”Which film took first place?” After 10 p.m. on Sunday, Rick Hilton inquired as he and his spouse Kathy Hilton moved to the front of an opulent line to enter Vanity Fair’s 30th anniversary Oscar celebration in Beverly Hills. Kathy claims they asked their son, but he had no idea. Luckily, the answer was held by a man who was standing just in front of the pair. He stated, “It was Oppenheimer,” omitting to discuss how embarrassing Al Pacino’s best picture revelation was. You can preserve some information for Monday morning. In addition, there are more quick-fire questions to answer.
Which film is that? Is it a true story as the basis? The emcee was who?
“Oh, Jimmy Kimmel.” I like him,” Rick remarked with a smile at a very realistic moment—after all, who does not adore Jimmy Kimmel? And who does not enjoy the annual Academy Awards celebration hosted by Vanity Fair? It might have suffered in past years from entertaining too many suits or influencers, or from having too much competition from invitations from party couples like Madonna and Guy Oseary or Beyoncé and Jay-Z. In actuality, though, Vanity Fair will always be the best at drawing the largest concentration of A-list celebrities to one location at a time outside of the Dolby Theatre in 2024. It seems that the list sacrificed a number of TikTokers in favour of going back to its roots by include as many actors, auteurs, models, studio executives, and moguls as possible. Perhaps it was the milestone.
Oh, and sports celebrities as well, notably LeBron James, the superstar, who made the rounds accompanied by Rich Paul, Jalen Hurts, the quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles, and Lakers friend Anthony Davis. Tennis greats Serena Williams and Roger Federer were spotted, along with Russell Wilson and his spouse Ciara, Odell Beckham Jr., and his rumoured love interest Kim Kardashian, whose sisters Kendall and Kylie and mother Kris Jenner were there to represent the Calabasas clan.
Let us go back to the Hiltons. As The Hollywood Reporter arrived on the opulent 125-foot red carpet, a few dozen celebrities were waiting at the step-and-repeat. With a fresh springtime hairstyle that she described as “the bob is bobbing,” Lizzo was behind the Hiltons when Sandra Hüller and her entourage—which included Houston Costa of UTA—arrived. Shortly after the Anatomy of a Fall best actress nominee entered the zone, Cynthia Erivo, star of Wicked, grabbed her hand and drew her near a stanchion. She greeted Sandra to an on-camera discussion and declared, “I am stealing her.”
At that moment, Kristie Macosko Krieger heard Steven Spielberg remark to her, “No photos for me, please,” as he slipped behind the wall of photographers. Despite having a lot of screen time throughout the broadcast, the director did have second thoughts after he entered the specially built Basil Walter and Will Cooper building. He ran into Radhika Jones, the editor-in-chief of VF, and struck up a conversation with Jessica Capshaw, his daughter. He also posed with Celine Song while clutching an In-N-Out burger. Similar to this, attending the Vanity Fair party is usually a mind-bending experience because there are boldfaced names everywhere you turn.
Matt Damon and Chris Hemsworth argued with Endeavor’s Patrick Whitesell, Emily Blunt, and John Krasinski in the vicinity of one corner of the bar. Two-time Oscar winner Finneas and Melissa McCarthy conferred while NBA MVP Russell Westbrook casually strolled by. Beck gathered across the street with Leslie Mann and Judd Apatow.
Just around the corner, Federer and his spouse repelled an odd approach from an unidentified television personality. While Bill Maher chewed on a cigar, John Waters engaged in conversation with Jodie Foster, J.J. Abrams socialised with CAA’s Maha Dakhil, his agent. Julia Fox and Emma Thomas, the producer for Oppenheimer, crossed paths as Emma Thomas held her Oscar below her waist. Maggie Rogers almost fell due to Camila Mendes’s dress train. “It is our annual tradition,” Catherine O’Hara and her husband explained as they stood in queue for the picture booth. The Haim sisters hurried to the dance floor, but Allison Williams stopped them with a group hug. After hearing a few songs, Jon Hamm performed a movie to Mariah Carey’s “Fantasy” remix, which included the late Dirty Bastard.
Then Kylie Minogue appeared. After receiving praise for giving gay people an incredible surprise when she joined Madonna on stage for The Celebration Tour at Kia Forum, she told THR, “It is been a big week.” Minogue then enumerated the reasons why the past three days have been so amazing, but since details matter. She won a worldwide icon award at the Brit Awards in London, performed a duet with Madge, and spent a night in Las Vegas for a gig at Voltaire at the Venetian. “Quite a bit,” she remarked. “There was incredible energy in Las Vegas.” The best audience was the one. And this week, I am returning for two more dates.
Speaking of enthusiastic gatherings, Billie Eilish, who recently made history by becoming the youngest recipient of two Oscars, was surrounded by people everywhere she went. It was Jeffrey Wright and Babyface at one point, Sydney Sweeney, Camila Cabello, and Maude Apatow at another, and then Ramy Youssef. By the conclusion of the evening, Eilish’s hand was being held by an unidentified female romantic interest as they made their way through the gathering. For couples, Sunday was a huge night. Barry Keoghan and Sabrina Carpenter remained close throughout the evening, looking every bit the infatuated couple; Cabello was spotted leaving with Cinderella costar Nicholas Galitzine; and married couple Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel enjoyed a black-tie Hollywood date night. Reneé Rapp was seen overhead introducing her new(ish) girlfriend Towa Bird.
Mark this date on your calendar: Richard Weitz and Christian Muirhead, co-chairmen of WME, were heard congratulating rival agency competitors (gasp!) for being the talent agency with the most Oscar wins, with credits going to Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas, Emma Stone, Robert Downey Jr., Jonathan Glazer, Eilish and her brother, and a host of others.
Towa Bird and Reneé Rapp.
Trevor Noah, David Oyelowo and Usher.
Alexandra Hedison, Jodie Foster, Brandi Carlile and Catherine Shepherd.
Da’Vine Joy Randolph and her publicist, Marla Farrell, who got a special shout out during the Oscars.
Ted Sarandos, Matt Damon, Sam Rockwell and Will Arnett.
Martin Scorsese and John Waters.