The actor and pro wrestler took the award show stage naked to present the award for Best Costume Design – and had fun with the irony of the situation.
The moment was a nod to Robert Opel, the photographer most famous for streaking across the Oscars stage 50 years ago.We're seein' a lot of John Cena tonight! 👀#Oscars#Oscars2024https://t.co/X7unxQW0XY pic.twitter.com/X6BkkR040C — ABC News March 11, 2024 So, why did Opel strip down at the 1974 Oscars? Here's the explanation from The Associated Press:
Streaking, or running naked in a public place, was a thing in 1974. Ray Stevens even had a hit song about it. So it couldn’t have come as a complete surprise when a Los Angeles teacher, Robert Opel, stripped and rain onstage at that year’s Oscars ceremony as actor David Niven talked. Opel had supposedly posed as a journalist to get in. There’s been some suspicion that it was staged: Opel, who was murdered in a robbery attempt in 1979, appeared backstage later to talk about his stunt.