
Joaquin Phoenix and Brad Pitt led a chorus of complaining celebrities at Sunday night's Oscars where stars gave sermons on human rights, animal rights and politics.

And while the well-heeled crowd at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles applauded their speeches, their 'lectures' nauseated the audience at home.

Many viewers took to Twitter to slam the stars as 'hypocrites' and called the event the 'wokest Oscars ever'.

Phoenix, who is a passionate vegan, won the coveted Oscar award for Best Actor for his performance in the film Joker.

After ordering the crowd to stop applauding him, he used his speech to talk about the artificial insemination of cows and how humans 'exploit' and 'dominate' animals.

Pitt complained about President Trump's impeachment trial, Sigourney Weaver described 'all women' as 'superheroes', a documentary filmmaker invoked Karl Marx and called for 'workers of the world' to 'unite', Renee Zellweger gushed over the unifying qualities of 'our heroes' and Jojo Rabbit filmmaker Taika Waititi dedicated his award for Best Adapted Screenplay to 'all the Indigenous kids in the world.

The show was put together by Lynette Howell Taylor, who produced A Star is Born, and Stephanie Allain, who produces the comedy series Dear White People. It was the first time either of them had worked on the show.

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Joaquin Phoenix launched an impassioned speech about animal rights after he accepted his Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Joker

Phoenix started off by shushing the audience as they applauded him.

'Stop!' he said, before launching his rant.

'I've been thinking a lot about some of these distressing issues we've been facing collectively.

'We're talking about the fight against the belief that one nation, one people, one race, one gender, or one species has the right to dominate, control and use and exploit another with impunity.

'We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow and when she gives birth we steal her baby, even though her cries of anguish are unmistakable.

'And then we take her milk that's intended for her calf and we put it in our coffee and our cereal,' he said.

Phoenix said one of the most valuable parts of being actor was being able to 'be a voice for the voiceless'.

'Whether we're talking about gender inequality or racism or queer rights or indigenous rights or animal rights, we're talking about the fight against injustice.

'We're talking about the fight against belief that one nation, one people, one race, one gender or one species has the right to dominate and control and exploit another with impunity.

'I think that we've become very disconnected from the natural world and many of us, what we're guilty of is an egocentric world view - the belief that we're the center of the universe.

'We go into the natural world and we plunder it for its resources,' he said.

He called on the audience to be 'supportive' of one another and compassionate, adding that humanity is 'at its best' when 'love is a guiding principle.'

The best documentary award went to American Factory and co-director Julia Reichert , who is fighting terminal cancer, quoted The Communist Manifesto and said 'we believe that things will get better when workers of the world unite'. She was joined on stage by Steven Bognar (right) and Jeff Reichert (far right)

Jojo Rabbit filmmaker Taika Waititi dedicated his award for Best Adapted Screenplay to 'all the Indigenous kids in the world who want to do art and dance and write stories.' He is the first indigenous person to win an Oscar for screenwriting. Renee Zellweger spoke of the unifying joy of movies and how 'we all agree on our first responders and fire fighters'

Sigourney Weaver (center) said 'all women are superheroes' while presenting the Best Original Score award with Brie Larson (left) and Gal Gadot (right)

Jane Fonda recycled a dress she first wore to the Oscars seven years ago and carried the red coat she bought earlier this year which she said will be the last piece of clothing she ever buys in an effort to draw attention to her ongoing campaign to reduce waste

Hildur Gudnadottir, the fourth woman to win the Oscar for Best Original Score for Joker, said: 'To the girls, to the women, to the mothers, to the daughters, who hear the music bubbling within, please speak up. We need to hear your voices'

Hollywood's most important award show of the year kicked off with singer Janelle Monae performing an elaborate number to her song Come Alive and saying: 'I'm so proud to be standing here as a black queer artist telling stories. Happy Black History Month'

Natalie Portman made a fashion statement wearing a Dior cape with the names of female directors whose movies were overlooked this year, including Little Women director Greta Gerwig

Director Michael Moore politicized the event on Twitter

Pitt, while collecting the award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, complained that former national security adviser John Bolton did not testify at President Trump's impeachment trial.

'They told me I only had 45 seconds up here, which is 45 seconds more than the Senate gave John Bolton this week.

'I'm thinking maybe Quentin (Tarantino) does a movie about it and in the end the adults do the right thing,' he said.

JOAQUIN PHOENIX'S OSCARS ACCEPTANCE SPEECH 'Stop! (as audience applauded). 'I am full of so much gratitude right now. And I do not feel elevated above any of my fellow nominees or anyone in this room because we share the same love, the love of film. This form of expression has given me the most extraordinary life. I don't know what I'd be without it. The greatest gift that it's given me and many in this room is the opportunity to use our voice for the voiceless. 'I've been thinking a lot about some of the distressing issues that we are facing collectively. At times, we feel or are made to feel that we champion different causes but for me I see commonality. 'Whether we're talking about gender inequality or racism or queer rights or indigenous rights or animal rights, we're talking about the fight against injustice. We're talking about the fight against belief that one nation one people one race one gender or one species has the right to dominate and control and exploit another with impunity. 'I think that we've become very disconnected from the natural world and many of us what we're guilty of is an egocentric world view, the belief that we're the center of the universe. We go into the natural world and we plunder it for its resources. 'We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow and when she gives birth we steal her baby even though her cries of anguish are unmistakable. And then we take her milk that's intended for her calf and we put it in our coffee and our cereal. 'We fear the idea of personal change because we think that we have to sacrifice something to give that up but human beings that are best are so inventive and creative and ingenious. When we use love and compassion as our guiding principles, we can create, develop and implement systems of change that are beneficial to all sentient beings and to the environment. Now I have been a scoundrel in my life. I've been selfish, I've been cruel at times, hard to work with and I am grateful that so many of you in this room have given me a second chance and I think that's when we're at our best when we support each other. Not when we cancel each other out for past mistakes but when we help each other grow. When we guide each other towards redemption. That is the best of humanity. When he was 17 my brother wrote this lyric. He said: "Run to the rescue with love and peace will follow." 'Thank you.' Advertisement

Among other political statements from award winners was documentary filmmaker Julia Reichert's Marxist call to action for 'workers of the world to unite'.

She had just won an award for her Obama-endorsed documentary, American Factory, when she made the plea.

'Our film is from Ohio and China.

'But it really could be from anywhere that people put on a uniform, punch a clock, trying to make their families have a better life.

'Working people have it harder and harder these days. And we believe that things will get better when workers of the world unite,' she said, quoting Marx's 1848 work The Communist Manifesto.

While the star-studded audience applauded Phoenix, Pitt, Reichert and everyone else who took the stage, viewers at home were left frustrated.

Twitter users brandished the event the 'wokest Oscars ever' and labeled the stars 'hypocrites'.

'Ah the Oscars! A time for overpaid entertainers to lecture me about income inequality.

'A time for hypocrites to chastise me about carbon dioxide after they flew in on private jets.

'A time for beautiful tutored people to tell me I need more science learning on climate change,' one person mused.

Another quipped: 'Celebrities show up to the Oscars wearing: $100,000+ gowns, $50,000+ jewelry, $5,000+ shoes and are worth millions. Only to lecture America on income inequality and claim they're oppressed?'

Another user who dubbed it the 'wokest Oscars ever' called the event 'a complete waste of time and getting boring with statements from these idiots that no one cares about.'

Janelle Monae opened the show declaring she was a 'black queer artist telling stories'.

There were also political statements on the red carpet.

Natalie Portman wore a cape with the names of female directors whose movies were overlooked this year, including Little Women director Greta Gerwig.

'I wanted to recognize the women who were not recognized for their incredible work, in my subtle way,' Portman said

Phoenix wore a Stella McCartney suit that he has worn to every other awards event to minimize waste, he said.

He finished his acceptance speech quoting his brother, River, who he said told him when they were teenagers: 'Run to the rescue with love—and peace will follow.'

The audience at home took to Twitter in their droves to complain about the 'woke' speeches and boring event which lacked the sparkle and excitement of previous years

Actress Beanie Feldstein added a bright blue ACLU ribbon to her gown before she went on stage to present an award

Hair Love creators Karen Rupert Toliver and Matthew A. Cherry won the Oscar for best animated short and advocated for the Crown Act in their acceptance speech, a bill that prohibits discrimination based on hair style or texture

Former NFL player and filmmaker Matthew Cherry (far left) and Karen Rupert Toliver (far right) brought Texas teen Deandre Arnold (center in green suit) as their guest to the Oscars. The teen was told by his high school that he could not graduate if he did not cut off his dreadlocks

Actor Jonathan Pryce wore a 'choose love' pin on his tuxedo

The film Hair Love won the Oscar for best animated short film and creators Matthew Cherry and Karen Rupert Toliver advocated for the Crown Act, a California law that prohibits discrimination based on hair style or texture, as they accepted their awards.

Hair Love is a seven-minute short film that tells the story of a black father struggling then finally mastering how to do his young daughter's hair.

'Hair Love was done because we wanted to see more representation in animation and we wanted to normalize black hair,' Cherry said as the audience cheered.

'There's a very important issue that's out there, the Crown Act, and if we can help to get this passed in all 50 states it will help stories like Deandre Arnold, who is our special guest tonight, stop to happen,' he said.

Deandre Arnold is a Texas high school student who was told he couldn't attend graduation unless he cut off his dreadlocks, sparking national outrage.

'It means the world to us to have him here with us,' Cherry said on the red carpet.

'We wanted people to see how good of a kid he is, but also there’s no reason people should be policing our hair.'

Chris Rock and Steve Martin approached the themes others complained about with humor.

'I thought there was something missing this year from the best director category, Steve Martin joked at the start of the show. 'Vaginas?' Chris Rock replied

Charlize Theron held hands with Margot Robbie while Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan, and Vivian Baker won the Oscar for Best Makeup and Hairstyling for Bombshell

The make-up artists thanked Charlize for her 'bravery and passion' which they said helped them set 'a new bar in the makeup industry and create a new way to tell stories'

Producers Lynette Howell and Stephanie Allain were in charge of the event for the first time

'I thought there was something missing this year from the best director category, Steve Martin joked at the start of the show.

'Vaginas?' Chris Rock replied.

Martin also blasted the chaotic Democratic Iowa caucus that disastrously unfolded last week.

'A couple of years ago there was a big disaster here at the Oscars where they accidentally read out the wrong name,' the comedian said, referring to the 2017 fiasco where La La Land was accidentally named as the Best Picture winner instead of Moonlight.

'It’s nobody’s fault.

'But they’ve guaranteed that this will not happen this year because the Academy has switched to the new Iowa caucus app,' he joked as the crowd laughed.

For the second year running, the event did not have an official host. Kevin Hart was due to present it last year but a row over resurfaced homophobic tweets stripped him of it.