Oscars 2016: the best moments from the night

Leonardo DiCaprio can finally say he is an Oscar winner, having lost out on four previous nominations. The star of The Revenant was crowned Best Actor, beating the likes of Eddie Redmayne, Michael Fassbender, Matt Damon and Bryan Cranston.

Leonardo, 41, thanked his co-star Tom Hardy, his parents and friends, saying "you know who you are" and director Alejandro González Iñárritu.

The actor concluded his speech on an important note, warning the audience and viewers at home that climate change is real and affects us all.

Vice president Joe Biden had the honour of introducing his friend Lady Gaga to the stage. The 73-year-old showed his support for victims of sexual assault including the Just Dance singer, saying: "Let's change the culture so that no abused woman or man ever feels they have to ask themselves, 'What did I do?' They did nothing wrong."

Mr Biden later tweeted: "Proud to stand by my friend @LadyGaga tonight. Pure courage that inspires, challenges us all. #ItsOnUs. All of us."

Lady Gaga received a standing ovation after her incredibly powerful performance of Til It Happens To You, defending rape and sexual abuse victims. The singer, who was one such victim, teared up as she sang and played the piano.

She was joined by male and female sufferers of sexual abuse and their presence moved the star-studded audience to tears. Brie Larson was pictured hugging some of the performers at the end, while Rachel McAdams wiped tears from her eyes.

Lady Gaga dedicated her performance to Kesha, tweeting: "I'll be thinking of u 2nite. This is not over we'll stand by u until you are free to live a HAPPY life. Everyone deserves that."

Kesha replied: "Thank u @ladygaga and VP @JoeBiden for bringing attention to sexual assault at the oscars. It hit very close to my heart for obvious reasons."

Lady Gaga later Instagrammed a photo with her fiancé Taylor Kinney, writing: "I never thought anyone would ever love me because I felt like my body was ruined by my abuser. But he loves the survivor in me. He's stood by me all night proud and unashamedly. THATS a real man."

Nine-year-old Jacob Tremblay and Abraham Attah were both given boxes to stand on as they presented the Live Action Short Film award. The pair melted hearts, taking turns to lean into the mic while Jacob also took the chance to say that he loved Oscars host Chris Rock in Madagascar.

Jacob Tremblay was perhaps the most excited guest in the audience when the Star Wars characters came onstage. The youngster, who is a well-known Star Wars fan, even wore themed socks and cufflinks to the awards.

When C-3PO walked out alongside BB-8, Jacob leapt out of his seat to get a better view.

The two characters praised composer John Williams, saying they love his music, while also joking that C-3PO looked like one of the coveted Oscar statues.

After selling cookies to the star-studded audience, Chris Rock revealed that more than $65,000 was raised on the night for the Girl Scouts of Los Angeles. Over 13,000 boxes were given out to guests including Matt Damon and Christian Bale, who willingly parted with their cash for the sweet treats.

Host Chris had previously said that he would think up of a way to spice up the Oscars this year and keep the stars fed, after Ellen DeGeneres famously served out pizza in 2014.

Sam Smith and Jimmy Napes, who co-wrote Writing's on the Wall for the Bond film Spectre, received their first ever Oscar. Sam, 23, was visibly shocked as his name was announced, and mouthed "wow" as he stood up from his seat.

The Stay With Me singer dedicated his award to the LGBT community, saying: "I stand here tonight as a proud gay man and I hope we can all stand together as equals one day."

The Weeknd set the Oscars stage on fire with his incredible performance of Earned It.

The singer, who was nominated for the Music (Original Song) award, was flanked by dancers, candles, chandeliers and a woman on silks as he crooned his way through the Fifty Shades of Grey hit tune.

At roughly four months pregnant, Emily Blunt was on sensational form as she arrived at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The English rose chose to walk the red carpet solo, but it wasn't long before she ran into her friend Charlize Theron.

The pair were pictured in a sweet embrace, with Charlize looking ravishing in a red, low-cut gown.

The actresses were again reunited to present the first award of the night together, Original Screenplay.

When Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe took to the stage to present the Best Adapted Screenplay together, the Canadian heart-throb joked that the gig was beneath them given that they have two Oscars.

When Russell quickly corrected him, saying that he only had one Academy Award and Ryan had none, the star of The Notebook brushed him off, saying: "Can we just agree to disagree and move on so that more people can have Oscars like we do?"

Before taking their seats at the start of the ceremony, Oscar nominees Brie Larson, Kate Winslet and Cate Blanchett had a moment to catch up. Brie and Cate were nominated for the Best Actress award, for their roles in Room and Carol respectively, which Brie later won.

Kate, meanwhile, lost out to Alicia Vikander in the Best Supporting Actress category.

Viewers were left confused when Stacey Dash appeared onstage for a brief minute. The Clueless star was introduced by host Chris Rock as the "new director of our minority outreach program", following Stacey's controversial comments about abolishing Black History Month and the much-talked about #OscarsSoWhite controversy.

"I cannot wait to help my people out," said Stacey. "Happy black history month!"

After the joke, at which no one laughed, the actress went on to explain her appearance. She wrote in a blog post that people shouldn't boycott the Oscars and should instead support host Chris.

"Which brings me to the joke," she wrote. "When they added ME to increase the diversity, I'm sure many black people rolled their eyes. I'm not 'black enough,' they say. But guess what? I've heard that all my life. I would rather be a free thinking, black than a cookie cutter black who thinks – and votes – just like all my friends."

Her joke was lost on some stars though, as a cringed-out Chrissy Teigen tweeted: "I was making the face from the Stacey Dash moment."