Ellen Insults the Oscars Crowd, Then Wins Them Back With Pizza and Selfies

by Dave Nemetz

How did Ellen DeGeneres do as Oscars host? Well, it depends on when you tuned in.

The normally affable talk-show host went surprisingly dark with her opening monologue at Sunday's Academy Awards, tossing out a number of edgy zingers at the Hollywood crowd that even Ricky Gervais might have balked at.

Referring to Jonah Hill's full-frontal "Wolf of Wall Street" scene, the openly gay comedian joked to him, "You showed us something in that film that I haven't seen in a very, very long time." She shouted at 84-year-old "Nebraska" nominee June Squibb as if she was hard of hearing. She intimated to the Academy crowd that if "12 Years a Slave" didn't win Best Picture, "you're all racists." (It did win, so we're all safe there.)

[Related: '12 Years a Slave,' 'Gravity' Win Big at the Oscars]

Most pointedly, she referred to showbiz legend Liza Minnelli as "one of the most amazing Liza Minnelli impersonators I have ever seen," even calling her "sir." Wow… who knew daytime's queen of nice could be so mean?

But following that hit-and-miss monologue, Ellen switched gears (and outfits), going back to her usual Miss Nice Guy routine. She kindly handed out lottery scratchers to losing nominees like "American Hustle's" Bradley Cooper. She snapped selfies with the A-list crowd, topped by an epic all-star photo featuring Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence, and Angelina Jolie that's earned 2 million retweets and counting.

She even offered to order the hungry stars pizza — and followed through, gamely helping a pizza delivery guy hand out slices and paper plates. (OK, the pizza gag dragged on a little long.) She donned a Glinda the Good Witch costume a little too late for the "Wizard of Oz" tribute. Bringing it all full circle, Ellen even stopped by Liza Minnelli's seat for a selfie session in a sort of apology for the earlier "impersonator" crack.

[Related: Ellen's 5 Best Moments From the 2007 Oscars]

These lighthearted crowd shenanigans were much more in line with the Ellen we know and love. But was it a case of split personality, or just a few odd jokes that didn't land? And which Ellen do you prefer: Mean Ellen, or Nice Ellen?