Unmasking the Truth: Was John Cena REALLY Naked at the Oscars?

When John Cena came on the Oscar stage on Sunday, he seemed to be completely naked except for his Birkenstocks, leaving a lasting impact on the audience. One of the funniest and boldest moments of the evening was when Cena presented the Best Costume Design award almost entirely naked as part of a complex skit on the Oscars’ history with streakers.

As reported by Mediate , the segment featuring Cena and presenter Jimmy Kimmel was designed to commemorate 50 years since a streaker, who dashed across the Oscar stage in 1974 behind David Niven, first appeared. For the uninitiated, a man by the name of Robert Opel went to the 46th Academy Awards under the guise of a journalist and ran across the stage as Niven introduced Elizabeth Taylor.

Cena crab-walked onto the stage to give the costume design award, hiding his parts from the censors with a huge envelope. As Cena peered out from behind a wall, Kimmel wondered out loud, “Can you imagine if a nude man ran across the stage today?” While acting as if they were at odds about the apparent previous deal, Cena whispered to the late-night presenter, “I changed my mind. I don’t want to do the streaker bit anymore. The male body is not a joke.”

Following the reading of the nominations and the transition to a video montage, Cena made a surprise appearance, donning a large drape that served as a dress to preserve his modesty. He wasn’t entirely naked and used a tried-and-true Hollywood method for the scene: meticulous and purposeful dressing. Interestingly Cena’s butt and genitalia were covered in flesh-colored patches, as revealed in the backstage pictures . Rob Mills, executive VP of Walt Disney Television, told Variety , “We made sure that, for all intents and purposes, he looked like a Ken doll up front.” He continued, saying that Cena’s ‘crack’ was covered and that the envelope was Velcroed there to keep it in place. Beyond that, however, Cena was nude. As per the FCC’s regulations regarding what may be shown on live television, Mills asserts that ‘a bulge cannot be showing, and you can’t show crack.’

According to Mills, the FCC and the ABC event producers disagreed on just how much of Cena’s flesh should be seen. The producer said, “There was a lot of reticence of not just a fine from the FCC, but potential complaints.” Molly McNearney, an executive producer of the Oscars ceremony, said that executives ‘were sweating’ about standards and processes. McNearney added, “I think at the end, we all got to a spot where we were comfortable, S&P [standards and practices] was comfortable, and it didn’t compromise the comedy a bit. I was very thankful that we didn’t have to send [Cena] out there in tighty whities, which I’m sure legal would have preferred.” Talking about the social media buzz about the particular appearance, she added, “That’s what I wanted! Maybe it’s not what [the FCC’s standards and practices team] wanted. That’s definitely what I want!”