Well, the Academy Awards may be over (and perhaps not a moment too soon; preliminary Nielsen ratings for Sunday’s ceremony were 14 percent lower than the least-watched ceremony ever — in 2003. But that only means it’s time for the real highlight of Oscar night — shameful, hungover, post-Oscars gossip:
• The most intriguing tidbit of the night comes from People, which reports Sean Penn (who has been separated from Robin Wright Penn for less than two months) popped up with model Petra Nemcova at the Elton John AIDS Foundation party. Nemcova told People that she and the actor “are friends,” and that Penn is an adviser to her charity, but the mag says they’ve been spotted together around town.
• Turns out we weren’t the only ones wondering why the late Brad Renfro didn’t merit a mention during the Oscars’ In Memoriam segment. Radar Online even asked why the Apt Pupil star got the shaft. “Unfortunately, we can’t fit everyone in,” a spokesperson told Radar, adding that Renfro died too late to make the cut. But wait ... didn’t Renfro die a week before Heath Ledger, who made the cut? Radar suspects the omission had more to do with the fact that Renfro died from a heroin overdose, as opposed to Ledger’s OD from prescription pills. “There’s no specific reason,” the spokesperson reiterated. “Unfortunately, he was edited out.” Also edited out, apparently: Charles Nelson Reilly, Joey Bishop and Marcel Marceau.
• What, exactly, was the deal with Gary Busey getting all Gary Busey with Ryan Seacrest and Jennifer Garner on the red carpet? Busey himself called Seacrest’s radio show Monday morning to explain. “I just wanted to pay you a compliment,” he said. “I didn’t know you were in the middle of an interview, and I was just moving through there.” What was that compliment, exactly? “You are to me, when you’re working, an innocent champion of honesty,” Busey told Seacrest. “Your heart has a way to embrace the truth in your delivery, without looking like you’re reading from a script.” Okay then. Moving right along.
• The most questionable faux paw of the 2008 Oscars (and that includes the horrible pun we just made) might have been Sharon Stone’s decision to wear a broach made from a rat’s paw to the Elton John party. PETA, of course, didn’t like the ratly accoutrement, stating: “Her accessories these days are as dead as her career.” Um ... snap? Here's a pic:
• Juno scribe Diablo Cody got all (insert hipster-gibberish word for “angry” here) over allegations that she was too cool for shoes — namely Stuart Weitzman’s million-dollar, diamond-encrusted heels. Cody (at right, with Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead director Edgar Wright) took to her MySpace blog to explain why she turned down the chance to wear diamonds on the straps of her shoes: “I must have somehow missed the part where my shoes cost a MILLION F------ DOLLARS and my 'choice’ of footwear would be publicized nationwide,” she typed. “I honestly thought they were just sparkly shoes. ... I’m not Nancy Rockman, Expert Gemologist.” To summarize: Diablo Cody doesn’t hate diamond shoes. You may now exhale.
• And finally, here’s the obligatory review of Jon Stewart’s performance as Oscar host, in seven words or less: “frisky,” (New Orleans Times-Picayune) “dependable,” (Boston Globe), “fair-to-middling,” (Washington Post) and “mostly winning” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). Confused? Don’t worry, these post-awards-show host reviews are all pointless anyway.
(Photos; Penn/Nemcova, AP; the rest, Getty Images)
Is there no love left in the world? Liv Tyler and her rocker hubby Royston Langdon (a rocker's name if we ever heard one) are getting separated, People says.
