Rob Mills and Molly McNearney went on to say that the standards and practices executives at ABC were nervous about the idea of John Cena being completely naked onstage at the Dolby Theater, even with the rules about cracks and bulges firmly in place. The fact that Cena’s bit was a callback to a streaker who snuck onstage during the 1974 Oscars likely didn’t help, but Mills and McNearney said that they got everything they wanted … even though ABC’s legal team wasn’t thrilled.
“They were sweating,” McNearney said, referencing the standards and practices executives. “I think at the end we all got to a spot where we were comfortable, S&P was comfortable, and it didn’t compromise the comedy a bit. I was very thankful that we didn’t have to send him out there in tighty whities, which I’m sure legal would have preferred.”
The sketch left a lot of viewers wondering if the actor was actually completely naked — which he was, for the most part (Cena wore something at the Oscars weirder than nudity in case something went wrong). “That’s what I wanted!” McNearney revealed. “Maybe it’s not what [S&P] wanted. That’s definitely what I want!”
