Cocaine Bear showed up at the 2023 Oscars to do a bit with Elizabeth Banks. But who was in the Cocaine Bear suit?
They definitely didn’t have to do it, but the 2023 Oscars went all in a Cocaine Bear joke at the 95th Academy Awards on Sunday night.
Elizabeth Banks, who directed the recent B-horror box office hit Cocaine Bear, stepped out with a stumble onto the Oscar stage to present the award for Best Visual Effects. But she wasn’t alone: She was joined by a mysterious someone in a bear costume, which, she joked, is what the bear in Cocaine Bear would have looked like without visual effects. Banks, who sounded like she might be battling a cold, proceeded to joke with the bear about what was real vs. visual effects: The Navi are not real, but Tom Cruise flying around is real. At one point, Banks drags Sigourney Weaver into the bit, who seems just as perplexed by this cringe-worthy bit as the rest of us.
Later, the bear returned to harass activist Malala Yousafzai in her seat. Yousafzai handled the bit well enough, but still: Leave Malala alone!
But Twitter was preoccupied with the real mystery of the night—not who would take home Best Picture, but who the heck was under that bear suit.
