Emma’s dress drama, Cillian’s kiss for his wife – and what I saw as Hollywood hit the parties
OSCARS Night 2024 fizzed with the energy of a popping champagne cork. After the trials of Covid and the lengthy actors’ and writers’ strikes, the movie business had been boosted by the ‘Barbenheimer’ box- office phenomenon, as the world fell back in love with cinema.
Tinseltown was ready to party again – and to excess.
Not much food was eaten – one observer says this was the year weightloss jab Ozempic ‘ate the Oscars’ – but all the stars were out to enjoy a lavish night of cocktails and dancing.
Kylie Minogue, who attended the legendary Vanity Fair party, told us she was ‘feeling the general sparkle’. She added: ‘It’s not work for me tonight – it’s fun. I’m looking forward to catching up with some friends, people I know in the business.’
Reunions seemed to be the order of the night, with Christopher Nolan – fresh from his Best Director win for Oppenheimer – taking time to reminisce with me about the days we used to sit together in history lessons at
‘British director the night’s big winner’
Haileybury College in Hertfordshire. ‘That was in “Trotsky” Turnbull’s class,’ Nolan said, recalling a long-ago nickname for our Left-leaning teacher. ‘I was not expecting to be thinking about that tonight!’
Some had graver issues on their minds: pro-Palestine and pro-Israel protesters scuffled on the manicured lawns outside the party. Some protesters were peppersprayed by police; at least one arrest was made.
The start of the Oscars broadcast had been held up by the protests, with the final guests taking their seats at 4.06pm, six minutes after the show was scheduled to start (just after 11pm in the UK). A number of roads around the Dolby Theatre had been blocked, with the limo gridlock even worse than usual.
Latecomers included Martin Scorsese, Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling – who gave the night’s stand- out performance of I’m Just Ken.
Best Actress nominee Carey Mulligan, in bespoke Balenciaga, was later still. Mulligan had to watch Da’Vine
Joy Randolph winning Best Supporting Actress for The Holdovers from outside the auditorium, with her place taken by a seat-filler.
What else did viewers at home miss? Eva Mendes in the wings, proudly watching husband Ryan Gosling perform — the couple never do the red carpet together — and Scorsese comforting Lily Gladstone after she lost out in the Best Actress race for her role in Killers Of The Flower Moon.
Plus, what about wrestlerturned-actor John Cena — who shuffled on stage to present the award for Best Costume Design with his modesty seemingly covered only by the envelope containing the name of the winner?
Was he really naked? The team was quick to drape him in a curtain when he dropped his envelope, but the consensus in the room was that he was, in fact, wearing a modesty pouch.
My old classmate Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer was the winner of the night, scooping seven awards, including Best Actor for Cillian Murphy, whose win was sealed with a joyous kiss from his wife Yvonne.
Oppenheimer’s success was a career-confirming triumph for London-born Nolan and his British producer wife, Emma Thomas. Presented with his Oscar by Steven Spielberg, the director almost wept as he thanked ‘ the incredible Emma Thomas, the producer of all our films and all our children, I love you’. Backstage, he told me it would probably take six months for the win to sink in.
As usual, the awards ceremony was followed by a raft of parties competing to draw the stars: the film studio Universal went up against the official Governors Ball; while Jay-Z’s event vied with Madonna’s.
The largest event of all, of
course, was the Vanity Fair shindig. Nolan and Thomas went to the Governors Ball to get their Oscars engraved, and he then joked with the Godzilla crew about doing bicep curls with his two heavy statuettes (for Best Picture and Best Director).
His wife was clinging to a third for her role as a producer on Oppenheimer.
Chef wolfgang Puck laid on a delicious spread, including chocolate ‘Oscar pops’ in the shape of the statue.
Spielberg was seen leaving the ball wearing a Covid-era face mask – the only time I saw one during the entire event.
Actress Emma Stone – a surprise Best Actress winner for her role in Poor Things – was in and out of the party in just six minutes. She spent most of those hugging and kissing her comedian husband, Dave McCary.
Stone revealed she had suffered a minor wardrobe malfunction by the side of the stage: ‘They sewed me back in! I think I busted it during “I’m Just Ken”. I was so amazed by ryan [Gosling] and what he was doing, and that number just blew my mind.’
At Vanity Fair, beyond question the grandest of the night’s bashes, guests grooved to Kylie’s 2023 smash-hit Padam Padam on an illuminated dance floor.
The Kardashians were there, posing, while Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos toured the room with his pneumatic fiancée, Lauren Sanchez.
Of course, Irish actor Barry Keoghan, possibly the most hyped during this awards season, was there – wearing a string vest and striking poses.
No one has enjoyed the past few months more than the Saltburn star, 31, who posed naked – again – for Vanity Fair magazine last month. The bad news for him is that some in Hollywood are saying they’ve rather had enough of his thirst for the limelight.
Vanity Fair partygoers could enjoy trays of In-n-Out burgers, pizza, a photo booth and goody bags, which included slippers and gowns for those ready to rest. Scorsese circulated with a glass of
‘A night of riotous cross-town revelry’
champagne, while Lindsay Lohan chatted with her one-time party partnerin-crime Paris Hilton.
Singing stars, including usher and Lenny Kravitz, mixed with the likes of fashion designer Tom Ford.
Margot robbie, stunning in a 1996 vintage Thierry Mugler corset, joined acting legends Michael Douglas, Sharon Stone and Nicolas Cage.
The interior was all red velvet drapes and deep red walls, with Negroni cocktails to match.
Some internet wits thought the outside of the building, which featured the words ‘Vanity Fair’ in bold yellow over a red background, looked like a box of McDonald’s French fries, which won’t have been the look the magazine’s editor-in-chief radhika Jones had in mind.
Madonna’s party, held at her manager Guy Oseary’s house, was supporting her raising Malawi charity. The going-home gift there was a raising Malawi scarf, and the food – chicken masala and naan bread – was left largely untouched.
Elton John’s Aids Foundation fundraiser attracted the likes of Elizabeth Hurley and her son, Damian, 21; plus Julia Fox, Kanye west’s actress ex, in an outlandish get up – a black mini-dress that left her breasts exposed, but for a pair of bejewelled nipple tassels – which only burnished her reputation for trashy dressing.
A hardcore crew then made their way to Jay-Z and Beyonce’s bash at Chateau Marmont. Leonardo DiCaprio – who didn’t attend the Oscars ceremony – was reportedly spotted going in.
He was the star of Killers Of The Flower Moon, Scorsese’s epic western, which was nominated for ten awards, but came away with none. As dawn broke, the JayZ party was still going strong.
For Hollywood’s finest, it was a night of riotous cross-town revelry buoyed by an undeniable confidence that the Oscars are back – and in some style.