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Academy In Memoriam Segment Snubbed Carol Channing, Stanley Donen, Sondra Locke, Verne Troyer, John Mahoney

Roger Friedman
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Academy In Memoriam Segment Snubbed Carol Channing, Stanley Donen, Sondra Locke, Verne Troyer, John Mahoney

As usual, the In Memoriam segment of the Oscars has caused a trouble over who they omitted.

The most egregious error was Carol Channing. An actual past Oscar nominee, she was also a beloved entertainer. When she died, there was a real outpouring of love for her. This is where the show was tone deaf.

Also not included: the great John Mahoney, famous for “Frasier” on TV, but a movie actor with a substantial resume including “Moonstruck.”

The Academy also snubbed Sondra Locke, Verne Troyer, and Lee Ermey. Not nice. They also left out Mark Urman, who was so important for producing and distributing good films and died recently at age 66.

The worst, though, was Stanley Donen. Granted, he just died a few days ago, but in this digital age how hard could it be to drop a slide into the montage? He made “Singin’ in  the Rain,” the greatest movie musical.

It also would have been nice to use the music of Michel Legrand with the slides.

I’m sure there were  others left in the cold. Apparently, getting onto that list requires as much campaigning as getting an Oscar. One relative of someone who made the final cut told me he had to spend quite a bit of time lobbying the Academy, not to mention money on clip reels to make his point.

Oscars: After All That the Ratings Went Up 6 Percent Without a Host, or Kendrick Lamar, or Involving “Real People”

Roger Friedman
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Oscars: After All That the Ratings Went Up 6 Percent Without a Host, or Kendrick Lamar, or Involving “Real People”

There was no host, we know that whole story.

Rapper Kendrick Lamar, nominated for Best Song for “All the Stars,” wouldn’t perform for any of the stars. The reason? “He wanted to make it all about Black Lives Matter,” said one source. The other, he wanted a huge stage production. His “song,” as turns out, can’t just be performed on a stage, simply.

There was no involvement with “real people”– no one got pizza or cookies, or whatever. There was no wading into the audience for selfies.

It was just a clean, economic Oscars. And surprise! The ratings went up. Six percent. More people watched than in many years.

One definite help: the Grammy-ing of the show. Queen opened with Adam Lambert replacing Freddie Mercury. (If only someone had replaced Brian May. He’s quite unfriendly in person.) Also increasing interest were Bette Midler, Jennifer Hudson, and obviously the pairing of Lady Gaga with  Bradley Cooper.

This year, 29.6 million people watched, up from 26.5 million last year. And last year was down down down from prior years.

In Hollywood, success means that’s the way it will go next time. So next year, when the Oscars air two unholy weeks earlier on February 9th, expect no host, a big rock band or Beyonce opening the show, and a very efficient set up. No more yada yada. Just cut to the chase.

Oscars (Full List of Winner) Wouldn’t Have Brought John Lewis to LA for Nothing– They Knew “Green Book” Would Win

Roger Friedman
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Oscars (Full List of Winner) Wouldn’t Have Brought John Lewis to LA for Nothing– They Knew “Green Book” Would Win

Donna Gigliotti did a kick ass job producing the Academy Awards. The show moved fast, the performances were all memorable, and no one noticed the absence of a host.

But they could easily have asked Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Maya Rudolph to host the show. They were phenomenal.

At some point in every Oscar show you know where things are heading. When “Green Book” won Best Screenplay, that was the first indication they had Best Picture. But also, when legendary congressman John Lewis came to present the “Green Book” clip, I knew the movie had won. You don’t just drag John Lewis to the Oscars for nothing. That’s no fluke.

I’ve been covering the Oscars for a long, long time. This was the most inclusive, multi-cultural it’s ever been.

The biggest surprise, of course, was Glenn Close losing to Olivia Colman for Best Actress. What does Close have to do to get that statue? I am hopeful she will make the movie musical of “Sunset Boulevard” ASAP. She will win hands down, trust me.

I spent quite a bit of time in the bar off the side of the stage. WHen Mahershala Ali won, there was thunderous applause. When Close lost there was a gasp that sounded like a wind tunnel. During Lady Gaga’s performance with Bradley Cooper, you could hear a pin drop. When “Green Book” won, there was cheering.

PS “Green Book” is a wonderful film. It’s an accurate memoir of a friendship between Tony Vallelonga and Don Shirley. The anger toward it is misguided and fabricated. They save each other, in the end. It’s exactly what a Best Picture should be– something that has a Big Idea. Would the naysayers prefer these two men had never met? It’s utterly ridiculous.

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

Regina King in “If Beale Street Could Talk” (WINNER)
Amy Adams in “Vice”
Marina de Tavira in “Roma”
Emma Stone in “The Favourite”
Rachel Weisz in “The Favourite”

Best documentary feature

“Free Solo” Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Evan Hayes and Shannon Dill (WINNER)
“Hale County This Morning, This Evening” RaMell Ross, Joslyn Barnes and Su Kim
“Minding the Gap” Bing Liu and Diane Quon
“Of Fathers and Sons” Talal Derki, Ansgar Frerich, Eva Kemme and Tobias N. Siebert
“RBG” Betsy West and Julie Cohen

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling

“Vice” Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe and Patricia DeHaney (WINNER)
“Border” Goran Lundstrom and Pamela Goldammer
“Mary Queen of Scots” Jenny Shircore, Marc Pilcher and Jessica Brooks

Achievement in costume design

“Black Panther” Ruth Carter (WINNER)
“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” Mary Zophres
“The Favourite” Sandy Powell
“Mary Poppins Returns” Sandy Powell
“Mary Queen of Scots” Alexandra Byrne

Achievement in production design

“Black Panther” production design: Hannah Beachler; set decoration: Jay Hart (WINNER)
“The Favourite” production design: Fiona Crombie; set decoration: Alice Felton
“First Man” production design: Nathan Crowley; set decoration: Kathy Lucas
“Mary Poppins Returns” production design: John Myhre; set decoration: Gordon Sim
“Roma” production design: Eugenio Caballero; set decoration: Barbara Enriquez

Achievement in cinematography

“Roma” Alfonso Cuaron (WINNER)
“Cold War” Lukasz Zal
“The Favourite” Robbie Ryan
“Never Look Away” Caleb Deschanel
“A Star Is Born” Matthew Libatique

Achievement in sound editing

“Bohemian Rhapsody” John Warhurst and Nina Hartstone (WINNER)
“Black Panther” Benjamin A. Burtt and Steve Boeddeker
“First Man” Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan
“A Quiet Place” Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
“Roma” Sergio Díaz and Skip Lievsay

Achievement in sound mixing

“Bohemian Rhapsody” Paul Massey, Tim Cavagin and John Casali (WINNER)
“Black Panther” Steve Boeddeker, Brandon Proctor and Peter Devlin
“First Man” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montano, Ai-Ling Lee and Mary H. Ellis
“Roma” Skip Lievsay, Craig Henighan and Jose Antonio Garcia
“A Star Is Born” Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic, Jason Ruder and Steve Morrow

Best foreign language film of the year

“Roma” Mexico (WINNER)
“Capernaum” Lebanon
“Cold War” Poland
“Never Look Away” Germany
“Shoplifters” Japan

Achievement in film editing

“Bohemian Rhapsody” John Ottman (WINNER)
“BlacKkKlansman” Barry Alexander Brown
“The Favourite” Yorgos Mavropsaridis
“Green Book” Patrick J. Don Vito
“Vice” Hank Corwin

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

Mahershala Ali in “Green Book” (WINNER)
Adam Driver in “BlacKkKlansman”
Sam Elliott in “A Star Is Born”
Richard E. Grant in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
Sam Rockwell in “Vice”

Best animated feature film of the year

“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (WINNER)
“Incredibles 2” Brad Bird, John Walker and Nicole Paradis Grindle
“Isle of Dogs” Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales and Jeremy Dawson
“Mirai” Mamoru Hosoda and Yuichiro Saito
“Ralph Breaks the Internet” Rich Moore, Phil Johnston and Clark Spencer

Best animated short film

“Bao” Domee Shi and Becky Neiman-Cobb (WINNER)
“Animal Behaviour” Alison Snowden and David Fine
“Late Afternoon” Louise Bagnall and Nuria Gonzalez Blanco
“One Small Step” Andrew Chesworth and Bobby Pontillas
“Weekends” Trevor Jimenez

Best documentary short subject

“Period. End of Sentence.” Rayka Zehtabchi and Melissa Berton (WINNER)
“Black Sheep” Ed Perkins and Jonathan Chinn
“End Game” Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman
“Lifeboat” Skye Fitzgerald and Bryn Mooser
“A Night at The Garden” Marshall Curry

Achievement in visual effects

“First Man” Paul Lambert, Ian Hunter, Tristan Myles and J.D. Schwalm (WINNER)
“Avengers: Infinity War” Dan DeLeeuw, Kelly Port, Russell Earl and Dan Sudick
“Christopher Robin” Christopher Lawrence, Michael Eames, Theo Jones and Chris Corbould
“Ready Player One” Roger Guyett, Grady Cofer, Matthew E. Butler and David Shirk
“Solo: A Star Wars Story” Rob Bredow, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan and Dominic Tuohy

Best live action short film

“Skin” Guy Nattiv and Jaime Ray Newman (WINNER)
“Detainment” Vincent Lambe and Darren Mahon
“Fauve” Jeremy Comte and Maria Gracia Turgeon
“Marguerite” Marianne Farley and Marie-Helene Panisset
“Mother” Rodrigo Sorogoyen and Maria del Puy Alvarado

Original screenplay

“Green Book” written by Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly (WINNER)
“The Favourite” written by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara
“First Reformed” written by Paul Schrader
“Roma” written by Alfonso Cuaron
“Vice” written by Adam McKay

Adapted screenplay

“BlacKkKlansman” written by Charlie Wachtel and David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott and Spike Lee (WINNER)
“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” written by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
“Can You Ever Forgive Me?” screenplay by Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty
“If Beale Street Could Talk” written for the screen by Barry Jenkins
“A Star Is Born” screenplay by Eric Roth and Bradley Cooper and Will Fetters

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

“Black Panther” Ludwig Goransson (WINNER)
“BlacKkKlansman” Terence Blanchard
“If Beale Street Could Talk” Nicholas Britell
“Isle of Dogs” Alexandre Desplat
“Mary Poppins Returns” Marc Shaiman

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

“Shallow” from “A Star Is Born” music and lyrics by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt (WINNER)
“All The Stars” from “Black Panther” music by Mark Spears, Kendrick Lamar Duckworth and Anthony Tiffith; lyric by Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, Anthony Tiffith and Solana Rowe
“I’ll Fight” from “RBG” music and lyrics by Diane Warren
“The Place Where Lost Things Go” from “Mary Poppins Returns” music by Marc Shaiman; lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman
“When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” from “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” music and lyrics by David Rawlings and Gillian Welch

Performance by an actor in a leading role

Rami Malek in “Bohemian Rhapsody” (WINNER)
Christian Bale in “Vice”
Bradley Cooper in “A Star Is Born”
Willem Dafoe in “At Eternity’s Gate”
Viggo Mortensen in “Green Book”

Performance by an actress in a leading role

Olivia Colman in “The Favourite” (WINNER)
Yalitza Aparicio in “Roma”
Glenn Close in “The Wife”
Lady Gaga in “A Star Is Born”
Melissa McCarthy in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”

Achievement in directing

“Roma” Alfonso Cuaron (WINNER)
“BlacKkKlansman” Spike Lee
“Cold War” Pawel Pawlikowski
“The Favourite” Yorgos Lanthimos
“Vice” Adam McKay

Best motion picture of the year

“Green Book” Jim Burke, Charles B. Wessler, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly and Nick Vallelonga, producers (WINNER)
“Black Panther” Kevin Feige, producer
“BlacKkKlansman” Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, Raymond Mansfield, Jordan Peele and Spike Lee, producers
“Bohemian Rhapsody” Graham King, producer
“The Favourite” Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday and Yorgos Lanthimos, producers
“Roma” Gabriela Rodriguez and Alfonso Cuaron, producers
“A Star Is Born” Bill Gerber, Bradley Cooper and Lynette Howell Taylor, producers
“Vice” Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Adam McKay and Kevin Messick, producers

Watch Elton John and Taron Edgerton Perform “Tiny Dancer” at 27th Annual AIDS Foundation Oscar Party– They Raised $6.3 Million!

Leah Sydney
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Watch Elton John and Taron Edgerton Perform “Tiny Dancer” at 27th Annual AIDS Foundation Oscar Party– They Raised $6.3 Million!

Elton John’s 27th Annual EJAF, Elton John’ AIDS Foundation, Academy Awards Viewing Party in West Hollywood, was the the place to be for ‘Killer’ music, literally.

Not only did the The Killers play a whole set to a rapt crowd, previously during the live auction Sir Elton sang a duet with the actor Taron Edgerton, who portrays Elton in the upcoming film, “Rocketman.”

The duo raised $380,000 for the piano Elton played as they sang “Tiny Dancer.” The piano was signed on the spot on stage by Elton’s longtime writing partner Bernie Taupin. The duet was wonderful, no wonder Elton has gone on record saying he didn’t think he has heard anyone sing his iconic songs better than Taron.

Spry Sir Elton also played his hit “Daniel” with The Killers, one of the best bands ever to play at Elton’s gala. The crowd was fanatical to their hits “When You Were Young,” “Mr. Brightside,” “The Man,” “Somebody Told Me,” “For Reasons Unknown,” and more. Lead singer Brandon Flowers told the crowd that he’s known Elton for 15 years.

Other longtime Elton stalwarts whot made the scene were Patricia Arquette, Eric McCormack, Heidi Klum and fiancee Tom Kaulitz, Ashlee Simpson and Evan Ross, Nikki Reed and Ian Somerhalder, Paris Hilton, Rumer Willis, Caitlyn Jenner and Sophia Hutchins, Diana Ross hanging with Quincy Jones and Mary Wilson, Diane Lane, Don Lemon, Judith Light, a pregnant Kate Mara and her husband the talented Jaime Bell (who plays Bernie Taupin in “Rocketman”.)

Also attending Tiffany Haddish, Kristin Chenoweth, Leona Lewis, Marcia Gay Harden and more. Elton’s husband David Furnish told the crowd that the night had raised a record $6.3 million.

Bravo to Sir Elton and David Furnish for the vital work this worthy foundation does.

“Green Book” Wins Best Picture, Academy Sends a Message to Netflix Rebuking “Roma”

Roger Friedman
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“Green Book” Wins Best Picture, Academy Sends a Message to Netflix Rebuking “Roma”

“Green Book,” directed by Peter Farrelly, won best Picture tonight at the 91st Academy Awards.

The win was earned. But the Academy also sent a message to Netflix, which spent 25 million on a campaign for “Roma.” The movie industry still resists films from streaming platforms.

Netflix nevertheless deserves credit for being aggressive trying to get Best Picture for a foreign film. “Roma” nevertheless earned Best Director and Foreign Film for Alfonso Cuaron as well as best cinematography.

But “Green Book”‘s early wins for Mahershala Ali for supporting actor, and for original screenplay were key.

The other big shock of the night was Glenn Close losing Best Actress to Olivia Colman. No one saw that coming.

More to come

Hollywood Hubris: Motion Picture Fund Star Studded “Night Before” Throws Another Money-Losing PR Gimmick Night (And No One Mentions Resident Sex Abuse Accusations)

Roger Friedman
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Hollywood Hubris: Motion Picture Fund Star Studded “Night Before” Throws Another Money-Losing PR Gimmick Night (And No One Mentions Resident Sex Abuse Accusations)

I do wonder what the people who live in the Motion Picture Home in Woodland Hills think when they see pictures from the annual “Night Before” swag event.

There was another one last night on the Fox Lot– the soon to be Disney owned Fox lot– that claims to have made $5 million. Dozens of celebrities’ photos are in the Hollywood Reporter today. None of them paid for tickets. They are show ponies for the Motion Picture Fund.

That amount of money — $5 million– isn’t very much. In 2016, the event raised basically the same amount of money. Compare it to the $6.7 million made last month by MusiCares, the Grammy Foundation charity that actually charges for tickets. Plus, the MusiCares gift back is a couple of CD’s and a record spindle.

The lure of The Night Before is swag. It’s a swag-a-thon. You can see celebrities walking away with hundreds of dollars in crap they give to their housekeepers and drivers.

I’ll bet no one who attended last night knew about the 2017 lawsuit filed against the home for sexual and elder abuse. You can read the complaint here.

According to the Motion Picture Fund’s Form 990 for 2016, these fundraisers don’t really help the bottom line. In 2016, the net income from the three big fundraisers was NEGATIVE $3,377,040. Here’s the graphic:

On top of that the Motion Picture Home is still bloated with salaries. Eleven top execs divided up another $3 million in 2016, starting with Bob Beicher, who took home around $800,000.

The Night Before limits press coverage just to their co-sponsor, The Hollywood Reporter, which should tell you everything. This limits their exposure, and restricts photos of movie stars carting out all that junk– a virtual “Let’s Make A Deal” enterprise — into the cold Hollywood night.

Glenn Close Wins the Spirit Award, Then Heads to Armani Rodeo Drive for Splashy A List Salute

Roger Friedman
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Glenn Close Wins the Spirit Award, Then Heads to Armani Rodeo Drive for Splashy A List Salute

Saturday was Glenn Close Day in Hollywood.

First the estimable Ms. Close won the Indie Spirit Award in Santa Monica for her movie “The Wife” as Best Actress. She brought her dog, Pippy.

Then she changed into a black pants suit and headed to Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills for an A list salute at the Armani boutique. Pippy was remanded to handlers, but daughter Annie Starke– who plays Glenn as a young woman in “The Wife”– came with her mom.

Samuel L. Jackson, Mary Kay Place and loads of celebs packed the elegant store for a toast to Glenn– who we think will win the Oscar tonight. We can only hope.

Will Pippy be coming to the Oscars? “She couldn’t get a credential,” wise cracked Glenn’s publicist of 38 years, the always stylish Catherine Olim. Catherine and I reminisced about a cover story I assigned on Glenn in 1989 (we were in grade school!). The great novelist Mary Gordon (“Final Payments”) did the piece. Annie was a toddler. The story was such a hit that Glenn, ever the lady, wrote me a thank you note!

(The only other personal notes I ever got after interviews were from Meryl Streep, Barbara Bel Geddes, and Tom Selleck. And one more from Barbara Walters, but that’s another story.)

Annie told us a hilarious story later about how Pippy traveled to Europe when Glenn shot “The Wife.” Annie said, “He went on a separate plane with other Hollywood pets. He met a parrot on the way over!”

Someone asked how Glenn, who has never been known for doing a lot of press, has held up the last few days pre-Oscar. “She hates it,” Annie said, “but she’s doing it1.” And probably sending thank you notes!

 

 

photo c 2019 Showbiz411 Glenn Close with the director and producer of “The Wife”

 

 

 

Spirit Awards Go to Brand Names: Beale Street, Roma, Glenn Close, Ethan Hawke, Etc. Unknowns Remain Unknowns

Roger Friedman
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Spirit Awards Go to Brand Names: Beale Street, Roma, Glenn Close, Ethan Hawke, Etc. Unknowns Remain Unknowns

The Spirit Awards, as my friend Steve Gaydos wrote on Twitter, were very dispiriting.

All the brand names won. The unknowns remain unknowns. Movies like “We the Animals” were used by Film Independent as bait and switch filler .

Plus the winners clearly were not surprised. Their names were on Teleprompters. As Amazon film chief Ted Hope wrote, the statues went up on the podium before the names were announced. Hmmmm.

So “If Beale Street Could Talk” was the big winner. They got Best Film, Director (Barry Jenkins),and Best Supporting Actress (Regina King). “Beale Street” had the highest gross of any of the nominees.

Best Actress went to Glenn Close, who brought her dog with her and looked ebullient from the moment she arrived. Ethan Hawke won Best Actor. Richard E. Grant won Best Supporting Actor.

Best Screenplay went to the Oscar nominated “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” Close, Grant, and King are all also Oscar nominated.

“Roma” won Best Foreign Language Film.

“Eighth Grade” and its director, Bo Burnham, won Best First Screenplay.  “Sorry to Bother You” won Best First Feature.

Morgan Neville won for “Will You Be My Neighbor?” even though he was snubbed by the Oscars.

Does it seem like the fix was in? Or that this was the Gotham Awards from last November?

No real indie people won, and there were no surprise winners who came out of nowhere.

But it’s all good, and Joaquin Phoenix, who did show up not knowing all this, for “You Were Never Really Here,” can pretend he wasn’t really there.

We’ll find out on Monday if anyone watched the show on TV. I napped, as I predicted, during the tribute to “Suspiria,” a movie no one saw– but obviously Film Independent thought it would be a hit when they announced the award before the film flopped.

Oscar Week Parties: Mahershala at Spago, Glenn Close, Others Hit Women in Film, “Megan Draper” at Cadillac, Kenneth Branagh at Lunch, Jamie Lee Curtis Still Hates Journalists

Roger Friedman
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Oscar Week Parties: Mahershala at Spago, Glenn Close, Others Hit Women in Film, “Megan Draper” at Cadillac, Kenneth Branagh at Lunch, Jamie Lee Curtis Still Hates Journalists

The Oscar week of parties has been a little…weak, let’s say…

The best party came Wednesday night at Spago for Universal Pictures and Focus Features, which meant great food and a lot of enthusiasm for “Green Book” and “Blackkklansman.” Mahershala Ali and Linda Cardellini represented the actors, Ron Meyers and Donna Langley were the gracious hosts, and he vibe was very Oscar positive. Universal had the calmest Oscar season over all even if “First Man” didn’t come off as I expected. “Green Book” is a lot of people’s favorite movie. It was great to see composer Kris Bowers and his fiancee, actress Briana Nicole Henry from “General Hospital.” No sign of Spike Lee, but it was early yet in the week and most New Yorkers were warmer staying home than coming to frigid Hollywood!

Last night, the focus was on Women in Film, in Hollywood, which honored costume designer Sandy Powell and all the female acting nominees starting with Glenn Close. Other guests included Regina King, Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Angela Bassett, Eva Longoria and José Bastón, Rita Ora, Felicity Huffman, Kate Bosworth, Connie Britton, Lake Bell, Alexandra Shipp, Jaime King, Rumer Willis, KiKi Layne, Nikki Reed and Ian Somerhalder, Justin Baldoni and Emily Baldoni, Madelaine Petsch, and Ashley Madekwe. 

Again, it was like Ice Station Zebra outside.  Nia Vardalos and I waited by a heat lamp for the valets, and powerhouse PR Lisa Taback nearly got icicles while her vehicle went missing for 45 minutes.

Still, Women in Film is growing bigger by the minute, and the numbers of ladies now making films is burgeoning. Oscar winning producer Cathy Schulman noted all of this in her opening remarks…

Earlier, Friday, came the ICG Publicists Lunch, which gave awards to the Warner Bros. publicists for “Crazy Rich Asians” and the PR team for Stephen Colbert. My favorite part of the lunch was Rogers & Cowan chief Alan Nierob saluting our dear departed friend Paul Bloch.

Jamie Lee Curtis spoke. The best part of her remarks was a toast to everyone’s favorite PMK publicist, Heidi Schaeffer. I’ve known Heidi for 200 years and there’s no one better. JLC noted that Heidi even got engaged to her husband at JLC’s wedding to Christopher Guest. JLC is a strange combo of contradictions. She noted that as a child of Hollywood she knows it’s all a ‘game’ and that actors must do their publicity. But she’s always been hostile to journalists, and reminded the audience that press and actors are basically enemies. I thought this funny coming from the daughter of the actor– Tony Curtis– who so famously played Sidney Falco in “The Sweet Smell of Success.” John Springer used to tell me stories about dealing with her crazy parents when they got married (her mother was Janet Leigh)…later, at the Beverly Hilton valet line, I chatted with Kate Linder, who’s been on the “Young and the Restless” for 52 years (just kidding), looks great and is always a cheerleader for her character, Esther, a warm presence in the cold machinations on TV Land…

Meantime, over at the Grill on the Alley, there was real lunch, like actual food and we ran into Kenneth Branagh, an actual star, dining with his agent, the great Robert Newman, and other pals.

And yes, the agencies had their little parties where they show the actors how well the agents have lived off their commissions. “Bohemian Rhapsody” rhapsodized at Cecconi’s. Someone threw a lunch for this one or that one. And everyone yapped about Vanity Fair’s takedown by the New York Times.

And please, someone turn the heat up or the air conditioning off. Hollywood is a cold enough place. It’s even more unpleasant in inclement weather!

 

 

Vanity Fair Uninvites New York Times from Oscar Party After Negative Story, Twitter Explodes as Other Journalists Plan Boycott

Roger Friedman
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Vanity Fair Uninvites New York Times from Oscar Party After Negative Story, Twitter Explodes as Other Journalists Plan Boycott

The word late Friday was that Vanity Fair uninvited the New York Times reporter and photographer who were supposed to attend their Oscar party Sunday night.

The reason was that VF didn’t like the Times story this week on how the party was no longer hot. So Ben Widdicombe was told he couldn’t come. The magazine’s quote was that the Times had already reviewed the party.

Listen, I was always nice to Vanity Fair for years under Graydon Carter when they invited me to the Oscar party. But when Radhika Jones took over, and Anna Wintour got her mitts on the party list, VF stopped returning my calls.

The idea of VF banning a reporter because of a negative story is also hilariously not lost on anyone. VF has spewed bile for years at everyone. They can’t take a little criticism from the newspaper of record? Well, shucks.

Widdicombe is not alone. Most of the press people who used to cover the VF party are gone. Most of the guests are, too. I remember the days when Mortons, and then Sunset Tower, were overflowing with celebs. But then last year, with Carter gone, most moved on to other venues.

Today, and I mean actually today, the Vanity Fair tent looms like a white elephant on Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills behind the Annenberg Center. The buzz is gone. Jones may be gone next. With circulation down, and very ugly covers and issues as the culprit, Jones may be scapegoated out by Anna Wintour. But it’s Jones’s own fault. She’s been offered help by a lot of people, and ignored it.

Now today– and I mean this very day– Vanity Fair is receiving its worst press ever in 30 years. The press people are clueless. They’re dealing a house of cards.

Hey–who knows? Maybe Wintour is trying to shut VF, and make it a subset of Vogue. Wouldn’t that be funny?

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