Twenty-two years after their shocking kiss at the 2003 Academy Awards, Halle Berry surprised Adrien Brody on the 2025 Oscars red carpet with a kiss of her own. Berry, who’s slated to present at the 2025 Oscars ceremony, spotted “The Brutalist” star and best actor nominee Brody on the red carpet and seized the opportunity to pay him back for their now-infamous kiss at the 2003 ceremony.
“That was one hell of a night for him, and for me as well. To be a part of his moment… tonight I had to pay him back,” Berry joked with Variety’s Marc Malkin on the Oscars Red Carpet. “I’ve seen him out at parties, but this is the first time since that night that I’ve seen him on the red carpet somewhere. He’s nominated this year. He deserved that.”
The two first crossed paths onstage at the 2003 Oscars, when Berry presented Brody with best actor statuette for his performance in “The Pianist.” When Brody took to the stage to accept the award, he embraced Berry, kissing her and remarking “I bet they didn’t tell you that was in the gift bag.” The surprise smooch (and Berry’s shocked reaction) made headlines, but Brody reflected on the incident in a recent Variety cover story.
“We live in a very conscious time, which is a wonderful thing,” Brody told Variety. “And nothing that I ever do or have done or would’ve done is ever done with the intention of making anyone feel bad.” Berry, for her part, congratulated Brody on his Golden Globe win for “The Brutalist,” seemingly putting any potential bad blood firmly in the past.
“Congratulations my friend,” Berry commented on Brody’s Instagram post. “You are truly one of one!”
This year, Brody is nominated for his performance as Hungarian-Jewish architect and Holocaust survivor László Tóth in Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist,” a historical epic nominated for 10 Academy Awards including best picture, best director, best supporting actress (Felicity Jones), best supporting actor (Guy Pearce), and best original screenplay. Berry remains the only Black actress to win best leading actress at the Academy Awards, honored in 2002 for her in the 2002 drama “Monster’s Ball.”
