Hulu Finally Addresses Major Technical Failure During the Oscars

Hulu and its parent company Disney issued an apology to subscribers on Monday for the technical glitches that interrupted the Oscars livestream on Sunday night. For many users, the stream abruptly shut off just after the presentation of the award best picture, and others were unable to log into Hulu at all during the show. The glitches led to outrage on social media and calls for refunds, however, the streamer’s statement did not mention any repayment for the lost livestream. Instead, it directed fans to the full replay of the Oscars ceremony that is now available on Hulu and Disney+. For customers who hosted a viewing party, this is too little, too late.

“Yesterday evening, we experienced technical and livestream issues on Hulu which impacted some Oscars viewers,” said a spokesperson for Disney, in a statement obtained by The Wrap. “We apologize for the experience. A full replay of the event is available on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+.”

There were several technical issues with the Oscars broadcast on Sunday night — both the livestream and the telecast on ABC. Even those watching over the airwaves ran into an issue when the broadcast cut off the last seven minutes of the show. This was chalked up to a scheduling error at the network, but it couldn’t have come at a worse time, as this was when the best actress and best picture winners were announced.

[RELATED: The Oscars: Movies That Got 10+ Nominations but Only Won One Academy Award]

For many Hulu users, the livestream cut off around the same place, but for others the trouble started much early. The official Hulu Support account on X acknowledged an issue with the streamer’s login system at 7:39 p.m. ET — nearly 40 minutes into the award ceremony. “Having issues logging in?” they wrote. “If so – we’re on it! Our team is actively investigating, and we hope to have things back up and running soon.”

Hulu Support announced that the issue was resolved at 9:21 p.m. ET, but many fans replied that their streams still weren’t working. Many also felt that the streamer should offer some kind of refund for a widespread technical failure during a live event. According to the website Down Detector, over 30,000 users reported issues with Hulu during the Oscars.

ABC has an agreement in place to broadcast the Oscars through 2028, but according to a report by Bloomberg, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is considering a change when that contract is up. They noted the recent success of other streamers hosting live events, including Netflix’s handling of the SAG Awards. As for this year, the 2025 Oscars are now streaming on Hulu.