The Oscars

Brad Pitt just won his first acting Oscar ever, and his acceptance speech -- not to mention the trajectory of his life -- has truly proven good guys win in the end.

BP was named Sunday as the Best Supporting Actor for his role in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." When he took the mic ... he touched on politics, his kids and Hollywood in general, making sure to acknowledge the little people -- like stuntmen and women.

BTW, Brad plays a stuntman in Quentin Tarantino's flick. So good on him for the shout-out.

When it comes to politics, Brad cracked that he only had 45 seconds up there ... which is 45 seconds more than the U.S. Senate gave to John Bolton to testify in Trump's impeachment trial. Of course, DT was acquitted of wrongdoing last week. No witnesses testified.

He also made sure to mention his costar, Leonardo DiCaprio, in his speech ... saying he'd be happy to ride his coattails to success anytime. Brad also dedicated the win to his kids ... something he didn't do during his big Globes win, but for good reason.

All in all though, the speech and the win is emblematic of the idea that, really, you can't put a label on someone over a moment in time. Brad's been through a lot over the past several years -- including a divorce, getting sober and reclaiming his clout professionally.

With this, he's managed to conquer all three ... and couldn't look better doing it. Congrats, bud. You've come a long way!

It's Oscars night, and the stars have started to arrive looking like a million bucks and then some ... with a wide palette of fashion choices that should please everyone.

Some of the stars who've shown up so far to the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles ... Laura Dern, Bong Joon-ho, Harvey Keitel, Mindy Kaling, Regina King, Sigourney Weaver, Mario Lopez, Zazie Beetz, Dean-Charles Chapman, George MacKay, John Cho, Diane Warren, Blac Chyna, Erin Lim, Billy Porter, America Ferrera, Chrissy Metz, Idina Menzel, Kelly Ripa and more.

Spike Lee showed up as well, rocking a purple and gold suit with the number 2-4 emblazoned across his collar to honor Kobe. Spike's a big Knicks fan ... so it's a big deal.

Sam Mendes will be THE big winner at the Academy Awards -- at least that's what an ad that ran for a play he's directing wanted folks to think ... before it was called a mistake.

Here's the deal ... Mendes is signed on to direct a play called "The Lehman Trilogy," which hits Broadway in about a month from now. 'Lehman' already has got its own Instagram page, and on Sunday ... the account ran an ad calling Mendes the winner of Best Picture and Best Director for his "one-shot" war flick, "1917," which has gotten tons of love this award season.

FYI ... the Oscars haven't started yet, and the winners certainly haven't been made public. At least it appears they haven't, anyway.

The ad -- which was active on IG for at least a few hours -- read in part ... "From Sam Mendes, winner of the Academy Award for Best Director and Best Picture for his WWI epic '1917,' THE LEHMAN TRILOGY opens on Broadway March 26. Previews begin March 7."

Now, we talked to a spokesman for the 'Lehman' play, and a rep tells us the whole thing was a mistake, and that the ad is being taken down ASAP. We're told nobody at 'Lehman' knows the results, and they're simply hoping for Sam to win big.

Reading between the lines ... it appears somebody on the social team prepped an ad in anticipation of these results, and got ahead of themselves in running it prematurely.

We've reached out to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. So far, no word back.

Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth had a short marriage and a rough divorce, so it had to be awkward for them to land at the same pre-Oscar bash.

Miley and Liam hit up the WME party Friday night in Bev Hills. There are no pics of them together, but there's little doubt each knew the other was there.

Tons of celebs showed up ... Jason Momoa, Usher, Miguel, Michael B. Jordan, Jonah Hill and Rami Malek.

Here's the thing. Miley and Liam are actually still hubby and wife. The divorce doesn't become final until Feb. 22nd.

We don't know who they brought as their plus 1s. No vid or photos of Miley's BF Cody Simpson or Liam's girlfriend, Gabriella Brooks.

The guy who made the foreign flick that's the talk of the town doesn't care if it wins big on Sunday -- he's tired of all the hubbub ... and just wants to get behind a camera again.

We got director Bong Joon Ho at LAX over a one-month time span, during which his Korean film, "Parasite," has been snowballing in popularity and positioning itself as a legit favorite in the Oscar race ... even for the top prize of Best Picture, which would be a huge deal.

You wouldn't know the importance though by the way Bong talked Tuesday about his chances at the Academy Awards. Dude seems like he's gassed from all the press he's been having to do ... not to mention all the other award shows where he's been killing it.

Just a month ago in January, he was just as humble with us ... saying he's not sure if "Parasite" will be a game-changer in helping foreign films break out with mainstream American audiences, but if it does ... he says it'll be incremental. A bit modest if you ask us.

Fact is ... "Parasite" is actually a fantastic movie, and if it wins BP on Sunday, it would truly open the door for other international projects to crossover and have widespread appeal.

Kevin Hart kicked off what seems to be a new tradition for the Oscars -- the show will go on without a host yet again this year ... but the guy isn't feeling salty about it one bit.

The actor was leaving Bootsy Bellows early Sunday morning in West Hollywood, where we asked how he felt about the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences opting to go without a main tour guide through the ceremony ... which they did last year as well.

That move, of course, was on the heels of Kevin stepping down as the once-announced host after an immense amount of pressure when old homophobic tweets of his surfaced.

Fast-forward to today, and the guy tells us it's all love between him and the Academy. KH tells us he loves the Oscars, and there's no feeling about them pivoting away from tapping a single host after the catastrophe they went through with him.

Bradley Whitford is calling out Stephen King for his color-blind approach to Oscar voting, saying it's ignorant and underestimates one HUGE advantage they both have: WHITE.

We talked to the 'West Wing' vet Wednesday at LAX about King's controversial tweet, reacting to movie fans and critics pissed about this year's Oscar nominees lacking diversity. In a nuthsell, King, who voted on the nominees, said he was only judging on quality ... not diversity.

Brad didn't hesitate to challenge the legendary author, telling us King should consider the fact not everyone is afforded the same opportunities in Hollywood 'cause it matters. He didn't use the phrase, but read between the lines ... he's talking about white privilege.

Tyler Perry says the Oscars royally screwed up by NOT nominating Jennifer Lopez or Awkwafina ... and he's visibly pissed off about it.

We got Tyler Monday outside leaving NBC studios in NYC. All we asked was how he's feeling, and he immediately told us, "I'm upset, man" ... then started unloading on the Academy.

Tyler says it's crazy J Lo didn't earn a nom for Best Supporting Actress for her role in "Hustlers." Remember, she already earned Golden Globe and SAG nominations for the role as a conniving stripper. The Academy wasn't impressed.

Roman Polanski can't use the courts to sneak back into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ... at least according to Academy's lawyers.

In its response to Polanski's lawsuit -- claiming the Oscar org booted him without proper notice -- the Academy says the disgraced director has no right to use the very same legal system he's been evading since 1978.

He famously fled the U.S. before he could be sentenced after pleading guilty to one count of sex with a minor.

In the docs, the Academy says Polanski's lawsuit -- in which he also demands re-entry to the group -- should be tossed. The Academy also says it did everything by the book when it expelled him.

Samuel L. Jackson says Donald Trump was spot-on when he bragged he's done more for African Americans than Presidents past ... and it's all thanks to Trump's massive "plantation."

We got Samuel L. Monday at LAX and asked him about Trump's shot at Spike Lee in which Trump said, "Be nice if Spike Lee could read his notes, or better yet not have to use notes at all, when doing his racist hit on your President, who has done more for African Americans (Criminal Justice Reform, Lowest Unemployment numbers in History, Tax Cuts,etc.) than almost any other Pres!"

Jackson shot back ... essentially calling Trump a slave owner.

Jamie Foxx couldn't be happier for Spike Lee after he won his first Oscar ever, because he thinks the honor was long overdue ... and couldn't have gone to someone more worthy.

Jamie shared his thoughts with us Sunday after the show at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, and he told us Spike walking up to accept his first Academy Award for "BlacKkKlansman" was one of the best moments of the night. You can see he's truly overjoyed for his pal.

As an Oscar winner himself, Jamie tells us that hard work -- which Spike has undoubtedly cranked out for years now -- sometimes gets lost in the shuffle ... for a number of reasons, controversies and otherwise.

But, he says the Academy got it right this year, and the fact Samuel L. Jackson was the one to read his name made the moment even sweeter.

Jamie goes on to make a point about big-time Hollywood players who've been in the game for a long time, like himself and Spike. He says they came a long way for the success they've gained ... and he's just ecstatic that Spike finally got his.

Of course, there's at least one person who wasn't happy for Spike ... President Trump. Spike turned his acceptance speech political when he told voters to "do the right thing" in 2020.

Yeah, DT didn't take too kindly to that.

Rami Malek's big night at the Academy Awards ended with a bang ... of his body tumbling off the very stage where he won his first Oscar! Let's just say the victory lap went bust.

After the ceremony ended, Rami was up on the stage -- possibly posing for a pic -- when he slipped off the edge and fell hard onto the ground in front of the seats.

You can tell he did his best to hold on to the Best Actor statuette he'd just won for his performance in "Bohemian Rhapsody."

You can see how stunned Rami was as paramedics rushed out to the front row to check on him. But ultimately, Rami was more embarrassed than injured -- he did plenty of interviews afterward and seemed fine.

Queen opened the Academy Awards show with "We Will Rock You" -- so, it seems only fitting that the guy who played Freddie Mercury ended the whole night ... by rock 'n' rolling off the stage.

Cool moment at the Vanity Fair party after the Oscars ... when Caitlyn Jenner and Kobe Bryant spotted each other on the way out of the event and stopped on the red carpet to hug it out.

Kobe has been a Caitlyn supporter for YEARS -- the NBA legend was one of the first big stars to throw his support behind Caitlyn getting ESPN's Arthur Ashe award at the ESPYs back in 2015.

Remember, there was controversy surrounding the award at the time with many people claiming there were other people far more deserving.

At the time, Kobe told us he appreciated Caitlyn for educating people about being comfortable being themselves -- "Doesn't matter what walk of life you're in man, you gotta be comfortable being you."

Kobe was at the party with his wife, Vanessa -- who's pregnant with their 4th child.

Other huge stars at the party -- Odell Beckham Jr., Russel Wilson and Ciara.

Kobe is no stranger to the Oscars -- he won the 2018 Academy Award for Best Animated Short for his film, "Dear Basketball."

The flick was based off a poem Kobe wrote to announce his retirement from the NBA back in 2016.

There's no host at this year's Oscars ceremony, but everything looks to be going off without a hitch as the presenters gave hugs and kisses to the nominees behind the scenes.

Tons of A-listers were congratulating each other Sunday as nominees accepted their statuettes, including folks like Samuel L. Jackson, Glenn Close, Regina King, Angela Bassett, Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, Rami Malek, Spike Lee, Ryan Coogler, Constance Wu, Awkwafina, Chadwick Boseman, Sam Elliott and many, many more.

We gotta say ... the no-host thing is really working out. The show is moving along at a brisk and efficient pace ... and a lot of the presenters have turned out to be pretty damn funny.

Spike Lee finally won an Oscar on Sunday, but the big takeaway from his acceptance speech was the renowned director telling voters to "do the right thing" in 2020.

Spike took home the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for his film "BlacKkKlansman," which won him a huge round of applause after many years of being snubbed by the Academy.

He came up and made an impassioned speech that touched on African-American history dating back to 1619, when Africans were first brought to Jamestown, VA as slaves. His thoughts were a bit all over the place as he thanked his family, but he came through very clear at the end when he said the 2020 presidential election was around the corner.

Spike said, "Let's all mobilize, let's all be on the right side of history." He continued, "Make the moral choice between love versus hate. LET'S DO THE RIGHT THING!!!"

BTW, Spike did not mention President Trump's name once, but his message resonated with the audience who gave him a standing O. That's one helluva way to ring in your first Oscar ever.

Congrats, Spike.

The Oscars are about to get underway, but heads are already turning for Billy Porter on the red carpet ... who's wearing a tuxedo-gown to this year's award show.

The Broadway performer and gender-fluid artist showed up Sunday wearing a velvet outfit designed by Christian Siriano ... which amounts to one-half tux (up top) and one-half dress (on the bottom). It's certainly a fashion statement, if there ever was one.

What's interesting is that a lot of women have shown up to award shows like this wearing tuxedos over the years, but men conversely doing the same thing hardly ever happens. In fact, actress Elsie Fisher -- who killed it in "Eighth Grade," -- is wearing a tux right now.

As for Billy ... he's known to for his extravagant style and always ends up as a red carpet show stopper at whatever award ceremony he attends. He was donning a pink-lined cape at this year's Golden Globes.