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COM AND BFANYC. = CO fo) e co) cy a YQ s <= oe fe a <= = nn fa) oO & L oe g a oa a Qo S) Qe True Detective collectively earned him Best Actor by December. The actress who really stole the show on the campaign circuit was eloquent ingénue Lupita Nyongo, who morphed into a fashion goddess. No one will forget her Best Supporting Actress acceptance speech when she said, “It doesn’t escape me for one moment that so much joy in my life is thanks ae) to so much pain in someone else’s I flew to L.A. with some indefinable eye infection that made Olympics reporter Bob Costas’ reaction to Botox look attractive. My medical calamity possibly caused by Latisse, which promotes eyelash growth, caused my eyelids to resemble red golf balls and necessitated the wearing of dark glasses. No, I did not look as cool as Anna Wintour. I managed to grope my way through Oscar week in couture Ralph Rucci gowns and furs and pretend temporary blindness was “just a new look? On this, my 30th trip to The Beverly Hills Hotel, the famous Polo Lounge had finally been renovated to look exactly like it did 30 years ago so as not to upset the regulars. Each pool cabana now had giant flat screens installed for watching CNN in the sun. Cate Blanchett and Oprah Winfrey were the hot Oscar week guests. I headed over to the Vanity Fair Social Club, with its media-friendly “WeWork Hollywood” pop-up lounge. Vanity Fair publisher Ed Menicheschi, who perfected the Midas touch for masterminding Oscar week sponsorship, greeted me. I participated in a panel discussion of Oscar prognosticators about who would win, hosted by Michael Hogan of VEcom with Anne Thompson of IndieWire, Sasha Stone of Awards Daily, Pete Hammond of Deadline, Dave Karger of Fandango, Krista Smith of Vanity Fair, and Kyle Buchanan of Vulture. If you had put fire to our feet we could not tell you who was winning Best Picture. Like a bunch of nerds all trying to impress each other, we did predict every other category correctly. The town was crawling with stars. So it wasn't shocking to find the most famous sitting in the middle of a public restaurant drinking and singing oldies by the Eagles and Neil Diamond. That was the scene at Nobu in L.A. where Bono and U2, here to perform Mandela’s theme “Ordinary Love” at the Oscars, sat drinking sake and George Clooney’s Casamigos Tequila with Clooney himself, and Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber as they all belted out songs. Steve McQueen with Bianca Stigter Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie A George left town soon after, was rumored Jennifer Lawrence to stop in London to see his new girlfriend, Oxford-educated British barrister Amal Alamuddin, and they headed to an exotic, secluded island for a much-deserved vacation. After winning the Oscar last year for producing Argo, George had a supporting role in Gravity; co-produced August: Osage County; and starred in Tomorrowland, which Disney will release in 2015. He also produced, wrote, directed, and acted in The Monuments Men. Clooney marched to Berlin, Milan, London, and Paris, successfully opening that film. With his Oscar night absence, not only did he make sure Sandra Bullock got all the credit she deserved, but my hunch is that he was also quietly proud of his good friend Brad Pitt, who produced 12 Years a Slave, Gravity's biggest competition. ies ©. oo Action central was now in the lobby of Chateau Marmont where Vanity Fair, Graydon Carter, and Benedikt Taschen _——,— a ~ ; d an Lupita Nyong‘o honored world-class photographer Annie Leibovitz for the launch of her new sumo- sized book, Annie Leibovitz. André Balazs confided that Annie pulled an all-nighter in her pajamas hanging her work. Balazs gave her free reign to install her huge iconic portraits throughout the hallways and first floor suites that were open during the party. Photographers Mario Testino and Terry Richardson browsed as Annie walked Quincy Jones on a tour of her larger-than- life exhibition. Sylvester Stallone gazed at his own portrait taken 20 years ago, his Dorian Gray Rocky face now frozen—as in Botox— not the blockbuster animated Disney winner. CEO Brad Grey’s Cassandra, Carole Bayer Sager and Lorraine Paramount wife Schwartz gave a private dinner at Cassandra's Violet Grey store on Melrose. Jack Nicholson, seated with model Erin Wasson and Eva Mendes, held court as superstar Pharrell Williams (Gn his Vivienne Westwood “Mountain” hat) and Anjelica Huston chatted HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_010718