Roughly halfway through the broadcast ( which we live-blogged with reckless abandon ), during a break between Oscars being handed out, O’Brien delivered a perfectly timed quip referencing Kendrick Lamar’s now-infamous Super Bowl LIX halftime show performance.

Shortly after it aired, comedian and writer Skyler Higley—a former writer on Conan’s self-titled late-night show and a member of the team of writers Conan assembled for his Oscars gig—tweeted his thanks to the Academy for keeping the joke in,

Conan O'Brien made a joke about Kendrick Lamar and Drake's ongoing feud while hosting the 2025 Oscars on Sunday, March 2.

Oscars joke writer Skyler Higley defended the Kendrick Lamar and Drake joke he wrote for the 97th Academy Awards monologue. He explained the joke was in reference to the cultural moment and that O'Brien was not taking sides in the rappers' feud.

Conan O’Brien quipped about Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s years-long beef and Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show during the 2025 Oscars. A little over two hours into the Oscars broadcast, O’Brien, 61, joked, “Well, we’re halfway through the show, which means it’s time for Kendrick Lamar to come out and call Drake a pedophile.”

Conan O'Brien at the #Oscars: "Well, we're halfway through the show, which means it's time for Kendrick Lamar to come out and call Drake a pedophile." pic.twitter.com/KmbX3QjnlM

The writer behind host Conan O'Brien's joke about Kendrick Lamar and Drake at the 2025 Oscars knew the line would elicit big laughs from the audience. During last night's telecast from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles,

Conan O’Brien shocked the Oscars with a joke about the ongoing beef between rappers Kendrick Lamar and Drake, and it’s one that earned the joke writer some cash. Comedian and writer Skyler Higley was the brains behind the joke,

Conan O'Brien is delivering a night full of laughs as the host of the 2025 Academy Awards ceremony, even poking fun at one of the biggest rap rivalries around — Kendrick Lamar and Drake.

Kendrick’s Big Game performance was ultimately larger than Drake, but of course, O’Brien went for the primetime punchline: “Well, we’re halfway through the show, which means it’s time for Kendrick Lamar to come out and call Drake a pedophile.” He then added, “Don’t worry, I’m lawyered up.”

Conan O'Brien made a joke at the Oscars about Kendrick Lamar and Drake's ongoing public beef but made sure to be lawyered up.

At the halfway point of the Academy Awards telecast, host Conan O’Brien made a quip addressing the feud between the rappers. “Well, we’re halfway through the show, which means it’s time for Kendrick Lamar to come out and call Drake a pedophile,” O’Brien joked getting laughs from the Dolby Theater.