Fans have been left pretty confused by resurfaced photos of Angelina Jolie kissing her biological brother on the lips.
The Oscars have a storied history filled with jaw-dropping moments, but few can forget the time when Jolie, Hollywood royalty, planted a kiss on her brother, igniting a media frenzy that lasted for years.
At the 2022 event, we witnessed one of the most talked-about incidents in Oscars history when Will Smith took to the stage to confront comedian Chris Rock, who had made an ill-advised joke about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
We all know what happened next, don't we?
However, the Oscars have long been a breeding ground for shocking moments, where the sheer magnitude of celebrity presence can lead to unexpected occurrences.
One such instance took place back in 2000 when Jolie, then a rising star at 24, attended the prestigious event with her brother, James Haven, who was 26 at the time.
During her Academy Award acceptance speech for her role in Girl, Interrupted, Jolie remarked: "I’m surprised nobody’s ever fainted up here," and then turned her attention to her brother, stating: "I’m in shock, and I’m so in love with my brother right now. He just held me and said he loved me, and I know he’s so happy for me. And, um, thank you for that."
The controversy unfolded further at the Vanity Fair afterparty when Jolie and Haven, posing for the cameras side by side, shared a brief kiss on the lips.
Jolie followed up the outrage by kissing her brother at the Golden Globes. Credit: Ron Davis/Getty
This fleeting moment was captured by the photographers, gracing the front pages of numerous newspapers and eventually becoming a magazine cover sensation.
Here we are 23 years later, and people still can't quite get their heads around the bizarre interaction. The footage has since gone viral again and people have rushed to offer their thoughts.
One person wrote: "She's was always about the attention & shock value also she's always been a strange one. Remember when she and Billy Bob hooked up (that's a whole story in itself) and she had them wear vials of each others blood around their necks?"
Though some have defended the star, as another wrote: "My brother and I kiss on the lips, my son has always kissed me on the lips! Just pecks, nothing wrong with that!"
Addressing the media's speculation surrounding their relationship, Jolie spoke to Entertainment Weekly a few months later, firmly dismissing any "incest rumors."
She emphasized: "My parents really loved that moment, and that’s what will always matter." Jolie went on to explain that the kiss was a simple expression of "brotherly love."
Angelina Jolie and her brother James Haven. Credit: Kurt Krieger - Corbis/Getty
Haven, in a 2007 interview with the Daily Mail, also clarified the incident, stating: "I did not give Angie a French kiss. It was something simple and lovely. She was about to go off to Mexico to finish filming 'Original Sin' with Antonio Banderas. I congratulated her on the Oscar win and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. It was snapped and became a big thing."
There we have it, what is often seen as one of the Oscars most "shocking" moments was nothing more than a quick peck on the lips between a brother and sister.
