The Oscars

Jimmy Kimmel took some light-hearted shots during his opening Oscars monologue -- but the highlight was probably his reflection on the strikes last year ... for a variety of reasons.

The recurring host -- who was back for yet another gig this year -- kicked things off Sunday by actually running a little bit late ... but once he got going, he was ready to make some jabs and crack some jokes ... most of which landed fairly well with the star-studded crowd.

Jimmy mentioned the fact that Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig were snubbed this year -- chiding the audience who seemed to agree, since a lot of them are voters -- and he even poked fun at Robert Downey Jr. at one point ... referencing his previous drug use.

Jimmy referenced an old dog-themed movie RDJ was in -- and said if he was ever to remake it ... he know the perfect candidate ... highlighting the dog from 'Anatomy of a Fall.'

The guy hopscotched around in his monologue, but eventually landed on the SAG and WGA strikes -- which consumed much of entertainment in 2023 ... and which created a lengthy work stoppage in Hollywood as labor union honchos and studio execs negotiated new deals.

Jimmy sounded sincere in shouting out everyone who remained on picket lines through that difficult period -- but, of course, he eventually gave kudos in a funny, backhanded way.

Check it out ... Jimmy says the strikes taught everyone a good lesson about what they were made of -- namely, a lot of guts ... even though he said no one would ever be able to pick up a shovel. Jimmy also used a lot of colorful descriptors in patting everyone on the back.

You gotta see it to understand what we mean ... it was both graceful, and pretty insulting.

Jimmy ended on a high note, though, when he brought out a bunch of crew members who work behind the scenes ... saying he appreciated their support through the strikes. Looks like everyone else felt the same way -- 'cause all the production people got a standing O.

The director of 'The Holdovers' is being accused of ripping off another Hollywood creative, who claims the guy hijacked his own years-old script in what he calls outright plagiarism.

Simon Stephenson -- whose story/writing credits include 'Luca,' 'Paddington 2' and other big hits -- levied a heavy plagiarism allegation against Alexander Payne earlier this year with none other than the WGA ... and his claims are just now coming to light publicly.

According to Variety -- which has reviewed and published emails from this whole ordeal -- Stephenson hit up some WGA honchos to complain that Payne's script/story for 'The Holdovers' was a "brazen" ripoff of a script he wrote back in 2013 called 'Frisco.'

Not only are the plots nearly identical, Stephenson alleges, but he goes on to claim there is "line-by-line" replication ... adding he has proof Payne reviewed his screenplay in years past.

Stephenson wrote in one of his emails to WGA, "I’ve been a working writer for 20 years -- in my native U.K. before I came to the U.S. -- and so I’m very aware that people can often have surprisingly similar ideas and sometimes a few elements can be ‘borrowed,’ etc."

He adds emphatically ... "This just isn’t that situation. The two screenplays are forensically identical and riddled with unique smoking guns throughout."

Stephenson was reportedly told his gripes were not a guild issue, and that he might need to consider a lawsuit to address his concerns -- no word on whether he's done that yet.

As for Payne -- who's not a writer on 'Holdovers,' but who says he heavily supervised the script-writing process -- he's publicly said his flick is loosely inspired by a 1935 French film.

Hollywood está de fiesta, y la cosa está muy animada momentos antes que empiecen los Oscars. Las celebridades se miran las caras y se encuentran entre las miles de fotos.

Jeff Bezos y Lauren Sánchez estuvieron allí con sus amigos Kris Jenner y Corey Gamble, mientras que Andy Cohen, Rumer Willis, Tracee Ellis Ross, Nicky Hilton y Kathy Hilton también asistieron al evento.

Échale un vistazo a las galerías, porque hubo muchos más asistentes de los que pudimos mencionar.

Más tarde, algunas de esas mismas personas hicieron cambios de vestuario y se dirigieron al Hotel Beverly Hills para el evento pre-Oscars de Chanel.

Los recién casados Usher y Jennifer Goicoechea se codearon con personajes de la talla de Robert De Niro -nominado a Mejor Actor de Reparto- Lily-Rose Depp y Kristen Stewart, Willem Dafoe, Sánchezos (Lauren & Jeff) de nuevo y America Ferrera, nominada a Mejor Actriz de Reparto.

Y, después de todo eso, el tren de la fiesta estuvo lejos de terminar.

La siguiente parada fue el famoso Chateau Marmont, donde Willem hizo otra aparición en la noche del sábado, y otros invitados incluyeron Lil Nas X, Alessandra Ambrosio, Billy Zane, Abigail Spencer y Jodie Turner-Smith.

Si todo esto te parece agotador es porque probablemente lo sea: es la parte del mundo del espectáculo en la que hay que dar la cara, y es una gran parte de lo que hace girar a Hollywood.

Vanessa Hudgens is pregnant, and she let the world know in the biggest way possible -- showing up to the Oscars ... with a big ol' baby bump in tow!

The actress is one of the hosts on the red carpet Sunday at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood -- where the ceremony will be going down later today -- and before all the stars arrived to take their own pictures ... Vanessa made sure to steal the spotlight with shots of her own.

She had a very good reason, too ... clearly, Vanessa is expecting a child -- and this is the first time anyone's hearing about it publicly. On its face, it seems she's fairly far along.

Of course, this is major news ... seeing how this would be VH's first child, and ditto for her husband, Cole Tucker. Remember, they just got married a few months ago down in Mexico ... and now, they're having a kid together in record time. No time like the present, right?!

Cole and Vanessa have been together as a couple since 2020 ... after she broke things off with her longtime boyfriend, Austin Butler -- with whom she'd been with for many years.

Vanessa and Cole were two peas in a pod ... she said she knew he was the one right away.

While she's clearly happy with her hubby ... the topic of her relationship with Austin has come up quite a bit lately -- especially with him being launched into superstardom through all these movies he's been in the past couple years, including 'Elvis.'

Vanessa just said last week she's happy her split with Austin led her to Cole -- and Austin, meanwhile, has said he valued his time with Vanessa ... and still respected/cared about her.

Austin himself is not scheduled to be at today's Oscars ceremony -- although, he has been out and about for Oscars-related parties this weekend.

So, he might be around somewhere later tonight as well. Ya gotta wonder how he might feel about this big development.

As Hollywood's rich and famous trickle in for the Oscars this weekend -- a massive protest is going down just a stone's throw away ... with folks hitting the streets to speak on Palestine.

A huge demonstration is unfolding about a mile away from the Dolby Theater in Hollywood Sunday -- at none other than the Dome Entertainment Centre, in fact -- where hundreds of people gathered with signage, megaphones and Palestinian flags ... while up in arms.

Of course, this is a pro-Palestine protest -- one that's been organized by groups like Writers Against the War on Gaza LA, Film Workers for Palestine, SAG-AFTRA Members for Ceasefire and others ... with their main message being, "No awards during a genocide!"

Another tagline being used for this protest ... "While You're Watching Bombs Are Dropping."

It goes without saying ... these folks are protesting against the ongoing war in the Middle East -- this as Gaza continues to be under siege as Israel seeks to eradicate Hamas.

As you can see ... tensions were high here, as people chanted and made their voices heard ahead of the biggest night in Hollywood. The Oscars are just about an hour from starting.

Unfortunately for these demonstrators, they won't be getting much closer to the actual Oscars venue itself -- the Dolby Theater is blocked off by cops, who've set a wide perimeter ... and who are standing guard with their riot gear ready to go in case things escalate.

Meanwhile ... the stars are getting ready for the big show -- lots of red-carpet arrivals are happening right now ... and they don't seem too worried about the ruckus up the block.

Ya sabes que es fin de semana de los Oscars cuando Nicolas Cage está en escena... Y esta vez apareció para honrar al director de "Killers Of The Flower Moon" Martin Scorsese y el elenco de su película nominada a Mejor Película.

TMZ tiene un video dentro de la celebración en Bevery Hills, donde Nic, él mismo un ganador del Oscar, y su esposa -Riko Shibata- se mezclaron en la fiesta organizada por Giorgio Armani.

Es raro ver a Cage en eventos del mundo del espectáculo. Él es más de un tipo de bar de karaoke, pero, como hemos dicho, es ese tipo de fin de semana en Hollywood.

También pudimos ver a la gran Lily Gladstone, que es candidata a Mejor Actriz. Ya ha hecho historia como la primera mujer nativa americana nominada al premio, y la mayoría de los críticos dicen que tiene muchas posibilidades de ganar el domingo por la noche.

Su coprotagonista y nominado al premio al mejor actor de reparto, Robert De Niro, también estuvo ahí y parecía estar de buen humor, ya que se paró a tomarse unas fotos con la gente.

También pudimos ver a Ke Huy Quan, ganador del premio al Mejor Actor de Reparto del año pasado, a Olivia Munn y John Mulaney, y a Jane Seymour y Paris Jackson charlando.

Y'know it's Oscars weekend when even the likes of Nicolas Cage are out on the scene ... in this case to honor "Killers of the Flower Moon" director Martin Scorsese and the cast of his Best Picture-nominated film.

TMZ got video inside the Bev Hills celebration, where Nic, himself an Oscar winner, and his wife Riko Shibata mingled at the Giorgio Armani-hosted party.

It's a rare sighting of Cage at showbiz events. He's more of a karaoke bar kinda guy, but, like we said, it's that kinda weekend in Hollywood.

Several other nominees were front and center ... including 'Flower Moon' star Lily Gladstone, who's up for Best Actress. She's already made history as the first Native American woman nominated for the award, and most critics say she's got a good shot to win Sunday night.

Her costar, and Best Supporting Actor nominee, Robert De Niro was there and looked to be in good spirits ... as he stopped to take a few snaps with folks. We also got shots of last year's Best Supporting Actor winner Ke Huy Quan, Olivia Munn and John Mulaney, Jane Seymour and Paris Jackson doing the small talk thing.

Other faces in the crowd -- Best Actor nominee Jeffrey Wright, Alessandra Ambrosio, Scott Eastwood and Callum Turner, who was not with his relatively new GF Dua Lipa ... unfortunate, for him, and everyone else there.

Jimmy Kimmel ya tiene una estrella en el Paseo de la Fama, ¡y sus looks a lo largo de los años merecen un Oscar!

Esta es la versión de 36 años del presentador del late-night talk show, con un aspecto impecable en 2004 (izquierda). Esto fue un poco después de que su clásico en Comedy Central "The Man Show" terminara y solo un año después de su larga permanencia en "Jimmy Kimmel Live".

Y, dos décadas después, el presentador con más seguidores sigue estando muy elegante, luciendo otro traje de pingüino y listo para el circuito de entregas de premios a principios de este año (derecha).

¿A quién hay que agradecer el buen aspecto de esta estatua dorada?

He's already got a star on the Walk of Fame ... Jimmy Kimmel's looks over the years deserve an Oscar!

Here is a 36-year-old version of the late-night talk show host, looking spiffy back in 2004 (left). This was shortly after his Comedy Central classic "The Man Show" wrapped and just one year into his long-standing tenure on "Jimmy Kimmel Live"!

And, two decades later the host with the most is still sharp while staying buttoned-up in another penguin suit while working the award show circuit earlier this year (right).

So who's to thank for this golden statue's good looks?

Underneath this mashed-up image is an American actor -- both on the big screen and the Broadway stage -- who first made a name for himself with his role as Mr. Bones. Do you have the celeb knowledge to dust off this rusty pic?

He enjoys giving sound advice at the local diner, especially when he's sitting across from none other than Zendaya. He's also set to play Joe Jackson next year in the musical biopic "Michael."

Tonight's a big night for this shining star ... Will he take home the Oscar for the Leading Role?!

La fiesta de CAA previa a los Oscar era el lugar para estar este viernes, pues tuvo entre sus invitados a los mejores representantes del negocio, quienes se prepararon para el glamour del domingo en el Sunset Tower Hotel.

La legendaria fiesta es conocida como uno de los principales eventos previos a los Oscars, y como cada año, la noche del viernes contó con un montón de figuras de Hollywood, incluyendo muchos de los nominados, como el aspirante a Mejor Actor Cillian Murphy, quien estuvo en la fiesta codeándose con sus compañeros.

Los ya ganadores del Oscar Viola Davis y Brendan Fraser también estuvieron en el evento junto con Chris Rock y Sacha Baron Cohen. Por supuesto, han pasado dos años desde que Chris fue abofeteado por Will Smith en el escenario de los Oscar, así que es agradable verlo nuevamente disfrutando de las festividades.

Danny DeVito, Demi Moore, Jeff Goldblum, Donald Glover, Sir Patrick Stewart, el nominado a Mejor Actor Jeffrey Wright, Chris Evans, Salma Hayek, Olivia Wilde, y Neil Patrick Harris fueron otros de los invitados a la fiesta.

El futuro del cine también estuvo presente, con actores más jóvenes como el actor de "May December", Charles Melton, Anya Taylor-Joy, Glen Powell de "Top Gun: Maverick" y la modelo Kaia Gerber.

Aunque no son grandes figuras de la pantalla grande, los anfitriones Andy Cohen y Kelly Ripa animaron la fiesta, que tenía a DJ Rashida y Lady Sha haciendo a todos bailar.

CAA representa algunos de los nombres más grandes del negocio, como a las estrellas de "Barbie" Margot Robbie y Ryan Gosling, y organiza esta fiesta previa a los premios cada año para celebrar a sus clientes, colegas y compañeros.

The CAA Pre-Oscars shindig was the place to be ... with the best of the biz out to play at The Sunset Tower Hotel, gearing up for the glitz and glam to come on Sunday.

The legendary bash is known as one of the major Oscars warm-up events, and just like every year, Friday night's shindig featured a who's who in Hollywood with lots of the nominees -- like Best Actor hopeful Cillian Murphy -- in the mix and rubbing elbows.

Previous Oscar winners Viola Davis and Brendan Fraser were also part of the line-up -- along with Chris Rock and Sacha Baron Cohen. Of course, it's been 2 years since Chris was targeted by Will Smith onstage at the Oscars -- so, it's nice to see him back enjoying the festivities.

Some of the others mingling the night away were Danny DeVito, Demi Moore, Jeff Goldblum, Donald Glover, Sir Patrick Stewart, Best Actor nominee Jeffrey Wright, Chris Evans, Salma Hayek, Olivia Wilde, and Neil Patrick Harris.

The future of the movie biz was also on hand ... younger actors like "May December" star Charles Melton and Anya Taylor-Joy, "Top Gun: Maverick's Glen Powell and model Kaia Gerber.

Now, they're not big screen stars, but the hosts with the most Andy Cohen and Kelly Ripa kept the party vibes going strong at the bash, which had DJ Rashida and Lady Sha spinning the beats.

CAA reps some of the biggest names in the biz -- such as "Barbie" stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling -- and it hosts this pre-awards bash every year to celebrate clients, colleagues and peers.

Hollywood's elite are warming up for Sunday's Oscars with pre-parties every bit as celeb-packed as the main event will be ... as Usher, John Legend and Leo DiCaprio rallied in one of the town's more iconic mansions!

TMZ got this video inside the William Morris Endeavor talent agency's big bash in Bev Hills Friday night -- it was held at the Beverly Estate, sometimes referred to as the "Godfather" mansion, and it was absolutely swimming with A-Listers.

Check out these faces in the crowd -- Justin Timberlake, Tobey Maguire, Teyana Taylor, Busta Rhymes, Rob Lowe and, of course, the 3 aforementioned superstars ... all rubbing elbows, literally and figuratively.

Even the celebs themselves seemed starstruck at times ... you can see Justin, Usher and Teyana were posing together for a few snaps as they chatted and laughed.

After their little photo sesh, Justin chatted a bit with some of the other guests as Teyana walked around, mingling.

At one point, Teyana bumped into Busta and the two began to shoot the breeze. Rob was also spotted making the rounds.

Never one to miss a party filled with beautiful people ... Leo, along with his pal Tobey, popped in just as the music started pumping and everyone was hitting the dance floor.

By all accounts, Leo was in good spirits and not even hiding his face that much, as we usually see him.

As for John Legend ... Mr. EGOT got off his feet to do the small talk thing ... sitting on a couch to chat up some other guests.

By the way, the mansion where all this was going down is the spot where they filmed the famous horse's head scene for "The Godfather" flick.

La élite de Hollywood se prepara para los Oscars este domingo y las fiestas previas han tenido tantas celebridades como el evento mismo. Usher, John Legend y Leo DiCaprio, por ejemplo, se reunieron en una de las mansiones más emblemáticas de la ciudad.

TMZ consiguió este video de la fiesta de la agencia de talentos William Morris Endeavor en Beverly Hills el viernes, que se celebró en la denominada mansión "El Padrino" y contó con un montón de A-Listers.

Fíjate bien en los invitados, Justin Timberlake, Tobey Maguire, Teyana Taylor, Busta Rhymes, Rob Lowe y, por supuesto, las 3 superestrellas antes mencionadas se estaban codeando literal y figurativamente.

Incluso las propias celebridades parecían deslumbradas con sus colegas famosos por momentos. Se puede ver que Justin, Usher y Teyana posaron juntos para algunas fotos mientras charlaban y se reían.

Después de su pequeña sesión de fotos, Justin charló un poco con algunos de los otros invitados mientras Teyana se mezcló con el resto de la fiesta.

En un momento dado, Teyana se encontró con Busta y los dos empezaron a conversar. Rob también fue visto hablando con todos los invitados.

Nunca se pierde una fiesta llena de gente guapa. Leo, junto a su amigo Tobey, apareció justo cuando empezó a sonar la música y todo el mundo se fue a la pista de baile.

Sin lugar a dudas, Leo estaba de buen humor y ni siquiera ocultó tanto su cara, como suele hacer.

En cuanto a John Legend, el Sr. EGOT también conversó alegremente con los invitados, sentado en un sofá y muy animado en la charla con los otros invitados.

Por cierto, la mansión donde pasó todo esto es el lugar donde filmaron la famosa escena de la cabeza del caballo para la película "El Padrino".

A dog featured in a movie that's up for an Oscar this year reportedly ruffled feathers at an awards event last month -- where other contenders got pissed off for him being a good boy.

Back in mid-February ... the border collie from 'Anatomy of a Fall' -- whose real name is Messi but who goes by Snoop in the film -- made an appearance at the Oscars luncheon ... where he was a big hit with all the stars, especially with Ryan Gosling, who seemed pretty smitten with the pooch.

Nothing wrong with bringing the dog from the film to make a little cameo for a pre-Oscars powwow right??? WRONG!!!! At least that's how some felt about it behind the scenes.

According to THR, production companies (and presumably studios) that have films up for Academy Awards apparently complained about Messi's presence at the luncheon ... griping that the dog being there and being so popular was giving his film an unfair advantage.

The dog showed up when Oscar voting was still going on -- and per THR, multiple companies with their hat in the ring complained to Academy honchos about it.

Fast-forward to today -- and the newest news is that Messi will be MIA from Sunday's ceremony ... a bummer, of course. Whether that decision has anything to do with the luncheon "scandal" ... jury's out. THR reports the luncheon thing had always been planned to be a one-off for Messi -- but if his being there angered that many people, who knows!

BTW, this dog is super talented -- and some have joked that it might actually be worthy of an Oscar nod itself. If you haven't seen 'Anatomy' yet ... there's a memorable scene with the dog, where it almost overdoses on aspirin ... and it plays out looking scarily real.

As it turns out ... that's because it was, meaning the dog was actually playing dead. A BTS look at how that came to fruition surfaced this week -- and it's pretty fascinating. Smart pup!

¡Hollywood está desplegando la alfombra roja para los Oscar este fin de semana! Y lo decimos literalmente porque los trabajadores ya están de rodillas y ocupados con los preparativos para el gran espectáculo.

La icónica entrega de premios se realizará el domingo en el famoso Teatro Dolby de Hollywood, y es bastante obvio que se necesitan un par de días para transformar el Paseo de la Fama de Hollywood en una alfombra roja para recibir a las estrellas de la lista A.

El equipo se reunió esta mañana para desplegar grandes cantidades de tela roja para cubrir la pasarela por donde pasarán las estrellas. Parece que el rojo y el dorado serán los colores de la noche, a juzgar por las cortinas que se están colocando, algo que no es extraño porque esa suele ser la temática de los Oscar.

Por supuesto, las plantillas de las estatuillas de los Oscar están muy presentes en todo el espacio, como si se nos fuese a olvidar la entrega de premios que estamos viendo. El caso es que, ¡ya están preparando el lugarl!

La Academia hace esto todos los años, pero siempre es fascinante de ver.

Se espera que superestrellas como Margot Robbie, Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Robert Downey Jr., Ryan Gosling y America Ferrera asistan este domingo, ya que todos están nominados en la noche más grande del cine.

Es seguro decir, que el lugar será aprobado por los A-listers, igual como pasó en 2023.

El año pasado la entrega de premios contó con actores de la talla de Austin Butler, Ana de Armas, Angela Bassett, Jamie Lee Curtis y Cate Blanchett, quienes vistieron sus mejores atuendos y posaron para las cámaras.