Following last Sunday’s Academy Awards, the Governor’s Ball was abuzz with the usual post-Oscars celebrations. As champagne glasses clinked, Michael B. Jordan, star of “Sinners,” proudly showcased his Best Actor Oscar while Hollywood’s finest basked in the glow of another glittering evening.

However, despite the festive atmosphere, concerns were brewing as audience numbers dwindled significantly.

Reports from last Sunday revealed that only 17.86 million Americans tuned in to watch the ceremony on ABC and Hulu. This figure reflects a nine percent decrease from the prior year’s 19.7 million viewers, marking the lowest audience turnout since 2022.

Amid the Hollywood glamour, there’s a pervasive air of worry this week, according to sources from the Daily Mail.

One female member of the Oscars governing body, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, expressed concerns to the Daily Mail: “There is genuine anxiety about the Oscars’ future. With ratings consistently dropping and even with YouTube set to take over the broadcast in a few years, there’s a real fear that the decline will be hard to reverse.”

She added: ‘It feels like the Oscars was this train that was on track for so many years, but now it’s coming off the rails and no one knows how to save it.’

While critics were generally positive about host Conan O’Brien and highlights of the broadcast, including Barbra Streisand singing a live tribute to her late co-star Robert Redford, the abysmal ratings soured the mood.

A producer at ABC said: ‘Everyone came out of the show on Sunday feeling fairly positive. The broadcast went well and there were not too many political speeches, which always turns people off. But when the numbers landed there was total silence.’

While critics were generally positive about host Conan O’Brien and highlights of the broadcast, the abysmal ratings soured the mood

Last Sunday’s viewing figures showed only 17.86 million Americans tuned in to watch the ceremony on ABC and Hulu, representing the lowest audience since 2022

‘We threw everything at it this year,’ they said, calling out hype for Sinners, all the influencers ‘invited to cover the red carpet in the hope they would draw fans in’ and the KPop performance. ‘But it was a big fat dud.’

The Daily Mail has reached out to the Academy for comment. 

So, what has gone wrong?

Back in 1998, at the height of Titanic movie mania, more than 50 million people tuned in to watch the Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet love story sweep the board with 11 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director.

Some blame the rise in streaming services and the fact that most people would now rather stay in the comfort of their living room to watch a movie rather than head to the local cinema.

‘A night at the movies is expensive,’ one studio executive told the Daily Mail. ‘Between the escalating cost of tickets and the exorbitant price of snacks and drinks inside the theatre, you can’t blame people for staying away. So, there is less of a communal feeling about movies. When Titanic won big, we’d all been to the movies to see it, so we tuned into the Oscars because we wanted to see Leo and the movie win. Now people don’t know half of the films that are nominated.’

However, Sinners was a major box office draw and KPop Demon Hunters is still Netflix’s most watched movie ever, and both soundtracks have seen an influx in streams since the Oscars.

The three-plus hour running time of the show is the major turn-off for many, though.

Back in 1998, at the height of Titanic movie mania, more than 50 million people tuned in to watch the Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet love story sweep the board with 11 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director

The ABC producer said: ‘Gen Z and Millennials have the attention span of a gnat because they grew up in the digital era. The Oscars, like many awards shows, are simply too long.’

However, the digital generation was definitely scrolling and engaging with content. The Daily Mail understands that audience growth on Academy social platforms has  increased in recent years, and the Oscars was the No. 1 trending X topic worldwide throughout the Sunday telecast. So, the content is indeed reaching people, despite changing attention spans.

The problem, they explained, is that skipping categories ‘few people really care about,’ like editing and sound, to cut run time always leads to an ‘outcry’ or ‘offending’ Academy members. And this year’s addition of the extra award for casting only makes it longer.

They said: ‘They’ve tried to make the Academy younger and more diverse but the people in power are still old white liberals, and this is the hill they’ve chosen to die on.’

Though, it’s not just the Oscars suffering.

This year’s Grammy Awards drew 14.4 million viewers across CBS and Paramount+, around a million fewer than last year, and the Golden Globes were watched by just 8.66 million viewers on CBS, down from the 9.3 million who saw the 2025 ceremony.

‘It’s a problem across the board,’ the producer added. ‘People don’t want to sit through three-plus hours of an awards show. We’ve done surveys and there is always pushback against Hollywood liberals. People on both coasts don’t realize there are vast swathes of America who don’t think like they do. With the exception of Marvel and the animated films of Disney Pixar, Hollywood isn’t making the kind of movies people want to go and see. And that’s a big problem for these awards shows. People don’t like being lectured by elites.’

One of the biggest stories this year didn’t even unfold on stage at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

Instead, it came afterwards when someone posted an image of the empty theatre filled with trash from the snack boxes filled with Skinny Pop popcorn and dark chocolate Raisinets.

One show attendee said: ‘They have these brown snack boxes under your seat because they know the Oscars always run over. People used to leave early because they were starving and they didn’t have enough seat fillers to fill the empty seats.’

Social media lashed out at the hypocrisy of Hollywood stars like DiCaprio and others who constantly lecture about being eco-friendly.

‘They have these brown snack boxes under your seat because they know the Oscars always run over. People used to leave early because they were starving and they didn’t have enough seat fillers to fill the empty seats’

After a photo of the empty theatre filled with trash circulated online, social media lashed out at the hypocrisy of Hollywood stars like DiCaprio and others who constantly lecture about being eco-friendly

‘What planet are they on?’ one person wrote on X. ‘These are the people telling us to cut down on carbon emissions while flying around in private jets and who tell us to clean up the planet when they leave a theatre piled high with trash!’

While the future of snack boxes at the Oscars is uncertain, the show itself will be moving. Starting in 2029, the Oscars will air on YouTube in a five-year exclusive deal worth a reported $150 million annually to the Academy.

The move, according to the Academy member, was to save the show.

‘People were shocked when we did the deal, but it’s about more than money. It’s about the survival of the Oscars. We’re already talking about how YouTube will shake up the coverage. Acceptance speeches will be clipped to under a minute. And when a moment goes viral, the YouTube algorithm will push, push, push it. It’s not about the main event anymore, the live broadcast. It’s about online traffic, viral moments and the afterlife of the show online.’

They continued: ‘The Oscars are having an existential crisis and we at the Academy realize we need to totally change our thinking if we want the show to survive.’

So will the Oscars lose prestige?

The Academy member laughed out loud.

‘This isn’t about prestige anymore, it’s about our very survival. Everyone knows that in Hollywood, the show must go on. Well, the only way this show is going to survive is if we drag it kicking and screaming into the digital age. And that’s precisely what we are planning to do.’

In Chicago, tenants living in rent-controlled apartments near a planned tribute to former President Barack Obama have reportedly come together to form a union. The initiative is a reaction to the contentious development project.

Occupants of a longstanding apartment complex in Woodlawn have united to combat potential eviction and rising rents, which they attribute to the development of the Obama Presidential Center in their vicinity.

Earlier this month, tenants of the Chaney Braggs Apartments gathered for a rally in front of their residence, located near the intersection of 65th Street and Stony Island Avenue. They expressed concern that a possible sale of the property could disrupt the lives of families who have resided there for many years, according to a report by FOX 32 Chicago.

Local residents revealed that a California-based investor is interested in purchasing the building, with plans to either renovate or demolish it. The tenants have been offered $2,000 per household to vacate, a sum they argue is insufficient for families to find new homes in an area undergoing swift transformation.

The anxiety among low-income tenants about displacement and increased rent is the latest criticism aimed at the Obama Presidential Center project. (Fox Flight Team; Getty)

Many residents currently pay between $700 and $800 a month in rent. Some say they have lived in the building for 30 or 40 years and fear they will not be able to find comparable housing in Woodlawn if rents rise or the property is redeveloped.

In response, residents have formed a tenant union to push back against the threat of displacement and preserve affordability in the building. They say the union first came together after the previous landlord abandoned the property about two years ago, forcing tenants to organize around maintenance issues and basic services.

Now, residents say that same network is being used to confront a larger challenge: staying in their homes as investment tied to the Obama Presidential Center reshapes the surrounding neighborhood.

A before-and-after aerial graphic shows the footprint of the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park, including the removal of Cornell Drive and construction along Stony Island Avenue. (Fox News)

The apartment building, tenants said, was once owned by a nonprofit committed to affordable housing and community stability. But with those protections no longer in place, residents say they are increasingly vulnerable to market pressures that have intensified as construction on the presidential center continues nearby.

No sale has been finalized, and the identity of the prospective buyer had not been publicly confirmed as of Thursday. Residents say they have contacted city and state officials for assistance but have not yet received a response.

The standoff underscores broader anxieties in Woodlawn, where the Obama Presidential Center has brought promises of jobs and investment alongside fears of gentrification and displacement. For tenants at Chaney Braggs Apartments, those concerns have become immediate and personal.

Residents say they plan to continue organizing while awaiting more information about the building’s future, possible rent increases and whether city officials will step in.

The Obama Presidential Center, set to open in Chicago’s South Side on June 18, is a 19.3-acre campus in Jackson Park featuring a 225-foot museum tower, library and community forum.

Obama, the first American Black president, is celebrating the grand opening of the over-budget building — called an eyesore by critics — on the eve of Juneteenth.

Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, and informed enslaved Black Americans there that they were free — more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

The holiday has been observed as a celebration of Black freedom, resilience and community, and in recent years has taken on broader national significance as both a commemoration of liberation and a reminder of the long struggle for racial justice in the United States.

Obama had once described the center as a “gift” to Chicago. It is a gift that keeps on costing.

A Fox News Digital investigation in February found taxpayers are absorbing hundreds of millions of dollars in related public infrastructure costs tied to the project. Those expenses include road redesigns, stormwater systems and utility relocations needed to support the 19.3-acre campus in Jackson Park. No government agency has provided a full accounting of the total public cost despite months of inquiries and Freedom of Information Act requests.

Initial projections put public infrastructure spending at about $350 million to be shared by the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois. Critics now argue those obligations have grown into a major public burden as the project has faced delays and mounting costs.

Enya stands as one of the world’s most successful music artists, boasting an impressive 80 million album sales. Artists such as FKA Twigs, Cynthia Erivo, and Nicki Minaj have all named her as a significant influence in their careers.

Despite her monumental success, Enya has opted for a life away from the public eye, residing in a secluded castle in Ireland. She only steps back into the limelight when promoting new music.

The 64-year-old Irish singer has chosen a solitary lifestyle, never marrying or having children. She shares her tranquil County Dublin castle with her 12 beloved cats.

Her serene way of life has captured the imagination of many, with a recent social media post about her lifestyle going viral. Actor Ncuti Gatwa commented, “Goals,” while author Dawn O’Porter simply stated, “Icon.”

Enya, celebrated for her ethereal voice, resides in the majestic Manderley Castle in Killiney, South Dublin. The estate offers breathtaking views of the Irish Sea, adding to its enchanting allure.

She purchased the building for £2.5million in 1997 and currently lives alone with only her cats for company.

Enya has an off-grid life in a £2.5million remote castle with no husband or children and just 12 her cats. The singer said she was ‘dark and difficult’ to be around and described marriage as ‘horrific’ (pictured at the Grammys in 2017)

Enya, who is renowned for her ethereal vocals, lives in the impressive Manderley Castle in Killiney, south Dublin, which boasts stunning views of the Irish Sea

Her next door neighbour is U2 frontman Bono and in a rare televised appearance on This Morning in 2016, she joked that the rocker popped round to borrow sugar.

She previously told The Guardian: ‘It’s very castle on the exterior, but it’s very much a home inside. It’s actually a very small castle and I fell in love with it.’

The performer has maintained a reclusive existence since she shot to super-stardom following the release of her global hit Orinoco Flow (Sail Away) in 1988.

Enya has never married or had children and at one stage was thought to share her residency with a total of 12 cats, although it is uncertain how many she still has. 

Originally from Gweedore, Co Donegal in Ireland, Enya grew up as one of nine siblings. 

Finding a love for the piano and singing, she joined the family’s Celtic music group Clannad before leaving two years later to move in with the band’s late producer Nicky Ryan and his wife Roma.

The three became writing partners, releasing her first album in 1987. But it was her second LP, Watermark, which featured her most well-known song Orinoco Flow (Sail Away) and launched her into stratospheric fame. 

During her career, the threesome always worked together with Enya coming out of hiding to promote a record, but never touring and rarely performing live. 

Nicky passed away last September, leaving behind his widow Roma. Enya’s song Dark Sky Island, which was the title track of their final album together, was played at his funeral.  

Meanwhile, Enya’s last public appearance was at the 2017 Grammy Awards.

Even her family rarely see her, with her uncle Noel Duggan telling The Sun back in 2016: ‘We don’t see much of her. She lives like a queen. She is a recluse.’

A pal also told the publication that she is not a ‘barrel of laughs’ and isn’t someone you would go to the pub with.  

The star’s success is an anomaly in an industry where constant touring, heavy radio play and public appearances are usually required to return strong record sales.

An industry insider told The Sun: ‘Throughout the music business there’s no one else who is so successful about whom so little is known. She doesn’t socialise, she’s barely seen out of the house, there aren’t any clues in her lyrics about her life.’

However, she has vehemently defended her lifestyle and approach to music.

‘It’s not a hanging offence not wanting to go to nightclubs,’ said the singer. ‘What happened to choice? My choice is that after a certain amount of promotion, I feel it gets very false and then I’m not interested.

‘When the album has been out for, say, ten months, people will start focusing on me and I really don’t want that. I love the music to be known, but I’m not after fame for myself.’

She told The Independent that she had ‘never tried to create an enigma’ but has always been an independent person.

Her passion for music has had an impact on her love life, although music is what’s most important to her.

The performer has maintained a reclusive existence since she shot to super-stardom following the release of her global hit Orinoco Flow (Sail Away) in 1988 (pictured in 2001) 

A pal also told the publication that she is not a ‘barrel of laughs’ and isn’t someone you would go to the pub with

Enya (third from right) was last seen last May as she enjoyed a rare night out at a wedding in Donegal, northwest Ireland

Enya previously said that after a day in the studio she could be ‘dark and difficult’ to be around and needs to be on her own. 

She asked: ‘What sort of man would be able to adapt? 

‘Falling madly in love and getting married would be the most horrific thing that could happen. My affairs are with melody and words and beautiful sounds,’ she explained. 

She previously said: ‘There have been… relationships. It’s quite hard to have someone accept that – well, not that they are second to the music, but that I do need a certain amount of space for it. And even though the person will understand that at the beginning, there is something like jealousy towards the music after a while.’

The star once admitted she was a big Strictly fan, however was unsure if she would ever actually agree to do the show. 

It is also no wonder Enya prefers a life out the spotlight after two terrifying stalker incidents throughout her life. 

Back in 1996, she was stalked by an Italian man for over a year and he eventually turned up at her parent’s pub in Donegal wearing a pendant with her picture in. 

The situation escalated when he was confronted and wounded himself with a knife. 

Later in 2005, Enya was once again faced with an intruder who gained access to her castle and detained a housemaid while she took refuge in a panic room. 

These events further cemented Enya’s decision to avoid public outings and fan meet-and-greets.  

Enya was last seen last May as she enjoyed a rare night out at a wedding in Donegal, northwest Ireland.

The hitmaker smiled for the photo as she posed alongside her sister Moya Brennan, brother-in-law Tim Jarvis and members of the Irish dance group, Donegal Dancers.

The image was shared to the Donegal Dancers’ official Facebook page, as well as on Reddit, with fans quick to comment on how great Enya looked.

They penned: ‘She looks great after another decade! And her outfit, of course, is totally enya coded’; ‘Good to see our Enya. Moya is looking great too.’

Last November Enya made an appearance in the TG4 television documentary Glacaim Leat, which explored the legalisation of gay marriage in Ireland. 

In the documentary, co-star Seán Mac Ruairí is briefly shown hugging Enya at the wedding she was pictured at in May.