"I Had to Pay Him Back": Online memes erupt as Halle Berry suddenly walks up and kisses Adrien Brody on Oscars 2025 red carpet

The 2025 Oscars just provided us with one of the evening's biggest surprises. Halle Berry amazed us all when she walked over to Adrien Brody on the red carpet and planted an unplanned smooch right there, reminding them of their now-famous 2003 Oscars moment.

"To be a part of his moment… tonight I had to pay him back," Berry told Variety

For those who can't remember, Brody famously kissed Berry passionately when he won the Best Actor award for The Pianist in 2003. Halle Berry reciprocated the favor and had everyone in the audience and on the internet in stitches.

Halle Berry and Adrien Brody's Oscars Kiss 2025: A Viral Red Carpet Moment

The moment happened in the midst of chaos on a crowded red carpet, snapping cameras and reporters in the midst of an interview. Berry walked over to Brody, smiled, and kissed him lightly on the lips, a reenactment of what had happened 22 years earlier. The reaction? Chaos.

The clip spread like wildfire, with fans immediately posting side-by-side comparisons of the two kisses. Some called it the “ultimate payback,” while others joked that Halle Berry had been planning this for two decades. Either way, it became the moment of the night, overshadowing even the actual awards.

It wasn’t just the unexpected nature of it that made the internet explode, it was the nostalgia. The 2003 kiss was one of the most talked-about moments in Oscar history, and seeing Berry flip the script this time was pure gold for meme-makers.

As expected, social media wasted no time turning the moment into a comedy goldmine. It started with people posting their shock, but soon, the memes started rolling in, and they did not disappoint.

One of the first to go viral was the classic “It should have been me, not him!!!” meme. Fans hilariously imagined themselves in Brody’s place, wishing they were the ones getting a red carpet smooch. The sheer jealousy was real.

Then came the reactions comparing the crowd’s expressions to Beyoncé’s iconic “shocked” face from a past awards show. You know, the one with wide eyes, frozen in disbelief. It was the perfect representation of everyone watching the moment unfold in real time.

Of course, The Office fans had to jump in with Michael Scott’s famous “Whatttt” reaction. Because let’s be honest, that was all of us processing what just happened. The mix of nostalgia and surprise had everyone feeling personally attacked by the sheer randomness of it all.

But perhaps the most dramatic meme of the night was the “Get yo lips off my man! How dare you?!” reaction. People hilariously imagined Brody’s partner or just anyone with a massive crush on him losing their minds over Halle Berry’s bold move. The possessiveness was strong, the reactions even stronger.

It’s not every day that an Oscars moment from over two decades ago gets a sequel. Somehow, though, Brody and Halle Berry managed to turn a 2003 viral moment into a 2025 viral moment without even trying.

Whether it was a playful homage to the past or just pure unadulterated spontaneity, one thing's for sure: social media won that night. The memes, the shock, and the sheer chaos made this a red-carpet moment for the books.

And what happens if history repeats itself again? Well, catch you in 2047 for round two!