The Oscars ceremony was barely underway and the Twitterverse was already bracing itself for the controversies, the Trump jokes and the celebrity memes that would send social media into a tailspin.

As the stars took to the red carpet at the Dolby Theatre for the glamorous event, the highlight of the awards season, model Jessica Biel helped get the ball rolling, spawning a stream of sniping tweets as she rocked up looking like an Oscar statuette in head-to-toe gold.

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The most racially diverse Oscars of all time, with nine black/minority nominees in the main categories, the ceremony had viewers anticipating an historic event and the celebration of black actors was echoed on Twitter.

With celebrities using the global platform to express their disappointment in the Trump administration, Trump supporters and his critics waged a war of words on social media as host Jimmy Kimmel tore into the president in his opening monologue, with an added jibe directed at Mel Gibson.

Oscars 2017
Viola Davis accepts the award for best supporting actress in Fences as black actors triumph at the Oscars AFP/Getty Images

Justin Timberlake unwittingly found himself turned into a meme following his reaction to Kimmel's N'Sync quip, while Twitter basked in the standing ovation for Meryl Streep.

But as politics took centre stage Twitter too reacted with support for Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, who boycotted the ceremony over Trump's controversial travel ban and rather satisfyingly went on to win the best foreign language film for The Salesman.

IBTimesUK brings you the full list of 2017 Academy Award winners as they are announced, live from the Dolby Theatre.

The Oscars 2017, in pictures:

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