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| checked into Jeff Klein's Sunset Tower Hotel still exhausted from last weekend's oh-so-grand
birthday extravaganza thrown by fun loving billionaire Stephen Schwarzman in Palm
Beach—and headed straight to Charles Finch's photo exhibition, "The Art of Behind the
Scenes," to see rare candid on-set photos of Audrey Hepburn, Brigitte Bardot, Grace Kelly and
Ava Gardner.
Oscar balloting had closed an hour earlier, and IndieWire's Oscar blogger Anne Thompson
announced that a female friend had voted for all the diverse and minority nominees. This first
hint of things to come didn’t register as a bell ringer for best picture. Spotted: Jean Pigozzi,
Brett Ratner and Paul Haggis.
Back at The Sunset Tower Bar, diminutive maitre d' Dmitri Dimitrov slid up to me, cupped his
hands in prayer and whispered, "Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper are in the corner booth with
Warner Bros. Sue Kroll." They were talking about their remake of "A Star is Born" going into
production within the month.
At the next table was Ryan Murphy, creator of the multi-award winning FX mini-series "The
People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” eating with his muse Sarah Paulson, who
won countless awards for portraying Marcia Clark. | joked that the Oscar nominated
documentary "O.J.: Made in America" from ESPN would win because voters thought both films
are the same.
Wednesday, February 22nd
| met Adam Lindemann and museum director Michael Govan at LACMA’s The Inner Eye:
Vision and Transcendence in African Art. Michael and | discussed the struggle to diversify the
Academy. He told me that at LACMA he’d hired women, African American and Latino curators
years before.
Vanity Fair Editor-in-Chief Graydon Carter and Barneys hosted a private dinner for "La La
Land" at the Chateau Marmont. Graydon always tries to entertain the winning film. Drinks
around the pool were followed by a seated dinner for fifty in a bungalow. Emma Stone brought
her mother. Handsome hotelier Andre Balazs darts around. Ryan Gosling stayed home with
his girlfriend Eva Mendes and their two baby girls. Emma talked about her next film "Battle of
the Sexes." She plays Billie Jean King opposite Steve Carell, an excellent tennis player in real
life, as Bobby Riggs.
Damien Chazelle came late from a dinner for the nominated directors. The Academy hosts a
series of secret dinners during Oscar week for key nominees to keep them away from
sponsors who profit from their celebrity. They also want to protect their own sponsor, ABC-TV,
with exclusivity and audience surprise.
Thursday, February 23rd
Larry Gagosian's annual Oscar-week art opening is always a hot ticket. Serious collectors
blended in unnoticed among the mere lookers and pretty gallerists quietly pointing out one
glorious Joe Bradley painting after another. Each costs a cool million and between 6:00pm and
8:00pm they are all sold. Buyers and Larry's close friends then migrate down the block to Mr.
Chow. Elton John and David Furnish, Jonah Hill, Dakota Johnson, Sharon Stone,
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