Jennifer Lawrence Once Had An Uncomfortable Confrontation With Anderson Cooper

There are tons of memorable Academy Awards moments from over the decades. From historic wins to silly mishaps or cringey hosts, the Oscars can be just as scandalous as it is prestigious. And the year that Jennifer Lawrence won her first Academy Award brought one of the most well-known moments in recent memory. It was, of course, one of the most important nights of her life because she'd just won an Oscar. But because of her infamous trip on the stage stairs, it can be a pain for her to relive.

To set the scene, in 2012, Lawrence played Tiffany in "Silver Linings Playbook" and swept award season that year. She won a Golden Globe award for Best Actress — Comedy or Musical for that role and of course won Best Actress at the Academy Awards. This was prime "The Hunger Games" era where Lawrence was very much the "it" actor of the moment. But as she was going up to accept her award at the Oscars, she tripped on her dress walking up the stairs, via BuzzFeed.

When something like that happens at a major event, the first thought to cross someone's mind might be, "Is this scripted?" Things like that don't just happen. However, much to Lawrence's luck, it did for her. While appearing on Heather McMahan's "Absolutely Not" podcast in 2020, Lawrence shared that her nerves really got the best of her. "I had everything in my head," she said, according to People. "I was very, very nervous but I was ready. All of the adrenaline clears out and they call my name and I'm elated and I'm in shock. And then I fell, and it erased everything from my mind. My full brain went blank. I can look back at it now fondly but for a very long time the fall thing was very sensitive."

When she saw CNN anchor, Anderson Cooper, say she faked her fall, she felt worse. "It was so devastating because it was this horrific humiliation to me," Lawrence said. Luckily for Lawrence, she got to talk to him about it. "My friend told me a vein was bulging out of my eyes. He apologized. I think we're good friends now," the actor said. "On my end, we're all good. What I led with was, 'Have you ever tried to walk up stairs in a ball gown? So then how do you know," via Glamour.

While that wasn't the first or last time Jennifer Lawrence got nominated for an Academy Award, it's still her only Academy Award so far. And even with multiple nominations, even she knows how rare it might be to win again. Because of that, Lawrence regrets not giving a speech that wasn't tainted by the embarrassment of her fall. "I don't know if I'll ever have a chance to give a speech like that again, so it didn't feel good for me not to have a speech," she said. Which made Anderson Cooper's comments that much more hurtful.

She did end up giving a speech, but as she told Howard Stern on his show in 2018, it wasn't exactly what she would have liked to say had she not fallen on stage, via IndieWire. "I would give anything to be able to go back and redo that moment. The fall startled me and made me forget my speech and made me forget to thank important people... I didn't thank David [O'Russell, the director] when I wouldn't have a career if it weren't for him. I didn't thank anyone from the movie — I wished a random person happy birthday, then stumbled off."