Awards / Awards Shows

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.

Brad Pitt's string of hilarious acceptance speeches rolled on across the pond for the BAFTA Awards where he brought up Prince Harry and Megxit ... in front of Prince William.

BP didn't make it to the ceremony Sunday night in London, so his costar, Margot Robbie, accepted his BAFTA (it's like the British Oscars) for Best Supporting Actor, and read the speech he'd written.

Margot said, speaking as Brad, "I'm gonna name this Harry, 'cause (Brad) is really excited about bringing it back to the States with him. His words, not mine. Thanks!"

The line killed ... most people seemed to laugh, and then the camera cut to Prince William and Kate Middleton in the front row. They clapped and smiled, appropriately, but watch ... they clearly knew they were on camera. BTW, Will is the President of BAFTA ... so it's kinda his show.

Of course, it's no surprise Brad went for a timely punchline in front of an audience. He's been on a comedy tour of sorts these past few weeks, joking about his single status.

Looks like that material got a bit stale, and he tried something new and decidedly British.

While the NFL world goes crazy deciding if Eli Manning belongs in Canton, the retired QB ain't stressin' AT ALL ... so says his famous dad.

We spoke to Archie Manning outside of Prime 112 steakhouse in Miami where he had just dined with his sons, Eli and Peyton.

It's obvious Archie believes his son belongs in the Hall of Fame, but we wanted to know if Archie is bothered by people like Deion Sanders who says he just ain't worthy.

"I don't think it bothers him at all," Archie said ... "He's fine. Very content."

"Eli's just finished up a long career ... [he's] looking forward to doing some things with his family."

Eli has a pretty good resume -- 2 Super Bowl rings and 2 Super Bowl MVPs in his 16-year career. He started 210 consecutive games over 13 seasons, the 3rd longest streak in NFL history.

As for the NY Giants, Archie still has mad love for the G-Men ... praising the organization, the new coach and the QB who took Eli's job.

"[Daniel Jones is] a great young man," Archie raved ... while predicting playoffs for NY in the near future.

It was a monumental night for Billie Eilish and it's pretty obvious everyone was ready to continue the party with her after she got the final Grammy of the night.

Billie and scores of other music stars on Sunday night hit up Grammy after-parties scattered all over L.A. She showed up to Universal Music Group's party at Rolling Greens Nursery in L.A. The 18-year-old singer hauled in 5 Grammys ... including Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Best New Artist.

Billie was dressed for her big moment -- rocking Gucci from head-to-toe. Lewis Capaldi joined her at that party too. His "Someone You Love" was nominated for Song of the Year.

Another huge bash went down for Republic Records' party at 1 Hotel in WeHo. Channing Tatum and Jessie J showed up for that shindig.

Demi Lovato made an emotional return to music in a performance that brought tears to the singer's eyes and the audience members to their feet.

Demi premiered her new single "Anyone" Sunday night at The Grammy Awards. Lovato needed to restart the song as she got choked up during her first attempt. She was then able to power through the performance to a standing ovation.

TMZ broke the story ... Demi wrote "Anyone" just 4 days before her overdose and hospitalization back in 2018. The song's lyrics are powerful and mention how Demi was in a tough state, reaching out for help ... but couldn't get it.

Sources close to Demi tell us the single is just the tip of the iceberg for her plans in 2020. We're told an entire album is on the way, and there have also been talks for a tour.

Nipsey Hussle was honored at the Grammys by some of music's biggest stars ... a tribute that also included a shout-out to Kobe Bryant.

DJ Khaled, John Legend, YG and others took the stage Sunday to remember the rapper with an emotional performance. YG, who was arrested Friday in L.A. made his first public performance since the incident ... but did not make any mention of what happened.

At the end of the tribute, a graphic of both Kobe and Nipsey was projected on the stage and DJ Khaled took the mic to remember Kobe.

TMZ broke the story ... Kobe, his 13-year-old daughter and 7 other people were killed in a helicopter crash Sunday in L.A. Bad weather conditions are a possible cause of the crash. The impact of his death has been felt across the world ... and Grammy host Alicia Keys took a moment to honor Kobe at the beginning of the show.

It's Grammy day, and before Hollywood accepts their golden gramophones ... they wanted to stunt a little bit on the way in. And stunt they certainly did.

The best in the music biz were all on hand Sunday at the STAPLES Center, where stars like Lizzo, Rick Ross, Billie Eilish, Finneas O'Connell, Ozzy Osbourne, Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, Skrillex, Ariana Grande, Lil Nas X, Billy Ray Cyrus, Iggy Pop, YBN Cordae, Sophie Turner, Joe Jonas, Nick Jonas, Priyanka Chopra, Billy Porter, Chris Brown and more.

A lot of the outfits were safe -- standard award show garb -- but others were out there. Among the more non-conventional/political looks ... Joy Villas "Trump 2020" dress, Megan Pormer's "No War 💖 Iran" gown and Ricky Rebel's "Impeach This" ass cheek statement.

If you thought their entrance was something, get a load of how they used their fashion behind the scenes. Definitely more movement than the usual posing on the way in.

Of course, Sunday's proceedings come right on the heels of the tragic passing of Kobe Bryant ... and it's being held at the same place he played for years, no less.

A bunch of fans have gathered outside of STAPLES and created makeshift memorials for him. Definitely a solemn day in the sports world and beyond, but the Grammys must go on.

Ne-Yo is feeling a little less proud of the Grammys he believed were well-earned -- because much as it pains him, he admits the recent claims of vote-rigging are entirely possible.

We got the R&B superstar at LAX and with this year's award show -- the 62nd annual -- about to go down, we had to ask about the new controversy sparked by ousted Recording Academy president and CEO Deborah Dugan.

If ya missed it, she blew the whistle on what she claims is a deeply broken process of selecting Grammy winners. In a formal complaint, she claimed it's all rigged and accused Recording Academy committee members of throwing bones to certain artists due to personal or business relationships.

Ne-Yo didn't pull punches and told us exactly why it seems plausible to him. That said, he made it clear he hopes there were NO shady dealings behind his 3 Grammys.

Ne-Yo won two Grammys for his song "Miss Independent," and another for his 2008 album, "Because of You."

Aerosmith got its award Friday night, and the acceptance speech was, well, awkward, because the band's wayward drummer was right there on stage with the boys, even though he wasn't allowed to play with them.

Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton and Brad Whitford joined temporarily ousted drummer Joey Kramer on stage Friday night as they accepted the honor from MusiCares at an event at the L.A. Convention Center.

If you've been following our stories this week, you know Joey had temporarily taken a leave of absence from the group for personal reasons. When he said he was ready to come back, his bandmates made him audition, and they say he lacked energy so he couldn't play the gig.

Joey went to court to get an order forcing the band to let him play, but the judge shot him down.

Aerosmith, which is celebrating its 50th year, performed "Big Ten Inch," "Dream On" and "Sweet Emotion" ... and Joey was nowhere to be seen because he left the stage.

The group's entertainment lawyer, Dina LaPolt, put it best when she introduced the band ... "They are brothers. They refer to each other as brothers and they even fight like brothers."

DaBaby threw a pretty spectacular Grammy nomination bash Friday, and tons of music stars showed up.

The party went down at a house in Bev Hills, and the crowd included Casanova, YFN Lucci, Scott Storch, along with record execs Steve Lobel and AE. The party started at 3 PM and wrapped up at around 8.

DaBaby, who's nominated for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance for his hit, "Suge," served up some ham, cheese and veggies. He had lots of Hennessey and Ciroc to wash it down.

As for the tunes ... well, DaBaby played lots of ... DaBaby.

"Vanderpump Rules" stars Lala Kent and Randall Emmett can wear it like a badge of honor now, 'cause the way they got subtly dissed by Meryl Streep ... turned out to be pretty epic.

Lala and her fiance were on "TMZ Live" Wednesday and we asked them about rubbing elbows with Meryl Sunday night at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. If ya missed it, Lala was giddy about getting seated near Meryl and Adam Driver inside the Shrine Auditorium.

Her social media totally blew up when viewers saw her proximity to Queen Meryl -- but Lala and Randall told us things went a little south when they tried to get up close and personal.

You gotta see them describe the moment Randall tried to make an introduction. Not every day your moment gets hijacked by the likes of Robert De Niro!!!

Turns out producing "The Irishman" -- as Randall did -- is a lot easier than producing a pic with Meryl.

The good news ... Lala and Randall still got their photo op, even though it was just in the background of Iain Armitage's pic with Meryl.

Lala and Randall are hoping they get a second shot with their new podcast, "Give Them Lala ... With Randall." They have a few Oscar winners on their wish list of guests.

Watch the clip to see Lala prove she's ready for an Al Pacino sit-down!

Joaquin Phoenix passed on the SAG Awards after-parties, and instead headed to a slaughterhouse ... where he comforted trucks full of pigs headed to their final demise.

Joaquin made the surprise appearance Sunday night not long after winning Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a leading role for "Joker." He made the drive from the Shrine Auditorium to the Farmer John Packing Co. ... less than 5 miles away in L.A.

There, Joaquin joined dozens of protesters who congregate there twice a week. They call their demonstrations pig vigils. They've been happening every Wednesday and Sunday night since at least 2017.

Reportedly, the trailers stop for 2 minutes -- with Farmer John's blessing -- so activists can comfort the pigs and give them water. More than 7,000 pigs are butchered every day inside Farmer John.

Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston are giving the people what they want ... finally!!!

The famous exes not only came face-to-face Sunday night at the Screen Actors Guild awards -- but they had a warm and loving embrace in front of all the cameras. Can we get an AMEN?!

Although both have been vocal about their friendship in recent years, we haven't seen this kind of PDA since they split in 2005.

A few weeks ago at the Golden Globes they had a near-miss on the red carpet, but Brad said he'd run into her at some point because "she's a good friend." Later that night they both attended the same after party and chatted for a while, but there were no photos or video of that tete-a-tete.

As it turns out, the SAGs were a perfect setting for this reunion, since they were both big winners. Jen picked up the Best Actress in a Drama Series award, just moments after Brad took home the Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture award.

During his acceptance speech, Brad joked about his role in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" being a real stretch for him -- "A guy who gets high, takes his shirt off and doesn't get on with his wife." You have to watch for Jen's reaction to that punchline.

As for her speech -- not that we need to add more "awww" to the moment, but -- just check out Brad watching Jen accept. JUST WATCH HIM! Oy, that smile.

Hollywood is coming to work for a special occasion this weekend -- it's the 2020 SAG Awards, and the union's biggest members showed up ready to represent.

Tons of stars were dressed to the nines Sunday ahead of the award show -- where their own peers in SAG-AFTRA vote on who put on the best performances this year on both film and television. It's honestly one of the purest award shows -- actors judging actors.

Some celebs who've shown up so far ... John Bradley, Jane Seymour, Gaten Matarazzo, Nikki Novak, Kathryn Newton, Keltie Knight, Dacre Montgomery, Chloe Coleman, Liv Pollock, Jason Winston George, Zuri Hall, Scott Evans, James Tupper, Shireen Jiwan, Priah Ferguson, Sibley Scoles, Courtney B. Vance, Renee Bargh, Erin Lim, Cary Elwes and more.

It's gonna be a big night for sure -- Robert De Niro's receiving a lifetime achievement award, which will be given to him by Leonardo DiCaprio. There's also gonna be a number of presenters ... everyone from Tom Hanks to Lupita Nyong'o will be up there.

By the way, the acting guild was just as strong behind the scenes too. Stars were hugging and kissing each other including Margot Robbie, Julia Butters, Danai Gurira, Meryl Streep and others.

Congressman Tim Ryan is firing back at haters who say Barack and Michelle Obama got lucky with their first Oscar nomination ... he says Kobe Bryant and Tom Brady went through the same process before folks finally woke up to their greatness.

We got the Ohio Rep. on Capitol Hill Wednesday and our guy asked if the Obama's were more lucky than good in getting their first film nominated for an Oscar.

The Obama's production company is behind "American Factory," a Netflix documentary that takes a deep dive into post-industrial Ohio, where a Chinese billionaire opens a new factory in the husk of an abandoned General Motors plant and hires 2,000 blue-collar Americans.