A Gathering of Stars for Rob Reiner, Diane Keaton, Robert Redford and More

Billy Crystal speaks onstage during the 98th Oscars at Dolby Theatre on March 15, 2026 in Hollywood, California.

Billy Crystal at the 2026 Oscars.Kevin Winter/Getty

Billy Crystal introduced a celebration of Rob Reiner by describing their first encounter in 1975 on the set of All in the Family.

Crystal went on to rattle off many of Reiner’s most famous and beloved movies. “My friend Rob’s movies will last for lifetimes,” he said.

He continued by talking about Rob’s connection with his wife Michelle, and their fight for equality and social justice.

“It meant everything to him that his work meant something to you,” Crystal said before being joined by the stars of some of those iconic works, including Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Jerry O’Connell, Wil Wheaton, Fred Savage, Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Carol Kane, Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Kiefer Sutherland, Demi Moore, Kevin Pollak, Kathy Bates, Annette Bening, John Cusack and Daphne Zuniga.

Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Jerry O'Connell, Wil Wheaton, Fred Savage, Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Carol Kane, Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Kiefer Sutherland, Demi Moore, Kevin Pollak, Kathy Bates, Annette Bening, John Cusack and Daphne Zuniga speak onstage during the 98th Oscars at Dolby Theatre

Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Jerry O’Connell, Wil Wheaton, Fred Savage, Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Carol Kane, Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Kiefer Sutherland, Demi Moore, Kevin Pollak, Kathy Bates, Annette Bening, John Cusack and Daphne Zuniga honor Rob Reiner at the 2026 Oscars.Kevin Winter/Getty

As the theme from The Princess Bride played, the more of the stars and creators we lost over the past year were honored.

Midway through, Rachel McAdams stepped up to the mic to honor Diane Ladd, Catherine O’Hara and the “absolute singularity” that was Diane Keaton.

“She meant so much to so many of us,” McAdams said of Keaton. “Celebrating a life in silver and gold, a legend with no end.”

US singer Barbra Streisand speaks during an in memoriam segment onstage during the 98th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 15, 2026.

Barbra Striesand at the 2026 Oscars.Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty

“After I read the first script for The Way We Were, I could only imagine one actor,” Barbra Streisand said as she stepped in to celebrate Robert Redford. She went on to share that he turned the movie down at first, but eventually, several drafts later, he changed his tune. “He was a brilliant, subtle actor.”

She went on to honor the “intellectual cowboy who blazed his own trail,” as a director and as a leader in general. “The last note I ever wrote to Bob, I ended it, ‘I love you too.’ and I signed it, ‘Babs.’”

She concluded by singing a refrain of “The Way We Were.”