Slips of the tongue on Oscar night

Stars were unsure about what they were still allowed to say

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updated 12:31 p.m. ET March 1, 2004

LOS ANGELES - Can I say that?

The burning question of Oscar night Sunday was how far to push network censors who had insisted on a five-second delay to avoid a repeat of the Feb. 1 Super Bowl debacle involving singer Janet Jackson’s now-infamous bared breast.

Uppermost in the minds of many stars walking the red carpet and taking the stage at the Kodak Theatre seemed to be a perceived backlash against vulgarity and sex on TV — although most poked fun at the new standards of decency.

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When asked by local TV presenters how he had voted in the Oscar contests, comedian Robin Williams declined to answer, and descended into the profane when pressed.

“I’m not gonna do that s---,” he said, then added: “Oh sorry. I can’t say that.”

Comedian Jack Black seemed unsure of whether he had strayed over the line of good taste while telling another interviewer of his regret that his film, “School of Rock,” was not being considered for a prize.

“I was very upset that we didn’t get nominated for best song because it was a kick-ass song,” Black said. “Can I say that?”

And “Starsky & Hutch” castmates Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller wrapped up their red carpet shtick by asking a glamorous TV presenter in a low cut dress if her breasts were real.

The verbal debauchery continued backstage, with two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks describing a nominee’s typical pre-show jitters thusly: “There’s a lot of upchucking going on in some rooms and white pills being taken in others.”

During a pre-show interview, Nicole Kidman chided “Cold Mountain” castmate Renee Zellweger over a supposed slip of the tongue.

“I think you just swore,” Kidman told Zellweger.

“Did I swear?” Zellweger said. “I did not!”

“I thought she said something,” a laughing Kidman told the interviewer. “I’m hearing things.”

Even host Billy Crystal flouted the new atmosphere of propriety by paying tribute to the incident that spurred it.

“And Smeagol pops out like the right boob of Janet,” Crystal sang onstage in a parody song about Best Picture nominee “The Lord of The Rings: The Return of the King.”

Actor Jim Carrey apparently did not get the memo — he blithely told the worldwide television audience of a childhood incident in which he attacked his older sister “while she was having sex with my brother-in-law.”