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Mick Jagger shared an honest admission about Bob Dylan while presenting at the 2025 Oscars.
The Rolling Stones frontman, 81, was a surprise attendee at the Los Angeles ceremony on Sunday and received a standing ovation from Hollywood stars, including fellow musician Elton John.
But when Jagger graced the stage to applause from the audience, he humbly revealed that he wasn’t actually the first choice to present the Best Original Song category. Jagger claimed that Dylan had been asked to attend due to the biopic of his life, A Complete Unknown, being nominated for eight Oscars, including Best Actor for Timothée Chalamet.
According to the “Gimme Shelter” singer, Dylan declined the invitation.
“As much as I love doing it, I wasn’t the first choice to give this award out,” Jagger said, adding candidly: “The producers really wanted Bob Dylan to do this.”
Jagger went on: “Bob didn’t want to do it because he’s had the best songs this year, well obviously, in the movie A Complete Unknown. Bob said, ‘You should find somebody younger.’ I said, ‘OK, I’m younger’ – so here I am.”
The award ultimately went to “El Mal”, the song featured in Netflix’s divisive musical drama Emilia Pérez, which also saw Zoe Saldaña win Best Supporting Actress.
For the last five weeks, this year’s nominated films, including Sean Baker’s critical darling Anora, Brady Corbet’s sweeping epic The Brutalist and pope drama Conclave, have been battling it out in what has become the closest awards race in years.
Mick Jagger was a surprise attendee at 2025 Oscars and talked about the academy losing its first choice – Bob Dylan (Getty Images)
While Netflix’s divisive Emilia Pérez was an early frontrunner, amassing an impressive 13 nominations in total, a furore involving lead star Karla Sofía Gascón has seen the musical’s chances drift.
Meanwhile, actors who are in contention to become Oscar winners include Demi Moore (The Substance), Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown), Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain) and Emilia Pérez’s Zoe Saldaña.
Find the full list of winners here.
