First Oscars ceremony since 1989 to not have a designated host.
There were no "shut-outs" for the Best Picture nominees; for the first time in four years (since The Oscars (2015)), each of the eight films nominated for Best Picture received at least one Oscar.
Bradley Cooper and Sam Elliott's nominations as Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for their performances in A Star Is Born (2018) were the only nominations for fictional characters in their respective categories. The other four nominees as Best Actor were all playing real-life figures: Freddie Mercury, Dick Cheney, Vincent van Gogh, and Tony Lip; and in the Supporting Actor the real life figures were: Jack Hock, George W. Bush, Dr. Don Shirley and Flip Zimmerman - the latter being a slightly fictional composite of a real personality.
Of all the four versions of A Star Is Born, the Gaga/Cooper version A Star Is Born (2018) is the one which received most Oscar nominations, in eight categories. A Star Is Born (1937) received seven nominations and one honorary award (though not competitive); A Star Is Born (1954) was nominated for six Oscars, while A Star Is Born (1976) got four nominations.
Melissa McCarthy, Best Actress nominee for Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018), had the dubious honor of being the only acting nominee who was also nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award, as Worst Actress for The Happytime Murders (2018).