Behind the scenes at the Oscars, A-listers drank, dined, cried, and photobombed, while
social media went wild trying to be part of the action.
Grab yourself a turkey sandwich or a vegan pizza it's time for the ultimate spill of
the tea.
Here's what you didn't see on TV at the 2020 Oscars.
The Oscars weren't quite the all-vegan affair that the Golden Globes was, but the Academy
still put a heavy emphasis on plant-based food.
Joaquin Phoenix certainly tried his best, between successfully convincing Hollywood
agency WME to ditch meat at its pre-Oscars bash, according to Page Six, and his acceptance
speech, which railed against the evils of cow milk.
This time around, the Oscars went 70 percent vegan for their official after party.
According to E! News, the Governors Ball is historically catered by Wolfgang Puck, who
crafted a menu in partnership with 11 local farms around Southern California.
Refinery29 reports that the menu boasted more than 40 vegan and vegetarian offerings among
the limited fish and meat options.
This included eggplant caponata on grilled crostini, winter spice French toast, sweet
potato tempura, and compressed watermelon with housemade cashew ricotta.
"I made a Korean-style pizza with stir-fried vegetables, ginger, garlic, green onions,
and a little soy glaze.
And it tastes delicious."
Tiffany Haddish famously and hilariously packed an emergency bag of chicken to the Met Gala
in 2019, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood breakout star Julia Butters followed in her
footsteps.
Butters packed her own turkey sandwich for the awards show, with seemingly no regard
for the Academy's vegan-slanted menu.
Why?
Life's too short to eat bad food.
According to Los Angeles Times reporter Amy Kaufman, Butters admitted that she packed
the sandwich in her $2,495 Marzook purse because she wasn't a big fan of the food there.
"Sometimes either they don't have food or I don't care for the food."
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood ended up winning just two awards, though it had 10 nominations.
And while Butters didn't receive a single nod for her breakout role in the film, it's
clearly only a matter of time.
The 10-year-old star is undeniably bold, which was apparent from her Variety interview back
in July 2019, when she unabashadley admitted that she didn't know Brad Pitt for anything
other than being handsome.
Hopefully, that's changed since his best supporting actor win, but you can't fault a girl for
speaking her mind.
Well that would've been pretty awkward.
Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth, who in August of 2019 ended their decade-long relationship
after less than a year of marriage, allegedly hit up the same pre-Oscars party.
Is there anything worse than running into your ex when you're just trying to have a
good time?
What about running into your ex while your divorce is finalized but still pending?
That's a real-life Marriage Story.
According to TMZ, the pair both showed up to the WME party on Friday night.
At least Cyrus could stress-eat the all-vegan menu thanks to Joaquin Phoenix, but she apparently
didn't need to.
A source told People that the exes brushing elbows was no really big deal, and the pair
allegedly didn't even speak.
The source said:
"The party was packed, and it wasn't awkward for Miley that Liam was there.
She was with her parents and friends."
The source added that Cyrus has "no regrets" and is focused on her relationship with Cody
Simpson.
As for Liam, he's reportedly dating Gabrielle Brooks, but if he still needs a shoulder to
cry on, there are probably plenty of fans who are very available.
Unless you were squinting or using advanced, CSI-level zoom-and-enhance technology, it
was probably pretty hard to catch the true meaning of Natalie Portman's red carpet look
on television.
The Black Swan star wore a stunning Dior gown with a floor-length cape and gold detailing,
but from far away, all you could see was the sparkle.
Up close, however, it was clear Portman came to the Oscars to give the Academy a middle
finger of sorts.
In a Twitter video shared by Los Angeles Times reporter Amy Kaufman, Portman explained how
the gold detailing on the left lapel of her cape spelled out the names of female directors
who were snubbed by the Academy, despite their critical acclaim.
Not a single woman was nominated for best director this time around, including Greta
Gerwig, whose adaptation of Little Women was nominated for Best Picture.
Portman said:
"I wanted to recognize the women who were not recognized for their incredible work this
year in my subtle way."
America Ferrera and her baby bump hit the red carpet with a powerful message to mark
the end of the How to Train Your Dragon franchise.
The only thing more powerful than a pregnant woman on the red carpet is a pregnant warrior
on the red carpet, and Ferrera embodied the warriors of her heritage with a custom made
Jennifer Behr headband.
"And this headband was is actually inspired by the headbands that the indigenous Lencan
warriors in Honduras wore."
As it turns out, this type of strength has been coursing through the actress' veins long
before she ever voiced Astrid.
In an Instagram post, Ferrera elaborated on how she was paying homage to her ancestors
at the Academy Awards.
The star's halo-style headband served as a nod to their traditional headwear, which she
showed in a side-by-side comparison.
"#Oscars for the final farewell to 12 years of How to Train Your Dragon & my Berkian Warrior
Queen Astrid.
Tonight, I bring my own warrior ancestors with me, the indigenous Lenca tribe of Honduras."
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, which was nominated for best animated film,
ultimately lost to Toy Story 4.
But just because you lose the battle doesn't mean you've lost the war.
Apparently Shia LaBoeuf can't really go 15 minutes without causing controversy, whether
he's yelling in front of a green screen or getting arrested on camera.
It seems like his mere existence is always at full volume.
This may even include his personal odor, if he really didn't shower for weeks while filming
director David Ayer's 2014 war film Fury like the tabloids claimed.
All that said, he certainly appeared to be very well-groomed at the 2020 Academy Awards,
where he managed to cause an outright Twitter frenzy.
LaBoeuf attended the awards ceremony with Zack Gottsagen, his co-star from The Peanut
Butter Falcon and his newfound BFF.
E! News even spotted the pair holding hands on the red carpet.
Later, they both presented the award for Best Live-Action Short, and according to The Hollywood
Reporter, Gottsagen became the first-ever person with Down syndrome to present at the
Academy Awards.
It was a monumental moment, even if Gottsagen struggled to read his prompts, but LaBoeuf
just had to make a face.
It happens to the best of us.
According to the New York Post, Twitter was immediately flooded with users accusing LaBoeuf
of snickering at his co-star, with some claiming LaBeouf was "cancelled."
Though the face was indeed a face, it's pretty unlikely there was any malicious intent.
That's because we know what the haters must have missed; in August 2019, LaBeouf credited
Gottsagen for his newfound sobriety.
Most likely he was just enjoying watching his friend make history.
"Well, he softened me.
He's magnetic, you know?
We became like brothers quite quick.
There's no, like, lead time to his love.
It's just instant."
Joaquin Phoenix's night lived up to all expectations.
Since the acting nominations were announced, the Joker star was a frontrunner for the Best
Actor Oscar, and he did ultimately take home the top prize.
He boldly used his acceptance speech to take a stand against injustice across the board
from racism, sexism, and cancel culture to animal and indigenous rights.
He only appeared to crack once during the emotional speech, but the star reportedly
got even more weepy backstage after the cameras stopped rolling.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Phoenix broke down in tears as Oscars staff helped
him "find a moment of quiet" before heading to the media circus awaiting him and the other
winners.
Once he got there, he was still all welled up, so Jane Fonda comforted him with, quote,
"a hand on his cheek."
Moments later, Phoenix looked at his Oscar and questioned whether or not he deserved
it.
He reportedly said,
"Now, whose is this?"
Julianne Moore walked a red carpet on Oscars night.
It just wasn't the red carpet, and there was no wardrobe mishap like in 2015, when she
couldn't get her dress off to use the bathroom, because she was wearing a comfy winter coat.
The Academy Award winner didn't attend the actual awards show, but she did cheer on her
peers from the comfort of her hometown.
In an Instagram post, the Still Alice star revealed that she was watching the ceremony
with her daughter Liv Freundlich at the iconic gay bar Julius'.
It's one of the oldest in New York City, and happens to be conveniently located steps from
the actress' massive West Village townhouse.
She wrote:
"NYC red carpet with my date @livfreundlich . Happy #oscars everybody.
I have a lot of friends nominated tonight for their exquisite work this year sending
them all love I'm watching and cheering you on!!"
In addition to shouting out all of her friends, Moore also used an Instagram Story to personally
congratulate Laura Dern, who won the award for best supporting actress for her role in
Marriage Story.
For everyone who was absolutely gutted that the dystopian CGI hellscape of Cats somehow
avoided a nomination, James Cordon and Rebel Wilson still managed to at least momentarily
transform the awards show into the Jellicle ball.
The pair appeared in full-on cat costumes while presenting the Oscar for best visual
effects.
Sam Mendes' World War I epic 1917 took home the visual effects prize, but it'd be understandable
if you forgot anything but the lengthy microphone stand bit Corden and Wilson did.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Corden had a little more fun at Cats' expense backstage
while showing off his outfit to Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph.
Rudolph reportedly thought his hat "made" the whole look, and Corden told the Oscars'
two producers, who stopped to take a photo, that they'd "need a lint roller afterwards."
The Academy Awards aren't really known for being an alcohol-fueled bash, probably because
the attendees are trying to avoid a situation like Kanye West at the 2009 MTV VMAs who could
forget when the rapper left that awards show with a decade-spanning feud and what was likely
a pretty awful hangover?
But hours-long awards shows still mean hours worth of booze, and some stars definitely
enjoy a glass or two as a treat.
According to E! News, Gal Gadot and her husband Yaron Varsano, quote, "made a beeline towards
the bar" upon entering.
Gadot grabbed popcorn while her hubby waited for the drinks.
The Wonder Woman actress later joined her fellow superhero, Captain Marvel, better known
to mortals as Brie Larson to present an award with Ripley herself, Sigourney Weaver.
Salma Hayek, Billy Porter, and Maya Rudolph were also reportedly enjoying some of the
hard stuff.
According to E! News, Hayek opted for tequila with lime, while Porter sipped on champagne.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Rudolph was spotted ditching a "small empty bottle
of tequila" in the trash backstage while saying,
"Tossy!
Go bye-bye."
For an awards show that was severely lacking in Jennifer Lawrence, there were sure a lot
of photobombs.
Clearly, everyone was having a great night, including Timothée Chalamet and Margot Robbie.
Chalamet appeared in Little Women, which received six nominations and took home the award for
best costume design.
Robbie, meanwhile, was in two Academy Award-nominated films: Bombshell and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Who cares if she technically lost out on winning the Best Supporting Actress award for her
role as Kayla Pospisil in Bombshell?
Robbie's a star, and Chalamet just couldn't help but photobomb her on the red carpet.
Variety captured a video of the Little Women actor jumping into Robbie's shot as she grabbed
his face, smiled, and then promptly pushed him away.
According to E! News, Rami Malek also got in on the photobombing action.
He apparently popped into a selfie with Charlize Theron, Salma Hayek, Regina King, Tom Hanks,
and Rita Wilson.
Let's pray to the show-biz gods that someone puts this photo online.
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