Month: March 2025

At the 2017 Oscars, when “La La Land” was mistakenly announced as the best picture winner over “Moonlight,” then first-term President Donald Trump blamed the epic blunder on Hollywood’s fixation with him. He suggested that the stars were too distracted by criticizing his administration to properly reveal the final award of the night.

“They were focused so hard on politics that they didn’t get the act together at the end. It was a little sad. It took away from the glamour of the Oscars,” Trump said in an interview back in February 2017, about a month after his first inauguration.

Mobilizing against Trump seemed en vogue during Hollywood’s first award season after the 2016 election, as many artists vocalized their opposition to White House policies at the time. (Meryl Streep’s speech at the 2017 Golden Globes prompted Trump to call her “one of the most overrated actresses” in Hollywood.)

Sunday’s Academy Awards, arriving five weeks after the start of Trump’s second term, are poised to be less political. Make no mistake, the president likely has few fans in the room of A-listers who will gather in the Dolby Theater. But talk of Trump has waned at recent entertainment events.

With the backdrop of devastating fires that ravaged Los Angeles, award season this year has been centered around coming together. The Grammys set the tone as the first show to air after the wildfires, the SAG Awards followed with a focus on first responders and the Oscars are also set to raise funds towards fire relief efforts.

This year’s Oscars host – Conan O’Brien – may be the most obvious deviation from a Trump-infused ceremony that was all but guaranteed with former host Jimmy Kimmel, who emceed twice during Trump’s first term and two more times as Trump was campaigning for reelection.

With awards season drawing to a close, Hollywood’s biggest names had one last chance to impress on the red carpet before next Sunday’s Oscars. But while some stars (or their stylists, at least) will be saving their show-stopping outfits for the Academy, Sunday evening’s Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards saw attendees having fun with a comparatively relaxed dress code.

This year’s big celebrity events have thus far seen plenty of dark ensembles — and some of the most anticipated arrivals continued the trend. Demi Moore stunned in a black drop-waist leather gown from Bottega Veneta’s Summer 2025 collection, while fellow nominee Zoe Saldaña looked elegant in a demure one-sleeve velvet Saint Laurent gown.

Yet, the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles also welcomed lots of lighter touches, both in shade and material. Pamela Anderson floated along the venue’s blue-colored carpet in a goddess-like Dior gown, while Ariana Grande arrived in an ethereal sheer Loewe bustier dress with floral detailing. Others opted for brighter and more delicate dresses than we’ve seen of late, by embracing lace (see Quinta Brunson, also in Dior) or satin (see Millie Bobby Brown in Louis Vuitton).

There were bold statements, too. Cynthia Erivo was wrapped in the silver metallic fabric of a Givenchy dress taken from the label’s Fall-Winter 1997 Haute Couture archive. “Shōgun” star Anna Sawai meanwhile wore a crystal-embellished Armani Privé gown with an optical illusion neckline that appeared to float without straps.

Several of the evening’s men experimented with less conventionally formal looks, though it was all the usual suspects: Best actor nominee Andrew Scott and “Abbott Elementary” star Tyler James Williams both wore stylishly loose-fitting suits, while “The Bear” actor Jeremy Allen White put a wide-legged spin on black-tie attire. Never one to play by the rules, Timothée Chalamet delivered one of the night’s most outlandish looks in a leather Chrome Hearts suit, Brat-green shirt and diamond-encrusted bolo tie by Cartier.

The Academy opted to hold a dinner for nominated artists before this Sunday’s Academy Awards instead of the annual luncheon, which had been canceled in the wake of the Los Angeles wildfires earlier this year.

The night drew many of the stars who were nominated.

Some of the attendees included Timothée Chalamet, who is up for best actor for his performance in “A Complete Unknown,” “Wicked” stars Cynthia Erivo and Arianna Grande, who are up for best actress and best supporting actress, respectively, and Demi Moore, who is competing in the best actress category for her role in “The Substance.”

It’s the first time for Grande and Moore. Chalamet was nominated for best actor in 2018 for his role “Call Me By Your Name,” while Erivo was nominated for best actress and best original song for the 2019 film “Harriet.”

Grande was part of the four out of five best supporting nominees in attendance, which included Monica Barbaro (“A Complete Unknown”), Isabella Rossellini (“Conclave”), and Zoe Saldaña (“Emilia Pérez”).