The Oscars

Chadwick Boseman's earned his first-ever Academy Award nomination ... nearly 7 months after he died from colon cancer.

Chadwick was the second one named early Monday morning when the nominations for Actor in a Leading Role were announced. Riz Ahmed for "Sound of Metal," Anthony Hopkins for "The Father," Gary Oldman for "Mank" and Steven Yeun for "Minari" are the other nominees in the category. It's incredible this is his first nom considering the iconic roles he's played.

Chadwick died in August while "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" was in post-production and 3 months before the film's release. He played Levee Green, an incredibly talented trumpet player. The Netflix film is about Ma Rainey ... the influential blues singer during the 1920s.

He had already won a Golden Globe, also his first, for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama last month. Chadwick's widow, Taylor Simone Ledward, accepted the award on his behalf and gave an emotional speech too.

Taylor had said, "He would thank God. He would thank his parents. He would thank his ancestors for their guidance and their sacrifices. He would say something beautiful. Something inspiring."

Cicely Tyson, who forged a path for scores of Black actors on Broadway and in Hollywood, has died.

Tyson was a force in entertainment for decades, but in her early years she had few role models because there were few people of color who were at the top of the Hollywood game.

She won 2 Emmys for Lead Actress in 1974, for "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman." The year before she was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar for the movie "Sounder."

Tyson started her career as a model in NYC. She was on the covers of Ebony, Jet, Harper's Bazaar and Vogue. Still, her mom was none too pleased, telling her she couldn't live in the family house if she pursued entertainment. Her mom didn't speak to her for several years.

Younger audiences would know Cicely from "The Help" and "Fried Green Tomatoes."

She also made her mark on Broadway and won a Tony for Best Actress in a Play in 2013's "The Trip to Bountiful." That made her the oldest recipient ever of a Best Actress Tony.

President Obama bestowed a Presidential Medal of Freedom award to Tyson in 2016, saying, "Cicely made a conscious decision not just to say lines, but to speak out. Cicely's convictions and grace have helped for us to see the dignity of every beautiful member of the American family -- and she's just gorgeous."

Earlier in her career, Cicely starred in a play called "The Blacks." It was an off-Broadway play in the '60s and some of her co-stars were Maya Angelou, James Earl Jones and Louis Gossett Jr.

Cicely was 96.

Stassi Schroeder is actually admitting she was a Karen years before it became a thing ... at least that's how she now views her infamous bitching about the #OscarsSoWhite campaign.

The ex-"Vanderpump Rules" star made the self-assessment while on the 'Tamron Hall Show' ... saying her 2017 comment on her "Straight Up with Stassi" podcast was insensitive.

A little back story ... long before she was fired over racist behavior, Stassi complained saying, “I’m like, really sick of everyone making everything about race. I’m kind of over it … everyone giving their impassioned speeches about race and all of that stuff, I’m like, ‘why is it always just about African Americans?’"

Check out the interview ... Stassi says the comment itself is something she's been wanting to talk about for some time. She says over the last few months she's learned so much about Black history and the obstacles they face as a community every day. Suffice to say ... Stassi is now embarrassed about having that mentality and putting it out there.

It was so bad, Stassi recognizes, that she labeled herself a 'Karen.'

Stassi also addressed her firing from the Bravo show. Stassi says she wonders if people think she's a racist when she goes out grocery shopping or running other errands. She told Tamron, "I've never felt like I was a racist. I don't have hate in my heart, but I recognize I wasn't anti-racist. That's something I've been learning throughout all of this."

Hans Zimmer, one of the most famous film composers, has filed for divorce ... TMZ has learned.

The German-born composer, who won an Oscar for his 'Lion King' score, filed docs Friday in L.A. Superior Court to divorce from Suzanne Zimmer ... according to court records.

Suzanne is Hans' second wife. He was previously married to Vicki Carolin. They divorced in 1992. He started seeing Suzanne shortly thereafter. Hans has an adult daughter, Zoe, with Vicki and 4 kids with Suzanne, but only 2 are minors.

Hans is the guy whose name you hear almost annually come Oscar night. He's been nominated for 11 Academy Awards. He won Best Original Score for Disney's 1994 hit animated film.

Mark Ruffalo is confirming a hot rumor on the heels of "Parasite" winning big at the Oscars -- telling us he'd be honored to join the cast of an American TV version.

We got Mark Monday afternoon at LAX ... shortly after news broke that he was being eyed by HBO to be the lead star of a "Parasite" limited TV series that's in the works. You gotta see Mark's reaction to the Collider report ... 'cause the guy's super amped.

It sounds like he's all but assuring us of his involvement, but he doesn't make the leap to say he's officially on board. He definitely wanted us to know he likes the movie and loves the fact "Parasite" won the way it did ... and wouldn't say no if someone came asking.

That's called playing it coy ... in the biz.

Now, for those who might be rolling their eyes at this idea of taking a Korean flick and reshaping it for American audiences ... settle down. The OG director, Bong Joon-ho, is reportedly still involved, working alongside fellow Oscar-winning director Adam McKay.

So, in other words ... this thing has Joon-ho's blessing, and just as importantly ... he'll be getting paid.

"Parasite" director Bong Joon-ho is a man of his word -- or so it appears after we caught the Oscars' biggest winner partying deep into the night.

The entire "Parasite" cast was still feeling it right around 2 AM Monday when we saw them rolling out of SoHo House in West Hollywood. Joon-ho's masterpiece earned 4 Academy Awards, out of 6 nominations, Sunday night.

After accepting the Best Director trophy, he vowed to "drink until the morning" as he walked off stage ... thinking it was time to start the celebration. Of course, he wasn't done yet ... since he was back a few minutes later to win Best Picture.

Still, based on their mood at closing time, we're guessing Joon-ho and co. kept that drinking promise. Although, we can't say for sure -- admittedly, our camera guy should've utilized their translator more.

However, the film's stars and the director were posing with random strangers, and their Oscars. Kang-ho Song -- the Kim family dad, if you've seen it (and you should) -- looked particularly festive as he happily took pics with fans.

They all loaded into 2 Sprinter vans with a tight grip on their Oscars. Sure, they could've gone back to their hotel rooms after this ... but watch the clip. We're betting they emptied their mini-bars.

To the winner go the spoils!

The Oscars might have had surprise winners, but it's no surprise that everyone -- win or lose -- is still in the mood to party the night away at the huge after-parties.

Netflix scored the most Oscar noms for a studio this year with 20, and celebrated 2 victories at the San Vicente Bungalows in WeHo. Laura Dern, who won Best Supporting Actress for "Marriage Story," attended and was joined by a couple other Netflix movie big shots ... Martin Scorsese and Robert DeNiro. Marty came away empty-handed for directing "The Irishman."

Jennifer Aniston was also there, no nominations, but she's Jen ... and that's enough.

Meanwhile, Jessica Alba, Sofia Vergara, Scarlett Johansson and Donatella Versace were among the attendees packing into Vanity Fair's shindig at the Wallis Annenberg Center in Bev Hills.

But, Jay-Z and Beyonce's after-party at the famed Chateau Marmont might take the prize for the most celebs -- like Kourtney Kardashian leaving little to the imagination with serious sideboob in her sparkly dress.

Brad Pitt just won his first acting Oscar ever, and his acceptance speech -- not to mention the trajectory of his life -- has truly proven good guys win in the end.

BP was named Sunday as the Best Supporting Actor for his role in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." When he took the mic ... he touched on politics, his kids and Hollywood in general, making sure to acknowledge the little people -- like stuntmen and women.

BTW, Brad plays a stuntman in Quentin Tarantino's flick. So good on him for the shout-out.

When it comes to politics, Brad cracked that he only had 45 seconds up there ... which is 45 seconds more than the U.S. Senate gave to John Bolton to testify in Trump's impeachment trial. Of course, DT was acquitted of wrongdoing last week. No witnesses testified.

He also made sure to mention his costar, Leonardo DiCaprio, in his speech ... saying he'd be happy to ride his coattails to success anytime. Brad also dedicated the win to his kids ... something he didn't do during his big Globes win, but for good reason.

All in all though, the speech and the win is emblematic of the idea that, really, you can't put a label on someone over a moment in time. Brad's been through a lot over the past several years -- including a divorce, getting sober and reclaiming his clout professionally.

With this, he's managed to conquer all three ... and couldn't look better doing it. Congrats, bud. You've come a long way!

It's Oscars night, and the stars have started to arrive looking like a million bucks and then some ... with a wide palette of fashion choices that should please everyone.

Some of the stars who've shown up so far to the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles ... Laura Dern, Bong Joon-ho, Harvey Keitel, Mindy Kaling, Regina King, Sigourney Weaver, Mario Lopez, Zazie Beetz, Dean-Charles Chapman, George MacKay, John Cho, Diane Warren, Blac Chyna, Erin Lim, Billy Porter, America Ferrera, Chrissy Metz, Idina Menzel, Kelly Ripa and more.

Spike Lee showed up as well, rocking a purple and gold suit with the number 2-4 emblazoned across his collar to honor Kobe. Spike's a big Knicks fan ... so it's a big deal.

Sam Mendes will be THE big winner at the Academy Awards -- at least that's what an ad that ran for a play he's directing wanted folks to think ... before it was called a mistake.

Here's the deal ... Mendes is signed on to direct a play called "The Lehman Trilogy," which hits Broadway in about a month from now. 'Lehman' already has got its own Instagram page, and on Sunday ... the account ran an ad calling Mendes the winner of Best Picture and Best Director for his "one-shot" war flick, "1917," which has gotten tons of love this award season.

FYI ... the Oscars haven't started yet, and the winners certainly haven't been made public. At least it appears they haven't, anyway.

The ad -- which was active on IG for at least a few hours -- read in part ... "From Sam Mendes, winner of the Academy Award for Best Director and Best Picture for his WWI epic '1917,' THE LEHMAN TRILOGY opens on Broadway March 26. Previews begin March 7."

Now, we talked to a spokesman for the 'Lehman' play, and a rep tells us the whole thing was a mistake, and that the ad is being taken down ASAP. We're told nobody at 'Lehman' knows the results, and they're simply hoping for Sam to win big.

Reading between the lines ... it appears somebody on the social team prepped an ad in anticipation of these results, and got ahead of themselves in running it prematurely.

We've reached out to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. So far, no word back.

Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth had a short marriage and a rough divorce, so it had to be awkward for them to land at the same pre-Oscar bash.

Miley and Liam hit up the WME party Friday night in Bev Hills. There are no pics of them together, but there's little doubt each knew the other was there.

Tons of celebs showed up ... Jason Momoa, Usher, Miguel, Michael B. Jordan, Jonah Hill and Rami Malek.

Here's the thing. Miley and Liam are actually still hubby and wife. The divorce doesn't become final until Feb. 22nd.

We don't know who they brought as their plus 1s. No vid or photos of Miley's BF Cody Simpson or Liam's girlfriend, Gabriella Brooks.

The guy who made the foreign flick that's the talk of the town doesn't care if it wins big on Sunday -- he's tired of all the hubbub ... and just wants to get behind a camera again.

We got director Bong Joon Ho at LAX over a one-month time span, during which his Korean film, "Parasite," has been snowballing in popularity and positioning itself as a legit favorite in the Oscar race ... even for the top prize of Best Picture, which would be a huge deal.

You wouldn't know the importance though by the way Bong talked Tuesday about his chances at the Academy Awards. Dude seems like he's gassed from all the press he's been having to do ... not to mention all the other award shows where he's been killing it.

Just a month ago in January, he was just as humble with us ... saying he's not sure if "Parasite" will be a game-changer in helping foreign films break out with mainstream American audiences, but if it does ... he says it'll be incremental. A bit modest if you ask us.

Fact is ... "Parasite" is actually a fantastic movie, and if it wins BP on Sunday, it would truly open the door for other international projects to crossover and have widespread appeal.

Kevin Hart kicked off what seems to be a new tradition for the Oscars -- the show will go on without a host yet again this year ... but the guy isn't feeling salty about it one bit.

The actor was leaving Bootsy Bellows early Sunday morning in West Hollywood, where we asked how he felt about the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences opting to go without a main tour guide through the ceremony ... which they did last year as well.

That move, of course, was on the heels of Kevin stepping down as the once-announced host after an immense amount of pressure when old homophobic tweets of his surfaced.

Fast-forward to today, and the guy tells us it's all love between him and the Academy. KH tells us he loves the Oscars, and there's no feeling about them pivoting away from tapping a single host after the catastrophe they went through with him.

Bradley Whitford is calling out Stephen King for his color-blind approach to Oscar voting, saying it's ignorant and underestimates one HUGE advantage they both have: WHITE.

We talked to the 'West Wing' vet Wednesday at LAX about King's controversial tweet, reacting to movie fans and critics pissed about this year's Oscar nominees lacking diversity. In a nuthsell, King, who voted on the nominees, said he was only judging on quality ... not diversity.

Brad didn't hesitate to challenge the legendary author, telling us King should consider the fact not everyone is afforded the same opportunities in Hollywood 'cause it matters. He didn't use the phrase, but read between the lines ... he's talking about white privilege.

Tyler Perry says the Oscars royally screwed up by NOT nominating Jennifer Lopez or Awkwafina ... and he's visibly pissed off about it.

We got Tyler Monday outside leaving NBC studios in NYC. All we asked was how he's feeling, and he immediately told us, "I'm upset, man" ... then started unloading on the Academy.

Tyler says it's crazy J Lo didn't earn a nom for Best Supporting Actress for her role in "Hustlers." Remember, she already earned Golden Globe and SAG nominations for the role as a conniving stripper. The Academy wasn't impressed.