortunately, the consensus hasn’t improved this year.

Taking to social media, British film fans criticised Ross for ‘terrible’ handling of the coverage, which saw him accompanied by rising presenter Elle Osili-Wood, Bafta-nominated writer and producer Samson Kayo, and TikTok sensation Fred Asquith.

And one thing that was widely criticised especially was how he seemed to ‘mispronounce’ several stars’ names.

He hosted the channel’s broadcast for the third year (Picture: ITV)

Taking to X with their verdict of Ross’ hosting, @spideyleclerc wrote: ‘if Jonathan Ross could learn how to pronounce everyone’s names that would be wonderful’.

@ismisecolleen echoed: ‘is jonathan ross intentionally pronouncing everyone’s name strangely’, while @awfulcuppa said: ‘might start a drinking game where I take a shot every time jonathan ross pronounces a name weird’.

Alas, the criticism didn’t end there, as @Micha3lMichael slammed the panel for an apparent lack of knowledge on this year’s nominees, claiming they appeared to have ‘only watched One Battle After Another and Sinners’.

Agreeing, @charlesj1234 called the coverage and chosen lineup ‘just embarrassing’.

‘Jonathan Ross doesn’t have a scooby what’s going on and the fact the panel called Amy Madigan’s win a surprise sums it up really…’, the user wrote following her supporting actress win for Weapons. Madigan, 75, recently also won an Actor Award for her portrayal of Aunt Gladys.

‘Jonathan Ross and his analysis. Please do better, ITV,’ wrote @plamalamsy.

Elle Osili-Wood, Samson Kayo, and Fred Asquith joined the panel to share their thoughts and predictions (Picture: ITV)

@YesitsAlistair also asked ITV directly to ‘please show us adverts, I don’t want to hear Jonathan Ross giving his take on every Oscar win’, with @FoxieLoxie further demanding: ‘Just give us the Oscars feed and nothing else’.

The ITV1 Oscars coverage was seemingly doomed from the start, as a string of jarring audio glitches caused disturbances for millions.

Viewers were understandably frustrated when, just minutes into the show’s start, they were unable to make sense of Conan O’Brien’s monologue, with @ctrlalteilish writing: ‘can itv fix the sound wtf’.

‘what in the beep is going on at the #ITV #Oscars live stream’, @FxndiErratas21 asked.

Thankfully, the dodgy sound was soon resolved, with night owls then able to enjoy the ceremony in peace. Well, until the commercial breaks meant a cut to Ross.

Last year’s ceremony was watched by a combined five million viewers on ITV1 and ITVX, so there’s every reason to believe the 98th Academy Awards will be another big one.

Conan O’Brien received high praise for his hosting of this year’s Oscars in LA (Picture: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Speaking ahead of tonight’s dazzling ceremony, which bestowed a record-breaking 16 nominations on Ryan Coogler’s horror/action blockbuster Sinners, Ross shared his thoughts on it being a ‘toss-up’ for which film would score the sought-after best picture and his predictions for the acting gongs.

‘I think best picture is going to be a toss-up between One Battle After Another or Sinners,’ he told The One Show. ‘I think Sinners will do better in the States than it did here because at its heart it is set in America, it’s sort of an American story, and it is an important story of American times.

‘One Battle After Another was a very interesting and timely film as well.

‘I suspect Michael B. Jordan will probably get best actor over there, and I think thoroughly deserved. I think Jessie Buckley will probably get best actress for her role in Hamnet.’

Although, it was confirmed by O’Brien in his intro that this year marks the fifth year in a row that no acting categories feature British nominees.

The best hope for British success was in the category for best supporting actress, where the nominees included Wunmi Mosaku for Sinners. Of course, the award ended up in the hands of Madigan, we now know.

Delroy Lindo, who was born and raised in London before moving to the US as a teenager, was among the nominees for best supporting actor, also for the film Sinners.

Lindo, who now considers himself an American, lost out to veteran US actor Sean Penn, who won for the comedy action epic One Battle After Another.

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