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DAKAR, March 16 (Reuters) - Senegalese proponents of a tougher anti-LGBT law discussed campaign strategy and mobilization tactics with a U.S.-based "pro-family" group that calls homosexuality a public health threat, activists in both countries told Reuters.

US 'pro-family' group worked with Senegal activists pushing anti-LGBT law

The U.S. group MassResistance, known for its work at home pushing legislation against same-sex marriage and denouncing "the transgender war on cultural norms", ‌has advised like-minded African activists for years.

But now it is trying to take advantage of what it sees as a more restrictive approach by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration ‌towards the rights of same-sex couples. Beyond Senegal, it has been involved in recent advocacy supporting a proposed new anti-LGBT law in Ghana.

"There's a renewed push to put in place these strict bans on the promotion and proliferation of LGBT ​ideology now because President Trump is not in the business of harassing and bullying countries to incorporate these destructive ideologies," the group's field director, Arthur Schaper, told Reuters.

The collaboration between MassResistance, headquartered in Massachusetts, and And Samm Jikko Yi, a Senegalese network of Islamic and civil society organizations, has not previously been reported.

'PRO-FAMILY' MOVEMENT GAINS MOMENTUM

Senegalese lawmakers last week approved the new law, which doubles the maximum prison term for same-sex sexual acts to 10 years and criminalizes so-called promotion of homosexuality.

Reuters could not determine the impact of MassResistance's work in Senegal on the vote.

But this is the first known case of a U.S. group ‌helping shape a successful push for anti-LGBT legislation in Africa since Trump ⁠returned to power in January 2025.

"The transnational pro-family movement has reached new heights in terms of their level of influence now that Trump is in office," said Haley McEwen, author of the 2024 book "The U.S. Christian Right and Pro-Family Politics in 21st Century Africa".

The State Department said Trump's approach to foreign ⁠assistance ensures taxpayer dollars are not "wasted on divisive social and gender issues", a departure from the Biden and Obama administrations which made LGBT rights part of foreign policy.

NEW GOVERNMENT CREATED OPENING FOR LAW

And Samm Jikko Yi began campaigning across Senegal for tougher anti-LGBT legislation in 2020, arguing that the existing provision in the penal code was too weak, said Ababacar Mboup, the network's former coordinator and honorary president.

The old version imposed prison sentences ​of ​up to five years for "acts against nature".

President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko promised on the campaign ​trail in 2024 to deliver a new law.

In December 2024, And Samm Jikko ‌Yi contacted MassResistance to discuss an attempt to change the law as well as the possible creation of a MassResistance chapter in Senegal, Mboup and Schaper said.

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They discussed tactics for awareness-raising, mobilization and advocacy with Senegalese authorities, Mboup added.

MassResistance says it is focused on pushing "pro-family laws and policies" that ensure LGBT rights are not celebrated or normalized.

"The high rates of disease, dysfunction, and death associated with these sexual paraphilias are too great to ignore," Schaper said.

MassResistance has also been in touch with activists in Ghana, where lawmakers are considering a harsher anti-LGBT bill.

As in Senegal, same-sex sexual acts are already criminalized there, but the new legislation would increase the maximum penalty from three to five years and impose jail time for the "wilful promotion, sponsorship, or support of LGBTQ+ activities".

Frank Mackay Anim-Appiah, executive director ‌of the Ghanaian human rights NGO Freedom International, said he and Schaper had exchanged "educational materials" and broadly discussed the ​need to curtail LGBT rights.

Anim-Appiah has toured schools across Ghana to speak against the "infiltration" of the LGBT movement, and ​said Schaper had tried - so far unsuccessfully - to secure financing for him from "funders" he declined ​to name.

"I see Arthur as a colleague... We are all fighting a common battle," Anim-Appiah told Reuters.

CONCERNS OVER FIGHT AGAINST HIV

Health workers in Senegal say the ‌new law is likely to harm the fight against HIV/AIDS among key populations, ​notably men who have sex with men (MSM).

Fear of ​arrest drives people underground, and by criminalizing "promotion", efforts to address HIV/AIDS among LGBT people could be jeopardised, they say.

That fight already suffered a blow last year when the Trump administration cut foreign assistance.

National HIV prevalence is 0.3% in Senegal but is much higher among MSM - hitting 49% in parts of Dakar, government figures show.

Between February 9 and 24, 27 suspected ​MSM were arrested on suspicion of "acts against nature" and, in some cases, "voluntary ‌transmission" of HIV, the International Federation for Human Rights said.

A spokesperson for Senegal's government and a spokesperson for Senegal's gendarmerie did not respond to requests for comment on ​the increased arrests.

They have forced MSM into hiding, and some have fled to other countries including Mauritania, Gambia and Ivory Coast, said two Senegalese MSM who spoke ​on condition of anonymity for safety reasons.

(Reporting by Robbie Corey-Boulet; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Gareth Jones)

LONDON, March 16 (Reuters) - War in the Middle East is disrupting the flow of critical medicines to the Gulf, imperilling supply routes for cancer drugs and other treatments that require refrigeration and forcing companies to reroute flights and find overland access into the region, industry executives said.

The conflict, sparked by U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran ‌two weeks ago and broadened by Iranian strikes around the region, has knocked out key air transit hubs and closed shipping routes, snarling the movement of goods for many products ‌from medicines to food and oil.

While there are few signs yet of major shortages, that could change if the conflict drags on, some executives said. The Gulf relies heavily on imports and some medicines have short shelf lives and need strict ​cold-chain storage, making lengthy overland shipping less practical.

Executives at Western drugmakers said they were seeking alternative routes into the Gulf and trucking some drugs overland from airports like Jeddah and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. Other options were Istanbul and Oman.

Major airports in the region including Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha have been closed due to strikes by Iran in response to U.S. and Israeli attacks. Dubai and Doha are major cargo hubs linking Europe with Asia and Africa, with airlines Emirates and Etihad and logistics firms such as DHL handling temperature-sensitive drugs that must be kept within a narrow range to remain safe and effective.

Wouter Dewulf, ‌a professor at the Antwerp Management School, cited industry data showing ⁠over a fifth of global air cargo -- the main route for critical or life-saving drugs and vaccines -- are exposed to Middle East disruption.

One executive cautioned that alternative "cold-chain corridors", or temperature-controlled routes used for sensitive medicines, could not be set up overnight and were not always available.

Another pharmaceutical company executive said it had ⁠set up internal teams to prioritise patient-critical shipments, including of cancer treatments, and warned some temperature-controlled shipments could miss connections unless proper storage and handling were secured.

A medical device company executive said the first step was to map shipments already in transit or ready to depart, then decide which pallets needed to be diverted and whether new shipments had to be planned.

The executive, who like others spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal ​operations, ​said some Europe-Asia cargo that typically move through Dubai or Doha airports was being rerouted via China or Singapore. ​Sea routes were not practical due to longer journey times, as well as ‌closure of the critical Strait of Hormuz by Iran.

"If you have an urgent surgery with a patient waiting for treatment, you have to choose the faster mode of transport," the executive said.

HOSPITALS COULD RUN LOW WITHIN WEEKS

Prashant Yadav, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, said stocks of short shelf-life, temperature-sensitive and more expensive medicines were usually around three months, with cancer drugs, particularly monoclonal antibodies, among those at highest risk.

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Delays in delivery of oncology medicines can have dire consequences for patients, who might be forced to restart a course of therapy, or see their cancer worsen.

The disruption was already a problem for some companies, Yadav said, with some customers warning they could run low on supplies within four to six weeks if things did not improve.

Over 100 pharma and logistics ‌industry participants joined a webinar last week hosted by Pharma.Aero, a life sciences logistics group, to discuss the ​Gulf crisis and its supply-chain and transport implications.

INDUSTRY IS COPING FOR NOW

Some logistics providers say the industry is coping for ​now. Dorothee Becher, in charge of air logistics for healthcare at freight company Kuehne+Nagel, said ​carriers were flying into Jeddah, Riyadh and Oman and using land routes to reach final markets.

"I do not see any risk yet that the inventory would ‌go dramatically down," she said, adding that healthcare cargo was being prioritised.

But keeping shipments ​moving was a constant battle.

Doaa Fathallah, chief operating officer ​at biopharma logistics company Marken, said cold-chain cargo was getting through, but only with round-the-clock re-routing as airspace restrictions shifted rapidly.

The re-routing means longer transit times and higher fuel costs, driving up transportation fees, she said, as well as use of dry ice to keep medicines cold.

The risks rise for the industry if the disruptions persist, executives said, as supplies in ​the Gulf and Asia run low.

Shipping snags could also affect products that ‌pose indirect risks to drug supplies including shortages of vial stoppers, IV bag plastics and items needed for packaging.

"It's not always a shortage of the medicine itself," said ​David Weeks, who follows the supply chain industry for ratings agency Moody's. "In some cases, it's the little stopper on the vial where the dosage is extracted."

(Reporting by Maggie ​Fick in London; Additional reporting by Bhanvi Satija in London; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Bill Berkrot)

By Paul Sandle and Marissa Davison

LONDON, March 16 (Reuters) - British teenagers, like their peers abroad, have a conflicted relationship with social media.

They know it can feed them a diet of "brain rot" content that keeps them glued to their phones while making money for big tech. Yet it is central to their lives, and many do not think it is the government's job to ban it. Britain, like other ‌countries in Europe and beyond, is considering ways to restrict social media after becoming increasingly aware of the risks to children. It could follow Australia in imposing a ban for under-16s.

The government has asked "everyone with a ‌view" to contribute to a public consultation, which closes in May.

Young people aged 16 to 18 at one south London school said Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok helped them socialise, make new connections and learn about the world.

But there were downsides: the platforms sometimes left them unhappy or exhausted, vulnerable to bullying ​and harmful content, and they knew the apps were designed to keep them scrolling.

GLUED TO PHONES FOR HOURS A DAY

"During the summer, I'd spend around eight hours a day on just TikTok," said Awand Khdir, 17, who added there was little else to do on that platform besides scrolling. "But now it's more like three or four hours. It's still not good.""Doom scrolling is an issue on its own, but... the content that you see sometimes, especially on TikTok, there's a lot of dodgy stuff".

TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat pointed to the safety, privacy and security features they have for teenage users.

Snapchat has age-specific protections for 13 to 17-year-olds, including making the account private by default and no access to public profiles for younger teens.

Instagram Teen Accounts offers a sensitive content control setting ‌and the platform offers supervision tools for parents and guardians.

TikTok's teen accounts set an ⁠automatic screen time limit of 60 minutes and users are prompted to switch off after 10 p.m., according to a spokesperson. TikTok also age-restricts content that may not be suitable for teens.

But the young people Reuters interviewed said they were able to get round controls.

While many parents and politicians back a ban, some psychologists and researchers say there is no proof that it would ⁠work.

Research Professor Amy Orben from the University of Cambridge said the impact of social media was far from uniform, stressing that while some teens face significant risks, for many others, the platforms serve as a valuable means of connection.

"The online world, like the offline world, is very complex and its impacts will be very dynamic," she said.

Sumiksha Senthuran, 16, said "mindlessly scrolling" was a good contrast to the stress of revision for exams.

Elizabeth Alayande, 17, said social media could help build confidence and identity. "You can express yourself by posting videos or just relating ​with ​other people... and I don't think it's the biggest waste of time if you spread it out evenly with other priorities," she said. ​But the teenagers had been exposed to distressing content and online abuse. "Sometimes it's quite negative because ‌all you see is bad stuff… it's quite tiring," said Teyanna Charley, 17. Vish Ragutharan, 16, who has created his own blog about film, agreed. He said his posts could attract negative as well as positive responses, which was a "real disadvantage".

Some of the students were fed content about body image. "When you see other girls on TikTok, you kind of want to look like them. And that's really crushing people's self-esteem," said Joelle Azebaze Ayangma, 18.

DIFFICULTY OF ENFORCING A BAN

Despite knowing of the risks of social media, the pupils were mostly opposed to a ban.

Ali Raza, 16, uses apps to communicate with family abroad. Dua Arshia, 16, said restrictions could push young people towards platforms "where there's more dangerous things," and Leah Osando, 17, said enforcement would be difficult.

"Even if children get banned... they'll go onto the dark web or use aVPN," said Osando. Some teenagers also described the risk of not recognising ever more sophisticated AI-generated content. Three experts, all of whom have advised lawmakers on ‌children's internet safety, said there was no clear evidence that bans work.

One-fifth of Australian teenagers under 16 were still using social media two ​months after the ban, industry data showed, raising questions about the effectiveness of platforms' age-gating methods.

The experts said pressure should be placed on social media ​companies to build safer platforms, as algorithm-driven feeds become increasingly addictive and in some cases, direct children towards ​pro-anorexia or self-harm videos.

"These are commercial platforms," Orben said. "They are designed to harness attention, and ... young people are increasingly saying that they struggle to get off."

Professor Julia Davidson, an expert in child online ‌safety from the University of East London, said for children over 13, it may already ​be too late. British regulator Ofcom in 2022 said six in ​ten children aged eight to 12 had social media profiles, despite many platforms requiring users to be at least 13.

"How are we going to enforce a ban with 14 and 15-year-olds who have grown up with it and built extensive networks?" she said.

Professor Sonia Livingstone, leader of the Digital Futures for Children centre at the London School of Economics, said policymakers risked reaching for the wrong solution, with a ban seen as "a very blunt hammer ​to crack a nut".

She said politicians should demand "safety by design… without eliminating children's access ‌to the digital world, which is what they want and have a right to".

She said the government's focus should be on how it tackles big tech, suggesting they take a "divide and conquer" approach. "Why don't we ​say: Snapchat is the one where the randomers can get in touch with you. Instagram is the one where you can see the self-harm content. And TikTok is the one that wants you on ​so long that you can never get to sleep or do your homework," she said.

(Reporting by Paul SandleEditing by Alexandra Hudson)

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They were mocked by pundits across the nation, their schedule was scoffed at and when they finally lost, bubble teams saw renewed hope.

But here is how you now refer to this year's Miami (Ohio) RedHawks: 2026 NCAA Tournament participants.

The RedHawks (31-1) barely skated into the March Madness field as one of the final four teams chosen on Sunday.

But that beats being passed over, and No. 11-seed Miami will face SMU (20-13) in the First Four at Dayton on Wednesday, located just 42 miles away from Miami.

"It's surreal," RedHawks coach Travis Steele said. "We put a lot into this. I'm happy they're getting the reward for all of the work they've put in."

Miami had some nervous moments in recent days after losing to UMass in its opening game of the Mid-American Conference tournament. 12-seeded Akron ended up winning the MAC's automatic berth.

Selection committee chairman Keith Gill said Miami made the field ahead of three teams, all power-conference schools. He said SMU was the last team chosen and that the RedHawks were definitely one of the top 37 at-large teams in the country.

"Miami (Ohio) was not the last team selected into the field," said Gill, the commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference. "They came in before NC State, Texas and SMU."

Factors that the RedHawks overcame included zero Quad 1 opponents and a dismal nonconference strength of schedule of 363.

The other First Four matchup on an 11-seed line is North Carolina State (20-13) against Texas (18-14).

Duke, Arizona, Michigan and Florida were selected as the four No. 1 seeds by the selection committee.

The Southeastern Conference has 10 teams make the field. The Big Ten has nine followed by the Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12 with eight apiece.

Duke (32-2) is the No. 1 seed in the East. UConn (29-5) is the No. 2, followed by Michigan State (25-7) and Kansas (23-10).

The Blue Devils will take aim at reaching the Final Four for the second straight year. Duke meets No. 16 Siena (23-11) in the first round on Thursday at Greenville, S.C.

Arizona (32-2) was placed in the West as the No. 1 seed. The Wildcats look to overcome a long drought as they haven't reached the Final Four since losing the national title game in 2001. Their last national championship was four years earlier.

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Arizona opens with No. 16 seed Long Island (24-10) on Friday in San Diego.

Purdue (27-8) is the No. 2 seed, Gonzaga (30-3) is No. 3 and Arkansas (26-8) is No. 4.

Michigan (31-3) landed the No. 1 seed in the Midwest. Iowa State (27-7) is No. 2, Virginia (29-5) landed the No. 3 spot and Alabama (23-9) is No. 4.

The Wolverines will play the winner of the First Four matchup between UMBC and Howard. This is the first appearance for the Retrievers since the famous 16 vs. 1 victory over Virginia in 2018.

Santa Clara (26-8) drew the No. 10 seed in the Midwest to make the March Madness field for the first time since 1996 when the Broncos were in for the third time in four seasons to end the Steve Nash era.

Defending champion Florida (26-7) earned the top seed in the South and will face either Lehigh or Prairie View A&M in the first round.

Houston (28-6), which lost to the Gators in last season's final, is also in the South as the No. 2 team. Illinois (24-8) is No. 3 and Nebraska (26-6) is No. 4. The Cornhuskers are 0-8 all-time in NCAA Tournament play and lost in the first round to Texas A&M in 2024 in their most recent appearance.

The first four out were Oklahoma (19-15), Auburn (17-16), San Diego State (22-11) and Indiana (18-14). Former Auburn coach Bruce Pearl -- whose son Steven now coaches the team -- had been banging the drum the loudest for the Tigers to be in at Miami's expense.

Pearl, serving as a CBS studio analyst, said Oklahoma or Auburn should have been in the tournament instead of SMU.

The NCAA Tournament appearance is the first for the RedHawks since 2007. Miami's best NCAA experience came when program icon Wally Szczerbiak led the RedHawks to the Sweet 16 in 1999.

Miami was in the spotlight for the first time since that run with this season's stunning success that included an unbeaten regular season.

"As the year went on, it got louder, louder and louder," Steele said of the noise prompted by the unbeaten streak. "Everywhere we went was the Super Bowl, sellouts, free tickets, free beer, whatever. Our guys handled it real well. We had fun on the journey.

"It probably is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that we had this year."

No. 11 seed VCU (27-7) won the Atlantic 10 tournament to get into the field. Though the Rams have won 16 of their last 17 games, Gill said they would have missed the cut if they had lost to Dayton in Sunday's conference title game.

VCU faces No. 6 North Carolina (24-8) in a South matchup Thursday.

--Field Level Media

MIAMI (AP) — Ten days later, the United States and the Dominican Republic would have kept on playing.

WBC USA Dominican Republic Baseball

Geraldo Perdomo watched Mason Miller's full-count slider appear to drop just under the strike zone and took a step toward his team's dugout on the third-base side, thinking he walked to put runners at the corners.

Then plate umpire Cory Blaser emphatically signaled strike three, stranding the potential tying run at third base andgiving the United States a 2-1 winSunday night that advanced the Americans to the World Baseball Classic championship game against Venezuela or Italy.

"He knew he was wrong," Perdomo said. "I knew it was 100% wrong."

Major League Baseball's Automated Ball-Strike Challenge Systemwill launch when the season starts March 25, and it likely will be adopted for future editions of the WBC. The Dominicans would have been able to appeal to the so-called robot umpire if they had a challenge remaining.

"It looked a little down. Yes, I'm glad we had no ABS," U.S. outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong said. "I'm happy that the human element was in full effect."

Perdomo heard the call, found it hard to believe and while still holding his bat lurched it overhead in an arc, nearly tapping the wood against his butt.

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"We didn't lose the game there," the Arizona star said.

MLB announced in September thatABS will be used during the regular season and postseason in 2026following testing that started in the minor leagues in 2019.

"I don't want to focus on the last pitch," Dominican manager Albert Pujols said. "I'm disappointed about the way that the game ends, but I don't want to criticize any of that. It just wasn't meant to be for us."

Miller threw 13 of 22 pitches at 100 mph or higher. He gave up a one-out walk to Julio Rodríguez, who advanced to third on a wild pitch and Oneil Cruz's groundout.

Perdomo fell behind 1-2, worked the count full, then fouled out a pair of triple-digit heaters. Miller followed with his second slider of the at-bat.

"He called strike three. That's all I care," American first baseman Bryce Harper said.

AP MLB:https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

SYDNEY/KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 (Reuters) - A fifth member of the Iranian women's soccer team has withdrawn her claim for asylum in Australia, Australian media reported on Monday, and will be rejoining ‌the rest of the squad in Malaysia.

The latest withdrawal leaves only two people of the ‌original six players and one support staff member who sought asylum in Australia last week fearing possible persecution if they returned home. Concerns ​over their safety came after the players failed to sing the national anthem at a women's Asian Cup match earlier this month.

The five who withdrew their claims are expected to join the rest of the team in Kuala Lumpur where the squad has been staying since departing from Sydney last week.

Australian Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs Matt ‌Thistlethwaite told Sky News the government ⁠respected the decision of those who chose to return to Iran while continuing to provide support to the two members still in Australia.

"This is a very complex situation," Thistlethwaite ⁠said.

The team is seeking to travel to another country from Malaysia as it cannot immediately return to Tehran due to the war in the Middle East, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said on Monday.

TEAM WAITING FOR FLIGHT CONNECTIONS

The Iranian Football ​Association ​said the team was expected to leave Malaysia for Tehran ​soon "to once again be embraced by their ‌families and homeland."

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AFC's General Secretary Windsor John however told reporters in Kuala Lumpur the team would seek alternative destinations as they are unable to return to Iran immediately.

"They are just waiting for the flight connections. When they are going... where to, they have to tell us," he said.

He said he was unable to verify reports that the players' families had come under pressure from authorities in Iran, adding that the players had not ‌expressed any concerns over their safety.

"We have spoken to the team ​officials. We have spoken to the coaches, the head of ​delegation. They are actually in high spirits," he ​said.

"I personally met them. They are not de-motivated, or they didn't look afraid."

The Iranian ‌team's campaign in the Asian Cup started just ​as the United States and ​Israel launched air strikes on Iran, killing the Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. They were eliminated from the tournament a week ago.

U.S. President Donald Trump had praised Australian Prime Minister Anthony ​Albanese for allowing the women to ‌stay, saying on social media the United States was ready to take the players if Australia ​did not.

(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney and Hasnoor Hussain in Kuala Lumpur; Writing by ​Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Will Dunham and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Gwyneth Paltrow's return to theAcademy Awardsafter nearly a decade quickly turned into one of the most talked-about moments of the 2026 ceremony.

A video circulating on X shows the 53-year-old actress walking down a staircase inside the venue when the dramatic slit of her gownopened wide, briefly exposing far more of her leg than viewers expected.

The clip spread rapidly across social media garnering4 million viewsat the time of writing, with users began arguing over whether the moment was an actual wardrobe malfunction or a deliberate choice.

"Girl flashed the cameraman and called it a 'malfunction,'" one user wrote.

Gwyneth Paltrow went viral after suffering a wardrobe malfunction at the 2026 Oscars

Image credits:JC Olivera/Getty Images

Others defended the actress and urged people not to overreact.

"Why post things like this? We have all had moments like this. Please be respectful. She looks great, the dress isn't her fault," another commenter wrote.

Paltrowarrived at the 2026 Oscars wearing a strapless ivory silk gown reportedly from Giorgio Armani Privé.

From the front, the dress appeared relatively traditional, presenting a sleek Old Hollywood silhouette.

But the design revealed a much more daring construction once she began walking.

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But the design revealed a much more daring construction once she began walking.

The gown featured dramatic cutouts along the sides that ran nearly the entire length of the dress, exposing her leg and revealing sparkly sheer trousers underneath.

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Paltrowhas maintained a long relationship with the Italian fashion house dating back to the late 1990s.

The partnership has resurfaced periodically over the years, particularly during moments when Paltrow has returned to major industry events after long absences.

Armani Privé, the brand's couture division, specializes in sculptural eveningwear designed to photograph well under intense lighting and camera flashes, making it a frequent choice for high-profile Oscar appearances.

Beyond the uncomfortable wardrobe incident, some viewers struggled to recognize the actress at all

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The debate intensified as more clips surfaced from the Dolby Theatre red carpet, showingPaltrowdescending stairs while gripping the edge of her gown's extreme side slits to steady the dramatic cutouts.

"Why post things like this? We have all had moments like this," one person wrote.

"Please be respectful. She looks great, the dress isn't her fault."

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But the conversation did not stop with the wardrobe moment.

As additional photos and videos circulated online, many viewers began focusing on Paltrow herself.

Several users said the actress looked noticeably different from previous appearances, with some claiming they struggled to recognize her at first glance.

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"Who is this plastic-faced person?Gwyneth Paltrow? Didn't recognize her at the Oscars," one user wrote.

Another commenter focused on the way her expressions appeared in video clips.

"Gwyneth Paltrow cannot move her face."

Paltrow is not nominated for any awards this year, but she is attending the ceremony as a presenter

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Her filmMarty Supreme, however, remains a major presence at the 2026 Academy Awards.

The movie received nine nominations in total, including Best Picture. Co-starTimothée Chalametis competing for Best Actor, while director Josh Safdie earned nominations for directing, writing, and film editing.

In the film,Paltrowplays Hollywood starlet Kay Stone in the ping-pong-themed period drama inspired by table tennis legend Marty Reisman.

The role includes one of the film's more unexpected moments.

According to makeup artist Kyra Panchenkom Paltrow appears fresh out of the shower in one scene wearing nothing but Goop products, a detail that stood out to viewers when the film premiered.

Away from the screen, Paltrow's appearance at the 2026 ceremony also marks her first return to the Oscars in more than a decade.

TheGoopfounder last attended the Academy Awards in 2015, when she wore a one-shoulder pink Ralph & Russo gown. That dress has since become a collector's item and is currently being auctioned to fans.

"Exactly as designed." Viewers debated on the moment online

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