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

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

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,

Fans are responding to the scathing joke Conan O'Brien gave at the Oscars that targeted Kendrick Lamar and Drake's rap beef.

Conan O’Brien used his gig hosting the 97th Academy Awards to deliver the kind of vintage Coco humor that the game’s been missing since his show ended, plus some shocking envelope-pushers—like when he addressed the elephant in the room with a Karla Sofía Gascón bit in his monologue.

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.

The Oscars joke writer behind host Conan O'Brien's line about Kendrick Lamar and Drake's beef knew it would elicit big laughs from the audience, winning $50 on a bet with the show's executive producer.

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. During the Sunday,

Drake was the butt of the joke at another global broadcast this weekend when Conan O’Brien referenced Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl LIX performance at the Oscars. The writer of the joke took to X and peeled back the curtain on how the moment came to be.

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.

One of the biggest feuds in hip hop history was mentioned at the Oscars in front of the world's biggest stars.