The Oscars

Talk about an awkward run-in ... Austin Butler and his ex Vanessa Hudgens were an arms-length away from each other after the Oscars -- after he snapped pics with his new boo Kaia Gerber.

Vanessa and Austin were standing together at the Vanity Fair Oscars after-party at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts Sunday night in Bev Hills ... with Austin giving a wave to the camera as Vanessa's head stayed low.

The 2 were hanging out near the valet -- unclear if they chatted it up. Sharon Stone was waiting for her ride next to them, but no entanglements there!

Vanessa wasn't at the bash with her fiancé Cole Tucker ... Austin, of course, was at the event with Kaia.

As you know, Austin & Vanessa pulled the plug on their 8+ years of dating back in 2020 ... but some drama surfaced after he told The Hollywood Reporter a friend pushed him into playing Elvis when they heard him singing one of The King's songs.

The problem? It wasn't just a "friend" -- it was Vanessa ... and fans quickly picked up on it when his recollection was almost identical to one she told back in 2019. He later did another interview where he confirmed it was indeed her, even crediting her for a lot of his success.

Angela Bassett was crestfallen when she lost "Best Supporting Actress," and it showed.

Angela's face said it all when she lost to Jamie Lee Curtis for her role in "Everything Everywhere All at Once." Her hands told a story as well ... never coming together to celebrate Curtis's win, unlike the other nominees who lost out.

The "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" star was understandably disappointed, but her reaction makes you think she thought it was a good bet she'd take home the statue.

Some folks on social quickly called Angela a sore loser ... others felt her pain and called it another Oscar snub.

Among the comments ...  "Angela Bassett is allowed to be visibly disappointed that she didn’t win the Oscar". Another wrote, "I actually appreciate that Angela didn’t put on a face for the sake of being a 'good sport.'"

"Fashion Queens" host Bevy Smith shared her feelings online, too -- saying Angela was super deserving of the gold ... and we got her in New York Monday, giving us a little more insight into her thoughts.

She says Angela got snubbed decades ago, and a win Sunday night could've been HUGE -- not only for her but for Black women everywhere.

Bevy tells us about Angela's on-screen reaction, too ... specifically why it was better than what it could've been, and points out she stayed to show her support as the night went on.

As for Jamie Lee ... she was beyond excited and thanked hundreds of folks who made her win possible. Yes, it was a long night.

Nick Cannon says Jimmy Kimmel's Oscars jab at him and his ever-growing family tree is all in good fun ... telling us the "too many kids" jokes can keep on comin'.

We got Nick leaving Avra in Bev Hills Sunday night, after Jimmy had been on stage at the Dolby Theater poking fun at this year's nominees and yes, Nick too.

ICYMI, Nick's children came up when Jimmy brought up "Avatar: The Way of Water" ... saying in order to break even on the $2 billion film, "All of Nick Cannon's kids had to see 'Avatar' 4 times."

Nick tells us he's got no problems with the punch line, adding he and Jimmy are tight. He says he's cool with being the butt of all these jokes -- Kimmel's far from the first to do it -- and Nick says the creator of 'Wild 'N Out' should be able to take a few comedic jabs.

BTW -- we ask him if he's got a limit in mind when it comes to family planning, and he clearly doesn't have one ... but check out his pretty wild response.

As we reported, Nick said last month the cap on his children isn't up to him, because "God decides when we're done" ... and warned he might even pump some out in his 80s.

Michelle Yeoh made history last night during the Oscars, but her big win isn't the only thing that has folks talking ... it's also her direct message to Don Lemon.

The 60-year-old became the first Asian-identifying woman to take home the award for "Best Actress" for her role in "Everything Everywhere All at Once” ... and during her acceptance speech Sunday night, she seemingly took aim at the CNN anchor.

Michelle said “Dreams do come true. And ladies, don’t let anybody tell you you are ever past your prime!!!” Her speech drew cheers in the Dolby Theater, and folks immediately ate it up on social media.

One user wrote, "'MICHELLE YEOH CALLING OUT DON LEMON IS GIVING ME LIFE"

Of course, Michelle's words sounded like a response to Don's comment last month -- he said 51-year-old republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley isn't in her prime ... after she suggested all elected officials over 75 undergo competency testing.

At the time, Don doubled down on his stance adding ... " a woman is considered to be in her prime in her 20s and 30s and maybe 40s" and telling his co-hosts Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins to look it up.

He later apologized and, after a few days off, CNN execs told Lemon he's on thin ice for his comments.

BTW, Michelle also became the second woman of color to win the category, after Halle Berry won in 2002.

Hollywood's most famous faces are touching down at the Dolby Theater ahead of the 2023 Oscars -- and it looks like they decided to go traditional this year ... with some elegant 'fits.

Check out all the stars who have arrived in L.A. so far ... posing for the cameras as they head inside and grab their seat, and flexing their outfits. As you can see, just about all the hotshots -- namely, the actors who are nominated -- went with fairly classic looks.

Dudes in black and white tuxes ... and the ladies are in gorgeous gowns of varying color. Must say, everyone's dressed to impress -- and the aesthetic is certainly Oscar worthy.

As for who's made their showcase at this point ... Austin Butler, Angela Bassett, Jamie Lee Curtis, Brendan Fraser, Ana de Armas, Kerry Condon, Stephanie Hsu, Jonathan Majors, Danai Gurira, Zendaya, Sandra Oh, Florence Pugh, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Mescal, Paul Dano, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Sigourney Weaver, Halle Bailey, Idris Elba, Antonio Banderas and more.

Some of these folks are up for actual Oscars, but a vast majority of them are presenting tonight's awards. There are at least 40 A-listers who've been tapped to hit the stage and hand out statuettes ... so Dolby is going to be absolutely packed with talent everywhere.

The odds-on favorite to make a clean sweep in just about every category is 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' -- with Michelle Yeoh and Ke He Huy Quan leading the charge. They just got there in person ... but are quite clearly the beloved Oscar darlings this season.

There's a lot to look forward to, but the one thing that just about everyone is waiting to see is how host Jimmy Kimmel addresses last year's Oscars slap ... which he's said he'll do.

We're just under an hour out from showtime, and there's more celebs rolling in by the minute. The stage is set, and the champagne-colored carpet is rolled out/being trotted on.

The 2023 Oscars are underway, and so far -- everything's looking pretty kumbaya behind the scenes, with no signs of hostility and violence ... just the way it should be.

Check out all the hugging and embracing that's going on between the stars inside the Dolby Theater -- where it's all good vibes and lifted spirits ... a bit of a 180 compared to last year, when things ended on a sour note after Will Smith smacked Chris Rock.

That sort of dread that permeated in 2022 was no where to be found this time around. Instead we got celebs like Florence Pugh, Stephanie Hsu, The Rock, Austin Butler, James Hong, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson, Barry Keogan, Samuel L. Jackson and Sandra Oh bringing it in close and showing major love -- all while looking incredibly dapper and elegant, no less.

There's a lot of celebrating to be done ... stars like Jamie Lee Curtis, Ke Huy Quan and others have already walked away with statuettes -- and everyone seems to be stoked.

On the issue of the slap itself, host Jimmy Kimmel took some time to address it during the broadcast -- making some jokes about the ugly moment at the top of the show, which went down well with the crowd. His takeaway message was ... keep your hands to yourself!

Welp, it looks like people are certainly doing that -- and if they are making contact, it's the touchy-feely type ... and not the other way around. That's all you can ask for 365 days later.

It was the Lakers and Knicks who took priority for Denzel Washington and Spike Lee on Hollywood's biggest night -- the two A-listers skipped the Oscars to catch the NBA teams go at it in L.A.!!!

Washington and Lee ditched stage-side seats at the famed movie award ceremony for courtside ones at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday evening ... and didn't seem one bit displeased with their choice.

The guys were seen sharing a hug before the game ... clearly not stressing about missing the Oscars -- which were taking place at the same time less than 10 miles away at the Dolby Theatre.

Lee, of course, is a huge Knicks fan -- and Denzel is a big Lakers one ... and the two talked smack to each other about their teams throughout the contest.

Lee ended up getting the last laugh -- the Knicks beat the Lakers 112-108 ... though Washington didn't seem too beat up over it all.

The actors weren't the only celebs at the game ... star boxers Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia, plus Flea, were there too.

In fact, Washington and Davis had a moment with each other before the game, where Denzel voiced some big support for the fighter.

Jimmy Kimmel addressed last year's Oscars slap during his opening monologue -- and he did it just like most everyone thought he would ... with a joke and a jab, and a warning.

The 3-time host was back Sunday to take on MC duties, and his remarks at the top of show did not dodge the elephant in the room. It took a while for JK to get to the slap -- sprinkling in shots at A LOT of other stars beforehand -- but when he did ... he went in.

Watch ... Jimmy made fun of showrunners from 2022 -- saying they had a crisis team in place tonight, but noted that if anything did happen ... he expected them to do what they did last year ... absolutely nothing. He even joked that if anyone did assault someone else this time, they'd be awarded Best Actor, given a stage for a speech and a hug to boot.

He also made sure to mention that they want people to feel safe, and that no violence would be accepted ... then roping in a ton of stars into possible protection he might have to activate if anyone tried going after him for a joke they didn't like. He name-dropped Michelle Yeoh, Michael B. Jordan, Andrew Garfield, Pedro Pascal, Steven Spielberg and others as people any would-be assailant would have to get through if they want to rumble on stage.

A little earlier in the monologue, Kimmel appeared to again reference the slap while talking about all the Irish actors nominated this year ... joking there could be another fight.

The whole gag got a lot of laughs and seemed to be well-received. He never said Will or Chris' name -- but really didn't need to ... he made his point and did it in stride and comedy.

All things considered, it was a good bit ... and hopefully it puts the whole matter to bed.

Here's hoping everyone takes Jimmy up on his caution and keeps their hands to themselves for the rest of the night. The focus of the broadcast should be movies ... not battles.

D.L. Hughley is pushing back against folks who say Chris Rock deserved to be slapped by Will Smith for making fun of Jada Pinkett Smith ... he finds the narrative extremely ironic.

The comedian ripped into The Root's Candace McDuffie, who went on CNN and claimed Chris had it coming after years of targeting Black women with his jokes, saying she's got it all twisted.

D.L. says Chris isn't punching down on marginalized women, as Candace believes, but rather making fun of celebs who put their business out in the streets ... he says it's all fair game.

The irony for D.L. ... Candace thinking the violent slap was justified while a comedic response goes too far, and everyone's allowed an opinion except for the man who actually got smacked in the face on live TV.

In a not-so-surprising situation, Robert Blake, the late actor who was infamously charged with his second wife's shooting death, was left out of the Oscars "In Memoriam" tribute.

There were lots of names shown during Sunday's TV broadcast as part of the award show's annual segment intro'd by John Travolta with a song from Lenny Kravitz ... but noticeably absent was Robert's name and contribution to the industry.

Robert's career in Hollywood spanned more than 5 decades, acting in scores of films ... most notably his breakthrough starring role in "In Cold Blood," plus other flicks like "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" and "Lost Highway."

Earlier in the broadcast, Jimmy Kimmel joked that the audience could vote whether or not to include Blake in the tribute.

Kirstie Alley, Olivia Newton John and Robbie Coltrane were among some of the big names included in tribute ... but no dice for Robert.

We should say, there's also outrage actress Charlbi Dean -- who starred in "Triangle of Sadness" -- wasn't included in the broadcast tribute, though she is named in the online tributes.

Robert died Thursday from heart disease at age 89 ... so the award show's producers had time to work him into the show, if they wanted.

Of course, Robert's film career often took a back seat to his off-screen drama ... he was charged with the murder of his second wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, after she was found dead in 2001 outside Vitello's restaurant in Los Angeles. She was shot in the head while sitting in Robert's car.

Robert told police he'd gone back inside the eatery to get a pistol when Bonny was gunned down ... and it was later determined Blake's gun was not the murder weapon.

Jimmy Kimmel's hosting the Oscars again tonight, and a year out from the infamous slap ... the dude has been talking a lot about it, kinda turning the moment into a punchline.

The late night funny man has been doing a ton of press in the weeks leading up to the big gig -- his third such time handling MC duties for Hollywood's biggest show -- and yes ... he's been asked repeatedly about Will Smith smacking Chris Rock, and how he'll address it.

Here's a few quotes of JK's from the past couple weeks or so. When asked by THR what he would do if someone tries to pull a copycat and slap him, Kimmel said ... "If I’m bigger than they are, I beat the s*** out of them on television. And if it’s The Rock, I run."

A few days ago, as preparations were underway, Kimmel made another joke about carnage ...  with reference to the color of this year's walkup. He said, "People have been asking, 'Is there going to be any trouble this year? Is there going to be any violence this year?'"

He adds, "We certainly hope not. But if there is, I think the decision to go with a champagne carpet over a red carpet shows how confident we are that no blood will be shed."

In other words, he's been swearing off the brutality by teasing the possibility of more, albeit in jest. On the issue of actually talking about it in his monologue, Jimmy says he'll do it.

He's said in interviews that he's going to "squeeze just a couple more drops out of it" and give a take that he thinks no one has heard yet. Kimmel did note he doesn't plan on talking about it at length but says it's the elephant in the room and that it must be addressed.

As for the whole crisis team thing -- namely, AMPAS hiring a bunch of people to "deal" with any craziness that might go on -- JK says he isn't privy to it ... and knows nothing of the logistics of what they have planned or how they would implement him if things go south.

It's interesting that Jimmy's been making light of the slap as much as he has, and will presumably do so again come 5 PM. Ya gotta figure ABC and the Academy have signed off on it all ... they're the producers and showrunners of this thing, and they call the shots.

Glenn Close won't make the Oscars this year -- this after being tapped as one of the many presenters -- because she caught COVID ... which kinda leaves Harrison Ford hanging.

The actress contracted the virus just ahead of showtime and will be forced to miss Sunday's broadcast -- this according to her rep. Word is, she's fine, currently resting and isolating ... and, of course, is totally bummed out. It's unclear who, if anyone, will replace her.

Close was one of 40 different famous presenters who are set to take the stage and hand out statuettes -- and according to Vanity Fair, which says it caught the Oscars rehearsal this week, she was actually scheduled to be side by side with her old "Air Force One" costar.

Some might recall ... GC was the Veep in that one, while Harrison was the Prez. They didn't share much screen time together, but it was a pretty iconic flick with larger-than-life actors. Their Oscars appearance was meant to be a reunion of sorts, but now Ford might fly solo.

Other presenters for the Oscars include Samuel L. Jackson, Jessica Chastain, Hugh Grant, Sigourney Weaver, Antonio Banderas, Michael B. Jordan, Florence Pugh, Pedro Pascal, Melissa McCarthy, Nicole Kidman, Andrew Garfield, Halle Berry, John Travolta and more.

Michelle Yeoh was honored at a very fancy, star-studded pre-Oscars party Saturday night ... this as her movie, "Everything Everywhere All at Once" is a favorite to take home a boatload of awards.

The bash was hosted by Roberts Armani at the Giorgio Armani store in Bev Hills. Among those on hand ... Jamie Lee Curtis, Samuel L. Jackson and Brendan Fraser.

Michelle seemed almost overwhelmed by the honor and attention. She spent time with her co-star Jamie Lee, enveloping her with gratitude.

For Jamie Lee Curtis's part ... she confessed her feelings about her "bae" -- "even her husband {Michelle's]approves of our love for each other."

"SNL" eviscerated the Oscars Saturday night .... with a fantasy awards show that is absolutely hilarious!!!

The enforcer against a Will Smith redo is none other than Mike Tyson, played spectacularly by Kenan Thompson, who said, “I should warn you, the following things will set me off: clapping, statutes of gold people, shows that last more than three hours, and also hearing the phrase ‘the magic of movies.’”

Jamie Lee Curtis, who wore a dress right off the Costco rack, is equally funny.

But the best ... Tom Cruise showed up at the Oscars.  Well, it's actually Rep. George Santos, who slyly passed himself off as "Tom Q Cruise."

Maitland Ward says the adult film industry's awards show is far superior TV than anything the Academy Awards is offering ... and she thinks it boils down to who's doing the voting.

We got the former "Boy Meets World" actress-turned-porn star in Bev Hills and asked why she thinks traditional awards shows like the Oscars are losing interest and viewers.

Maitland says the folks voting for the Oscars are way too old and aren't in touch with the country ... and she thinks the nominations this year once again show a lack of diversity.

On the flip side, Maitland says porn is rife with female directors and performers from all walks of life ... and she thinks the AVN Awards does a better job reading the room and going with the most deserving candidates, with no politics involved.

While awards shows are mostly losing viewers year after year, Maitland has an idea for how the Academy Awards could get a shot in the arm and a ton more eyeballs with a new category ... yep, she wants to see someone win an Oscar for having sex on camera!!!

Maitland has won seven AVN awards since joining the porn industry in 2019, including Best Leading Actress this year.