The Oscars

Naomie Harris was happy enough her movie won Best Picture, but she clearly feels the pain of the "La La Land" cast and crew.

The Iranian director who was almost banned from attending the Oscars because of Donald Trump's travel ban blasted the Prez after he won Sunday ... but did it in writing.

Asghar Farhadi had a rep read a statement after winning the Best Foreign Film award for his movie "The Salesman" ... in which he explained his absence.

Farhadi -- who's won an Oscar before -- said he is standing in solidarity with his own country -- as well as the other 6 in Trump's now-blocked EO -- to protest the ban.

Since the ban was nullified by the courts, he could have attended had he wanted.

Jimmy Kimmel took a huge sarcastic swipe at President Trump ... all in support of some up and coming actress named Meryl Streep.

In the middle of Jimmy's opening monologue for the 89th Oscars he put the spotlight on Meryl by referencing Trump's "over-rated" tweet about her ... following her scathing speech about him in January.

Jimmy's obviously killed in what's definitely NOT a Trump-friendly room.

Ya gotta imagine Trump's Twitter finger is itching.

Part of the Oscars stage was left in shambles Sunday morning when a prop crashed down during rehearsals ... and TMZ got this photo of the damage.

The accident happened around 11:30 AM on the stage at the Dolby Theatre -- just hours before the award show was set to begin. We're told host Jimmy Kimmel was working out a skit at the time, but was off the stage.

The props, which appear to be skyscraper models, tumbled over and crushed a camera. We're told no one was injured though. One witness described it as making a "horrifying sound" as it tore down the curtain.

The show is set to begin at 5:30 PM PT ... so we're guessing there's a lot of scrambling going on to get things fixed. We've got a call in to the Oscars and ABC ... no word back yet.

Tons of stars showed up Saturday night for a pre-Oscars bash.

Janelle Monae, Jamie Dornan, Nicole Kidman, Michael Keaton, Naomi Watts, Hailee Steinfeld, Oliver Stone, Rachel Zoe and others hit up the Charles Finch and Chanel party at Madeo Restaurant in WeHo.

Terrence Howard isn't so sure Denzel Washington will bring home the Oscar, because he says he deserved it back in the day but went home empty.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave a man who beat cancer a heart attack when they fired him ... according to the ex-employee.

The man claims his cancer treatment forced him to go on disability from July 2015 to March 2016, but he returned to work when his cancer went into remission. He says the HR supervisor was cool with him working from home if he needed to for pain management.

He says a new supervisor took over in April 2016 and turned his work life upside down. In a lawsuit, he says the new HR honcho gave him a hard time when he tried to work from home, and ignored his doctor's notes requesting flexibility.

Eventually, he says he was fired by email and was so upset ... he had a heart attack on the spot. He's now suing for disability discrimination and wrongful termination.

The Oscars added 683 new members to its voting body Wednesday ... in the wake of the #OscarsSoWhite bruhaha, and while nearly half of the new class are minorities, it barely put a dent in the overall white and male demo.

According to the Academy ... 46 percent of the new class are female and 41 percent ... people of color. Sounds like a lot, but when you factor in the pre-existing members it's only a 2-3%.

Notable names on the list include Idris Elba, Vivica A. Fox, Morris Chestnut, Michael B. Jordan, Nia Long, Gabrielle Union, and Marlon and Damon Wayans. 'Star Wars' newcomer John Boyega is the youngest at 24 added to the list. O'Shea Jackson also made the cut ... interesting since the "Straight Outta Compton" snub ignited the controversy.

The Academy says the new class reps "the best in our global film community." It also added this: "We encourage the larger creative community to open its doors wider, and create opportunities for anyone interested in working in this incredible and storied industry."

The Oscars or the Girl Scouts -- or some mystery benefactor ... is hanging 28 little girls out to dry -- after swearing Chris Rock's bit earned $65k ... we've learned the money is nowhere to be found.

You'll recall Rock and the Oscars got Inglewood, CA's Girl Scouts Troop 5215 to work the crowd of celebs, hawking Thin Mints, Tagalongs and more. Near the end of the show, Chris said they raised $65k.

But Latoya Edwards, whose daughter is in Troop 5215 tells TMZ someone's screwing them over. She claims the National Girl Scout Council informed them the Academy would be donating the $65k to the Greater L.A. Council ... but that hasn't happened, and the Academy isn't returning calls.

Mind you, Troop 5215 isn't getting rich quick. Edwards says due to nonprofit rules her local chapter would only get $1,000 of that money, but her bigger concern is her scouts are getting used in a public relations lie.

Previously Girls Scouts of America and the Academy both bragged about the $65k they'd raised -- but now GSA seems to be wiping its hands clean. A rep would only tell us, "The donation process is determined by local councils."

Translation: We have no idea where the $65k is. Edwards claims the Greater L.A. leaders are also in the dark and as for the Academy? We contacted reps, but no word back yet.

Edwards says her Girl Scouts were honored to participate -- and is happy they were able to unload 400 boxes -- but she wants the world to know, as of now, there is NO fat check pouring into the Inglewood chapter.

And yes ... that's how it crumbles.

Lady Gaga didn't leave Oscars with a statue, but instead left with something more powerful -- a permanent bond with the sexual assault survivors with whom she shared the stage.

Gaga and the 50 men and women who courageously stood next to her during her performance of "Til It Happens to You" ... all got matching tattoos after making a pact during rehearsals.

According to tattoo artist David Allen, who posted the pic of Gaga's new ink, the symbol stands for "solidarity for survivors of sexual assault."

Father Robert Sirico -- a celebrity in his own right for his political and cultural commentary -- eviscerated the Academy for embracing "Spotlight" while it celebrated a child molester in its own ranks.

We got the Catholic Priest -- who writes for the NY Times -- and asked about the church scandal that became the centerpiece of the movie.

You gotta hear his answer ... and he's right. Roman Polanski won Best Director in 2003 for "The Pianist," the same time The Boston Globe was breaking the molestation stories.

Polanski pled guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl and then fled the country ... he's never returned.

Check out the video from 2003, below. The applause for Polanski was thunderous and the standing ovation remarkable.

Will Smith's in a tough position ... does he attack Chris Rock for throwing shade on Jada at the Oscars, or does he say, all's fair in love and war?

Will chose neither option Tuesday night as he left Nobu restaurant in NYC.

Rob Gronkowski is a SINGLE MAN -- telling TMZ Sports his super hot date to the Oscars parties is just his friend ... meaning he's still free to bang whoever the hell he wants.

The woman who was on his arm Sunday night was Jordan Duffy -- a TV reporter/extremely hot lady.

But alas ... no relationship with Gronk, just friends. Sad.

Meanwhile, Gronk hit up a MOVIE PREMIERE Tuesday night -- rolling with his bros and his dad to the Westwood premiere of his brand new flick "You Can't Have It" ... in which Gronk cameos as a cop.

The whole Gronk squad was pumped for the movie -- with Rob joking about winning awards for the role ... and praising Joanna Krupa as a pretty awesome co-star.

Frank Stallone walked it back a mile Tuesday, when he explained his Twitter rant about brother Sly losing the Oscar was based on famiglia.

Frank was in Bev Hills when we asked about his tweets on the heels of Sly losing the Best Supporting Actor Oscar to Mark Rylance.

Come to think of it ... Frank does apologize, but just as quickly he throws shade at the Academy voters.

Sam Smith got a fitting thank you for his Oscars LGBT shout-out -- getting serenaded by a famous drag queen at legendary gay bar, The Abbey.

We're told Sam and his crew rolled into the club around 11 PM for their Monday night Lip Service drag show and stayed till about 1:30 AM fueled on vodka.

It’s quickly becoming Sam’s tradition … he hit the same spot after his Golden Globes win, but this time he was singled out by Vicki Vox ... who's a legend in the drag world for her parody hit, "This Boy Is A Bottom."

Vox had some sweet words for Sam during the show ... for a drag queen at least.

The Oscars made a statement by playing Public Enemy's "Fight the Power," and now the group has a statement to the Oscars ... they're pissed off.

Group member Professor Griff tells us he thinks the Academy was just paying lip service to black protesters and will go right back to business as usual.

Griff says Public Enemy is all about change -- radical change -- and the Academy's efforts fly in the face of that. He adds, "The show can't claim the blackness of Public Enemy's message."

That said, Public Enemy does not have rights to license the song ... Universal Music does.

So the man wins again.