Oscar night is all about timing.
The challenge is getting it right. You want to be at the best party when it’s peaking (or before), planted in place while the vibes are strong and the crowd remains peppered with people holding 8.5-pound golden statues, and bolting before you’re among the final few on the dance floor in order to catch a wave to the next best thing on Hollywood’s biggest night.
Journalists, like this one, are only allowed inside a handful of Oscar night events, a fact that fortunately helps to keep a hot schedule. There’s the requisite stop at the Academy’s post-show Governors Ball, the Elton John AIDS Foundation viewing party or Vanity Fair. The more exclusive invites — Madonna and Guy Oseary’s The Party or Beyoncé and Jay Z’s Gold Party, for instance — are press free zones. The late-night bashes offer A-listers, auteurs and glitterati the chance to fully relax without the crush of press lines, cameras and quote requests. After a scandal-ridden awards season, who can blame them?
Vanity Fair remains thee place to be anyway. Despite steep competition from the aforementioned queens (of pop and Bey), Vanity Fair boasts the top stop of the night as it’s the only place one will find the most jaw-dropping display of boldfaced names under one roof. (Never mind that it’s a temporary custom structure erected next to the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills.) Sunday night hosted billionaires (Jeff Bezos, Sergey Brin), rock royalty (Mick Jagger, Debbie Harry), pop stars (Olivia Rodrigo, Miley Cyrus), designers (Tom Ford, Donatella Versace), comedians (Chris Rock, Nate Bargatze), models (Kendall Jenner, Hailey Bieber), agency chiefs (WME’s Richard Weitz, CAA’s Kevin Huvane), producers (Ben Winston, Jeremy Kleiner), sports stars (Russell Westbrook, Russell Wilson), do-it-alls (Steph Curry, Kim Kardashian) and one GOAT (Serena Williams).
As always, the event kicked off in the afternoon with an A-list dinner and viewing party for close to 100 guests. A source said Jagger attended the dinner but kept a close eye on the clock in order to make it to the Dolby where he presented best original song. During the viral segment, Jagger let it slip that Bob Dylan, who inspired James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown and star Timothee Chalamet’s five years of preparation, was invited to do the honors but passed. After Jagger handed the trophy over to the team from Emilia Pérez’s “El Mal,” he made his way back to Vanity Fair where he mingled with Bezos, Kardashian, Williams, Sarah Paulson, Chris Rock and Rita Ora.
The Hollywood Reporter arrived on the scene close to 11 p.m., a buzzy time for fly-on-the-wall reporting. Michael Urie had just landed at the top of a 130-foot gold and silver striped carpet, noting how it was his first time attending to the exclusive event though, like many in the space, he arrived solo as plus-ones are typically not granted. Time is in his favor as the veteran of stages and screens stars on the critically-acclaimed Shrinking and will soon front the GLAAD Media Awards.
Others are regular attendees like Kylie Jenner, attending this year on the arm of her nominated beau Chalamet. They were spotted in a banquette with his fellow A Complete Unknown stars like nominee Monica Barbaro (huddling most of the night with rumored beau Andrew Garfield) and Elle Fanning.
The youngest Fanning sibling hugged Barbaro and professed her love — “It’s sooo good to see you!” — just as Brandi Carlile weaved through the crowd holding on to wife Catherine. Carlile, Oscar nominated with Elton John for their collaboration on “Never Too Late,” was fresh from John’s AIDS Foundation bash in West Hollywood Park where Chappell Roan delivered an electric headlining performance and feted her host as a gay icon who paved the way. “The way she honored him was so beautiful,” Carlile explained. “She’s such a star.” Carlile’s fellow original song nominee Diane Warren breezed past but not before exclaiming, “We all lost.”
There were plenty of winners and empty handed guests on the scene. Best actress nominee Demi Moore, who seemed all but destined to cap her stellar awards season run with Oscar gold, was not sulking but instead making the rounds flanked by her three daughters while accepting hugs and condolences from A-list pals.
Lil Nas X was declining champagne at a back bar on the courtyard despite his female friend’s insistence that they split a bottle of champagne. “I’ve got a shoot tomorrow,” he said, excitedly. He then politely asked the bartender to pour him a glass of water in a champagne flute. Over his sober shoulders, Queer stars Drew Starkey and Omar Apollo bellied up to the custom three-oven pizza bar by noted L.A. chef Evan Funke and picked a pair of slices.
While the courtyard and Funke’s pizza corner are typically jam-packed with guests, chilly weather kept many indoors. Nippy temperatures don’t go well with naked dresses, which seemed to be everywhere inside the party. Ciara donned yet another sheer look at the Vanity Fair party, which she attended once again with husband Russell Wilson. Though the NFL star does not yet have a new contract, Wilson showed off his impressive skills by darting after a server and intercepting a tray of In-N-Out burgers.
A few feet away, another sports star, Coco Gauff, crouched down to snap a candid photo of Halle Bailey. Directly in front of the duo, Netflix’s reigning global content chief Bela Bajaria huddled with comedy superstar Nate Bargatze as Conan O’Brien walked past. The Oscars host stopped for a hug and a chat. “I love Conan,” presenter Rachel Zegler told THR when asked what she thought of the show since she experienced it from inside the Dolby. “I’m a big Conan fan.”
Back inside the main party space, a crowd formed not far from the entrance. It was impossible to miss due to a steady stream of flashbulbs. It was time to go investigate. Standing in the center of the crush were Adrien Brody and Mikey Madison, both of whom were clutching their trophies and surrounded by entourages. It was a moment. “She is the moment,” a well-heeled guest fittingly explained to THR as she surveyed the scene.
Madison had many more as the clock ticked past midnight. Once the Anora star made it to the courtyard, she was swarmed by peers like Kelvin Harrison Jr., Danny Ramirez and Colman Domingo. But Jenna Ortega managed to get some one-on-one time with Madison to congratulate her as they stayed in a close conversation for several moments until Ortega was visibly moved to tears in showering her friend with love. Just then, DJ Politik’s voice could be heard booming over the loud speakers from inside the makeshift danceteria Club VF. “If you got an Oscar in your hand, hold it up!” At that moment, Madison’s hardware was being held by her hard-working publicist Nicki Fioravante.
While there were plenty of Oscar-toting winners still in the mix, no statues could be seen touching the midnight sky from Madison’s corner on the courtyard. But THR did spot Queen Latifah and her partner, Eboni Nichols, making their way towards the exit where they stood curbside waiting for their SUV with the likes of Jodie Turner-Smith. Complimented for her Quincy Jones tribute performance of “Ease on Down the Road,” Latifah offered pleasantries while Nichols proudly responded, “Didn’t she ease on down the road so well?” She did, and then they did as their ride pulled up.
With that, it was time to go and it seemed the right call to make with the clock approaching 1 a.m. But not for everyone. “Last call for Natasha Lyonne,” shouted a valet driver. “One more time for Natasha Lyonne!”
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