This most controversial 2016 #Oscars show may have been more enlightening than entertaining, but there’s a lot more than just the telecast including an entire week of pre- and post-Oscars parties and awards lunches, brunches and dinners. Come along for this celeb- and fashion-filled #Oscars 2016 recap pictorial.
This year The Academy Awards telecast put racism in your face with host comedian Chris Rock shining the light on the lack of multiculturalism in Hollywood with some duds, some thuds and a few chuckles. Using a stand up routine as an intro and then a series of black-themed spoofs throughout the show, Rock tried his best to make racism funny. Unfortunately, in my opinion, it didn’t work so well.
Chris Rock hosts perhaps the most controversial Oscars yet.
The same sorry stereotypes such as parading out three math-loving Asian kids or a prison garb-wearing Suge Knight doppelganger or the always ageless Angela Bassett pretty much scolding Will Smith in a video vignette all made for chilling rather than chillin’ entertainment.
And then there was perhaps the most awkward moment in Oscars history. Clueless Stacey Dash shocked the A-list crowd by appearing on stage to wish everyone a happy Black History Month. It seemed even Chris Rock was surprised at the soundless thud that greeted her inexplicable “performance.”
Chrissy Teigen’s reaction to Stacey Dash’s appearance at the 2016 Oscars.
The #OscarsSoWhite controversy, however, has hopefully started a new Oscars tradition.
The ALL Def Movie Awards, which was quickly arranged by producer and mogul Russell Simmons and actor-director Robert Townsend, was held at LA’s Lure nightclub the Wednesday before the big show. No ordinary awards show, the #ADMA was described by media partner Fusion’s writer Collier Meyerson as part “block party, rap show, black wedding or sweet 16.” The nominees were not necessarily movies from 2015, but as Meyerson explained, “a collection of iconic black movies that never received acclaim from the Hollywood establishment and actors who have been consistently overlooked by the industry.”
Actor/rapper Ice Cube, actor O’Shea Jackson Jr. and rapper Snoop Dogg attend the ALL Def Movie Awards. Credit: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images North America
Chris Rock’s brother Tony Rock hosted the star-studded, tongue-in-cheek show with categories such as Best Bad Muh Fucka (Denzel Washington won), Ghetto As Hell (Joe Pesci won?) and the more ladylike Best Actress (Sanaa Lathan won!). “This isn’t a shot at the Oscars,” said Rock. “This is our thing, done our way.”
Producer Russell Simmons, Skye Townsend and actor/director Robert Townsend attend the ALL Def Movie Awards. Credit: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images North America
Other notable pre-Oscars parties included Wednesday’s Oscars Sisters Soiree at The London West Hollywood. This high fashion event featured the legendary actress Alfre Woodard toasting and honoring black women in film. Thursday started with the Vanity Fair, Lancome and Clarisonic Makeup Artist Spa Day at SLS Hotel’s Ciel Spa and a Beverly Wilshire-held luncheon with Oprah (and Debbie Allen, Nina Shaw, Zendaya and Shonda Rhimes) at the ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood Awards, which was held at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel and sponsored by The Lincoln Motor Company.
As per Oscar tradition, Friday is all about studio and agency parties with the Independent Spirit Awards on the beach in Santa Monica on Saturday. Also on Saturday evening, Ebony Magazine and Apple held a Celebrate Black Hollywood event at Neuehouse Hollywood attended by no less than Angela Bassett, Idris Elba and Nick Cannon.
Post-Oscars parties were abuzz with talk from the broadcast’s many controversial moments as well as Leonardo DiCaprio’s stunning win for best actor in The Revenant and the surprise of the night: a Best Picture win for Catholic sex scandal film Spotlight.
Global lifestyles journalist and Black Enterprise contributor Aniesia Williams spent Oscars week twirling from one gifting suite to the next as well as hitting pre parties, reporting directly from the red carpet and then partying the night away with stars such as Jamie Foxx, Wesley Snipes and Tracee Ellis Ross at the African American Film Critics Association & Mercedes-Benz Oscars Viewing Party.
Elton John’s AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party, which is hosted by Sir Elton John himself and his husband David Furnish, raised $6.2 million for HIV/AIDS research and programs. Held at West Hollywood Park, the glam gala included a five-course meal by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay. Just some of the hundreds guests included Anthony Anderson, Dita Von Teese, Heidi Klum, Hillary Swank, Lea Michele, Mariah Carey, Kelly Rowland, Mary J. Blige, Sheryl Crow, Russell Simmons, Vince Vaughn and Tamera Mowry.
Co-hosts David Furnish and Sir Elton John speak onstage during the 24th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation’s Oscar Viewing Party at The City of West Hollywood Park. Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images North America.
However, the party of all Hollywood parties is the Vanity Fair Oscar Party. This year, the venue was moved from the very private Sunset Tower Hotel to the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills. The hottest of all Hollywood parties has a guest list of the world’s most famous entertainers such as Oprah, Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Naomi Watts, Selena Gomez and Lupita Nyong’o.
Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio puts his golden statue down to text during the 2016 Vanity Fair Oscars Party. Credit: The 19 Most Entertaining Moments from Inside the Vanity Fair Oscar Party.
With awards season now over, Hollywood can return to making movies again. Hopefully Oscars 2017 will be more inclusive and provide top notch entertainment rather than Hollywood’s lack of multiculturalism.
