Inside the Vanity Fair Oscar Party
The post-awards event was LA’s biggest ‘in terms of square footage, security and star wattage’
Hollywood stars queued to walk the carpet once again after hotfooting it from Sunday’s Oscars to the Vanity Fair after-party.
Hosted by the magazine’s editor-in-chief Radhika Jones, the post-awards bash was held at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, in a “built-from-scratch complex of velvet-clad bars and dance floors”, said Vanity Fair columnist Nate Freeman.
The annual event, now in its 29th year, “had competition for the weekend’s most exclusive ticket”, said Jacob Bernstein in The New York Times. But it was still Los Angeles’s biggest social event “in terms of square footage, security and star wattage”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
An ‘Old Hollywood’ soirée
“It’s pretty clear that at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party, everything, everywhere was happening. All at once,” said Freeman in Vanity Fair. “Even before the Everything Everywhere All at Once crew arrived with their seven Oscars in hand”, worlds were “colliding” at the packed event.
Nancy and Paul Pelosi “were making rounds”, Justin Bieber turned up “wearing what appeared to be a quilted blanket on his back”, and John McEnroe “jumped into the photo booth with Snap CEO Evan Spiegel and his wife, Miranda Kerr”.
British Vogue said the bustling “indoor-outdoor space” had the feel of “an Old Hollywood smoking room turned swanky soirée under the moonlight”.
Getting into the party was no small feat, with a security guard warning attendees of a half-hour wait to walk the step-and-repeat, according to The Hollywood Reporter’s Chris Gardner. When guests were asked if “‘anyone would like to bypass the red carpet and go straight into the party’”, Girls star Jemima Kirke reportedly took “responsibility of answering for everyone”, shouting “hell no”.
Walking Vanity Fair’s sapphire blue carpet, said Gardner, is “an opportunity bold-faced names don’t easily pass up”.
Winners to the front
The wait to get in apparently did not apply to Oscars winners, who began arriving at midnight.
After rolling up in a “party bus” that “blasted” Queen’s We Are The Champions, said Gardner, the Everything Everywhere All At Once gang were quickly ushered to the front of the queue. And once inside, Best Actress winner Michelle Yeoh was “perpetually flanked by a circle of selfie-seekers, photographers and well-wishers”.
Vogue reported that the duo behind the film – Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert – celebrated their Best Director win with “a martini in one hand and an Oscar in the other”.
Other Oscar nominees at the bash included Aftersun’s Paul Mescal, who held a “fully-fledged family reunion with his siblings and parents in tow”, said the magazine. Models Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner “were out in full force” too, having stepped “straight from the Versace runway to the red carpet”. And Salma Hayek and Best Actress nominee Cate Blanchett were spied “gossiping in the party’s iconic photo booth”.
The young cast of The White Lotus “huddled together over cigarettes” before being joined by Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner, said Vanity Fair’s Freeman. Billie Eilish “hit the dance floor” and Donald Glover “convened a meeting with the Haim sisters”, Este, Danielle and Alana.
Guests dined on In-N-Out burgers washed down with cocktails, a “yearly Vanity Fair Party tradition”, said NYT’s Bernstein.
But Thor: Love and Thunder star Tessa Thompson “did not get in line for In-N-Out burgers with her fellow celebrities”, said The Independent, and stunned reporters by revealing that “I’ve never had a hamburger in my life”.
A more muted affair?
This year’s party was “perhaps a bit more mellow than in previous years”, said The Hollywood Reporter’s Gardner.
NYT’s Bernstein reported that the crowd “thinned out” from around 1am. Sharon Stone, Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez “headed off to Madonna’s”, while other celebs went on to a gathering arranged by Jay-Z and Beyoncé.
Petronella Wyatt recalled in The Telegraph how having once attended “the sought-after Vanity Fair soirée”, the whole thing reminded her of “an easyJet flight to Croatia when you get stuck with a hen party that won’t stop shouting”.
When the first Academy Awards were held back in 1929, the after-party was “teeming” with “gleaming un-vile bodies”, she said. Hosted at LA’s Mayfair Hotel, the party was “wall-to-wall chic to chic”, as the stars of the day “oozed through rooms” filled with “art deco tables” that “shone with candles and sweated champagne buckets”. And in the early hours of the morning, guests “rode dodgem cars filled with prairie oysters and scrambled eggs with caviar on crystal trays”.
By contrast, she concluded, the Hollywood “glamour” of today is “nothing more than a revolting flashiness”.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Julia O'Driscoll is the engagement editor. She covers UK and world news, as well as writing lifestyle and travel features. She regularly appears on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast, and hosted The Week's short-form documentary podcast, “The Overview”. Julia was previously the content and social media editor at sustainability consultancy Eco-Age, where she interviewed prominent voices in sustainable fashion and climate movements. She has a master's in liberal arts from Bristol University, and spent a year studying at Charles University in Prague.
-
Who are undecided voters, anyway?
Talking Points They might decide the presidential election
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Wildlife populations drop a 'catastrophic' 73%
Speed Read The decline occurred between 1970 and 2020
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Arizona kicks off swing-state early voting
Speed Read The voting began with less than a month to go before the presidential election
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Movies to watch in October, from 'Joker: Folie à Deux' to 'Saturday Night'
The Week Recommends Joaquin Phoenix as Joker, a new Jason Reitman comedy and a buzzy Palme d'Or winner
By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, The Week US Published
-
The Outrun: Saoirse Ronan's finest performance?
The Week Recommends Irish actor tipped to finally take home an Oscar for her powerful portrayal
By The Week UK Published
-
'Oppenheimer' sweeps Oscars with 7 wins
speed read The film won best picture, best director (Christopher Nolan) and best actor (Cillian Murphy)
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The horror movies the Academy forgot
The Week Recommends For your consideration: five movies that should have made the cut
By David Faris Published
-
2024 Best Picture nominees back when they were books
The Week Recommends Every great movie has to start somewhere
By Scott Hocker, The Week US Published
-
2023: the year of nostalgia
the explainer There was something familiar in the air this year
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
2024 Golden Globe nominations predictions: Will Barbenheimer dominate?
In Depth Plus: Which films will be nominated in a new category honoring blockbusters?
By Brendan Morrow Published
-
Oscar nominations 2024: who is predicted to win?
In Depth Christopher Nolan's war biopic Oppenheimer dominates the Academy Award nominations
By Julia O'Driscoll, The Week UK Last updated