Awards / Awards Shows

Liza Minnelli didn't like the joke Ellen DeGeneres cracked about her at the Oscars ... suggesting she was actually a drag queen.

Liza and a male companion hit up Craig's restaurant in West Hollywood Monday night ... and Liza made it clear -- Ellen's joke backfired big time.

Liza's note to Ellen: She should have stopped and acknowledged they were friends, but instead Ellen blew through to the next joke, so it sounded mean.

But Liza says she's sure Ellen was filled with the best of intentions.

Ellen DeGeneres does NOT own the picture that broke Twitter ... unless he signed his rights away, the owner of the famous Oscar pic is BRADLEY COOPER.

Here's the way it works ... the person who owns the now-famous photo is the person who actually took it ... NOT the person who owns the camera or organized the shoot.

Cooper was the snapper ... so it's his.

And even if Ellen signed her rights over to the Academy when she signed her hosting gig, the Academy would have no rights to the photo, because Ellen can't transfer what isn't hers.

So unless Bradley signed his rights away to the Academy, he's the copyright owner. Any use of the pic without his permission is a violation of the copyright.

He seemed down with tweeting it out, so Ellen is cool. But any use of the pic on TV shows -- including hers -- would only be kosher with Bradley's blessing. And he'd own the rights to any reproduction.

It all translates into cash. It could come in handy if that "Hangover" money runs out.

Toronto's crack-smoking Mayor Rob Ford is never done campaigning -- not only did he throw down big money to party with hot chicks in Hollywood after the Oscars last night ... he actually handed out Ford-themed commemorative magnets to his female admirers.

Actress/socialite Meredith Thomas tells TMZ, she and a friend ran into Ford at the post-Oscars bash at the W Hollywood -- where they found him chilling in his own private cabana by the pool.

Thomas says she asked Ford for a photo and he obliged -- then handed her and her friend a Rob Ford Mayor magnet and a business card. Thomas says Rob asked her to stick around, but she declined.

As for Ford's poolside cabana -- it didn't come cheap. We're told the average price for cabanas Sunday night was $2,500 a pop, including booze.

Magnets attract ... but they also repel.

As you may recall ... JLaw pulled off an epic photobomb on Taylor Swift during the Golden Globes this year(photo below.)

Anne Hathaway -- or her wax figure (we're still not sure) -- seems to be amused ... or, maybe she's annoyed ... hard to tell.

Congrats Jared!

Justin Bieber just can't quit Selena Gomez ... he lustfully posted pics of his ex-GF at an Oscar party ... even though he's 2000 miles away in Atlanta

The pic shows Gomez at the Vanity Fair party last night in West Hollywood -- where she showed up in a gold, beaded Pucci gown -- with the caption, "Most elegant princess in the world."

Could be Justin's just jonesing for his old life in L.A. -- which once included Selena?

The feeling may not be mutual ... Gomez -- who went to rehab in Jan. partly over her Bieber addiction -- has kept her distance from Justin and his new crew.

Big Mama's & Papa's pizza joint was actually the big winner at the Oscars -- it got more than $10 million in publicity and didn't have to pay a penny -- in fact, they actually got paid.

A single spot on the telecast ran for around $1.8 million ... according to Variety. We timed it out ... Ellen spent 2 minutes passing out the 3 pies and another minute collecting the cash. That's $10.8 mil.

Big Mama's & Papa's actually collected around $75 for the 3 pizzas, so it may be the best ad deal in the history of TV.

By the way ... the cost of buying the spot doesn't take into account the cost of producing it -- which is generally a fortune.

Never underestimate those pizza folk.

It's a modern day good vs. evil.

Here's a saintly looking 41-year-old Sofia Vergara posing in a couture toga party inspired gown (left) with a sinfully lacy 28-year-old Irina Shayk (right) at an Oscars after party last night.

The guy who delivered pizzas to the Oscars had no idea Ellen collected hundreds of bucks earmarked for his tip.

Edgar was all business after the ceremony when we caught up with him as he went inside Big Mama's & Papa's ... but it's pretty clear he had no idea Ellen passed Pharrell's hat around and scored around $300. When you deduct $75 for the 3 pies, it leaves an awesome tip.

But Edgar was mum ... somehow learning how to give photogs the brush-off with NO experience.

Oksana Grigorieva forgot she's bankrupt and no longer dating a famous dude ... because Sunday night in Hollywood she tried getting into the post-Oscar Vanity Fair party -- and got SHUT DOWN!!

Mel Gibson's ex and some friends attempted to enter the party but none of them were on the list and the doorman wasn't having it ... so they took the walk of shame back to their ride.

Maybe they were worried she'd start recording the celebrity action inside.

Sorry Oksana, better start hunting for a new sugar daddy somewhere else.

The director of the Oscar Winning live-action short "Helium" may have been high himself ... telling our photog his Oscar will become a canine toilet.

Anders Walter and producer Kim Magnusson were leaving a post-Ocscar party at Ago in West Hollywood ... when Walter talked about losing the doggie door in his home and jerry-rigging a statuette to accomplish the function ... and he fully expects his dog to mark his Oscar territory.

And then ... Walter dropped the best humble brag of the evening.

The guy who delivered pizza to celebs like Jared Leto, Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts during the Academy Awards returned to work with a hero's welcome ... but the burning question -- will he get that big fat tip?

We're not sure what his name is, but the guy who delivered pizzas during the show is clearly gonna get employee of the month ... you gotta see the reaction he gets from his co-workers.

The delivery guy didn't take his own ride to the event -- looks like Oscar producers sent a fancy SUV -- but when we tried asking him how it all went down ... he wouldn't say much.

Here's the kicker ... all this happened before Ellen got celebs like Harvey Weinstein and Brad Pitt to tip him around $300 for the pizza inside Pharrell's hat. So, the question is -- will the delivery guy get what's coming to him?

Don't worry ... we plan to ask him soon. Hopefully our camera guy gets an answer.

If you thought the Academy Awards were dragging on and on ... you're not alone ... even Oscar nominee Amy Adams got caught checking her phone during the show.

To be fair, Amy could have been staring at her crotch -- but we're gonna go out on a limb and say she was more than likely texting some other famous person about how the show is putting her to sleep.

We're guessing she's not the only one.

Jennifer Lawrence is two for two at the Oscars -- no, we didn't spoil show for you -- we're talking about the actress almost falling on her face again ... this time on the red carpet.

Ol' clumsy pants hit the press line and as soon as cameras locked in on her ... the "American Hustle" star lost her balance and went down hard.

As you may recall, Lawrence crashed last year during the show while walking on stage to accept her Academy Award.

If history is any indication ... someone's getting photo bombed next.

The Governors Ball better stock up on munchies ... because local weed delivery services are BLOWING UP with orders this weekend from celebs looking to get baked.

According to our ganja sources ... a ton of delivery pot shops had to hire more drivers for Sunday to keep up with the insane amount of orders being placed all weekend by celebs in town for the awards show.

One company told us portable vaporizers are huge with celebs this year ... and they've already sold around 40% more bud than usual. We're told the top selling strain is called Dream Queen.

The night is still young.