Entertainment
After an apparent COVID-19 outbreak at the BAFTAs, how are the Oscars keeping attendees safe?
Together with the same old suspense and hand-wringing over who will take house the gold at Sunday night time’s Oscars, these planning to attend the ceremony are contending with one other uncertainty this 12 months: Will they catch COVID-19?
The latest British Academy Movie Awards, held in London on March 13 together with numerous events earlier than and after the BAFTAs, at the moment are suspected of getting led to a lot of COVID-19 infections, together with amongst a few of this 12 months’s Oscar nominees, elevating considerations over whether or not Hollywood’s greatest night time may develop into one other glitzy super-spreader occasion.
Following the BAFTAs, “Belfast” filmmaker Kenneth Branagh, Oscar-nominated for steering, producing and writing the film, examined optimistic for COVID-19, as did the movie’s Ciarán Hinds, a supporting actor nominee. Compelled to isolate, each bowed out of attending Saturday’s Producers Guild Awards.
Days after the BAFTAs, filmmaking duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller, nominated this 12 months for producing the animated movie “The Mitchells vs. the Machines,” additionally examined optimistic, as did some members of the workforce behind the Oscar-nominated documentary “The Rescue” in addition to a lot of journalists, publicists, executives and others in attendance, in line with insiders.
“There have been so many occasions main as much as the BAFTAs and, in fact, nobody was carrying masks as a result of legally they didn’t need to,” stated a supply who attended the awards ceremony. “You recognize when there’s that many individuals in an indoor house, one thing goes to occur.” The supply added they knew not less than a dozen individuals who examined optimistic for COVID shortly after the BAFTAs.
It’s not clear whether or not the Oscars pose an identical danger. Whereas the UK is at the moment experiencing a spike in new COVID-19 circumstances, numbers within the U.S. — and in Los Angeles particularly — have been declining sharply because the Omicron surge has waned. And in distinction to the BAFTAs, at which attendees had been required solely to supply a detrimental antigen check and mask-wearing was not enforced, the Oscars are adopting stricter COVID-19 protocols.
These attending the Oscars, in addition to anybody attending the academy’s honorary Governors Awards on Friday, can be required to submit two detrimental PCR checks in addition to proof of vaccination, the academy has stated. Presenters and performers on the Oscars is not going to be required to be vaccinated however should present that they’ve lately examined detrimental for the virus.
Members of the media protecting the occasion on the pink carpet should put on masks, as will attendees contained in the Dolby Theatre who’re seated outdoors of the orchestra part. Whereas the theater usually holds greater than 3,000 folks, attendance can be extra restricted this 12 months, with some seats being eliminated to supply larger social distancing.
Nonetheless, the Oscars and the assorted events surrounding it can look much more regular this 12 months than they did final 12 months, when the awards had been relocated to Union Station and the viewers was capped at simply 170 principally masked attendees.
Whether or not they may really feel regular is one other query — and can probably fluctuate relying on the COVID-19 anxiousness ranges of these attending.
“I believe individuals are over it,” stated one Oscar nominee, who has gone to quite a few occasions main as much as the Oscars. “You check, you check, you check and then you definitely simply hope for the most effective. Nobody’s carrying masks. I carry one, however you’re feeling such as you’re being paranoid — and everybody will see you as being paranoid — when you really put it on and put on it.”
Mentioned one other nominee: “I’m going, however, to be trustworthy, all of the protocols drain the enjoyable out of attending. Plus, I don’t know the way a lot good they’ll do. I’ll in all probability lose. I received’t come house with an Oscar, however I could come house with COVID. Yay!”
As with the BAFTAs, quite a few events and different occasions are scheduled within the days main as much as Sunday’s ceremony, from a celebration of Norwegian cinema to the fifteenth annual Essence Black Ladies in Hollywood Awards to an industry-packed CAA social gathering celebrating such nominees as Steven Spielberg, Paul Thomas Anderson and Nicole Kidman — all of which can have their very own COVID-19 protocols, however which taken collectively may present extra alternatives for the virus to unfold.
Oscar night time itself will see the return of most of the into-the-wee-hours events of the prepandemic period, together with the Governors Ball, the Self-importance Honest social gathering and the Elton John AIDS Basis Viewing Get together.
If there’s any concern about attending these occasions within the wake of a doable surge, it hasn’t been a lot in proof judging from the crowded ballrooms on the numerous guild awards and after-parties which have taken place this month.
“Persons are prepared to go away behind the isolation,” says an awards marketing consultant who has schmoozed via the late-season occasions. “The information out of the BAFTAs was a little bit regarding, however I believe it’d take somebody to, , really die to maintain Hollywood away from the Oscars.”
Entertainment
Bhad Bhabie reveals cancer battle, tells trolls to stop 'worst narratives' around her weight
Rapper Bhad Bhabie, hoping to silence the “worst narratives” about her appearance, has revealed she is battling cancer.
The 21-year-old “Gucci Flip Flops” performer, whose real name is Danielle Bregoli, addressed critics Thursday on social media. “I’m sorry my cancer medicine made me loose [sic] weight,” she said in an Instagram story, reassuring fans she is “slowly gaining it back.”
Bregoli, infamous for her viral 2016 appearance on “Dr. Phil,” also urged her fans to “stop running [with] the worst narratives.” In recent weeks, multiple Instagram users voiced concern over Bregoli’s appearance. Some joked about her eating habits, and others speculated about whether the rapper was using a weight-loss drug.
Since the comments surfaced in early October, Bregoli had posted several photos of herself in body-hugging outfits, but did not address fans’ concerns until this week. Hours after Bregoli shared her story, a family member confirmed Friday morning to TMZ that the rapper is indeed battling cancer. The family member said Bregoli is receiving treatment from a doctor but did not share additional information.
On Friday, Bregoli’s mother, Barbara Bregoli, also shamed gossip blogger Perez Hilton after he shared news of the musician’s health announcement. Barbara Bregoli said Hilton implied Bhad Bhabie would fake her diagnosis. “There is also the possibility that she might’ve pulled a Lil Tay,” Hilton said in a video posted early Thursday, name-dropping the braggadocious young rapper who was the subject of a death hoax last year.
“I don’t know if she’s lying. I’m not claiming she’s lying … knowing how these types of people operate, I wouldn’t put it past her to do something like this for attention,” Hilton said. “And actually I hope that’s the case because it would suck if she had or still has cancer at such a young age.”
Barbara Bregoli fired back on Instagram: “I pray to God one of your children never get cancer. I’ve had it twice. How dare you say my daughter’s faking this.”
After her daughter’s announcement, Barbara Bregoli recalled her own experience with cancer medication. “For all those individuals commenting on cancer and cancer meds just bloating you this was me one year after my 1st diagnosis,” she captioned a 2008 photo of herself looking slender in a white skirt and black sleeveless top.
Echoing her daughter’s sentiments, Barbara Bregoli urged people to “stop with your assumptions!!!”
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Entertainment
Brianna 'Chickenfry' LaPaglia claims ex Zach Bryan 'emotionally abused' her: 'I'm still scared'
Two weeks after Zach Bryan announced his split from Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia, the podcast host is opening up about their relationship.
In the Thursday episode of Barstool Sports’ “BFFs” podcast, LaPaglia broke down Bryan’s alleged “narcissistic emotional abuse” as well as her decision to reject a $12-million nondisclosure agreement offered by his team — which she called “his final shot at still controlling me.”
“This isn’t about drama for me,” LaPaglia told co-hosts Dave Portnoy and Josh Richards. “This episode and me not taking the money, it’s not just for me. It’s for anyone else that’s been emotionally abused.
“I’m still scared right now because I’m scared of him,” she continued. “My brain’s rewired, and I’m scared to make him mad.”
Representatives for Bryan did not immediately respond Friday to The Times’ request for comment.
Bryan last month confirmed his breakup with LaPaglia, whom he had been dating since July 2023, after screenshots of his profile on the celebrity dating app Raya circulated online. Hours later, LaPaglia wrote on her Instagram story that she was “really blindsided” and shared plans to “hop off social media for a while and attempt to heal privately.”
“I just wanted to deal with my breakup privately,” she said at the top of Thursday’s podcast episode. “But that was robbed from me, so here we are.”
While she was away on her That’s My Best Friend Tour in September, LaPaglia said, Bryan abruptly shifted from talking about their future together to saying, “I can’t do this anymore.” In her tour documentary, she said, “You can slowly watch the life fade from my f— eyes.”
A “crazy cycle” ensued, LaPaglia said, with Bryan lashing out and then begging her to stay. Then one morning, she said, he told her that he was going back to Oklahoma: “I knew that was going to be the last time I saw him.”
LaPaglia said she hadn’t told her family about the split before Bryan posted about it. “Everyone in my life found out about my breakup from his Instagram story.”
After that, it was crickets from Bryan and one settlement offer after the next from his team, she said. The final offer was $12 million — what Portnoy called “life-changing money.”
LaPaglia said she refused to be like women who believed “they had no other choice than to take money from you, sign their experiences away, sign what they went through away.”
While LaPaglia maintained that her aim with the episode was not to “nitpick everything he’s ever done” but to “speak up for other survivors,” she recalled a few alleged examples of Bryan’s behavior.
When Bryan didn’t like the gown LaPaglia wore to the Golden Globes, she said, he unfollowed her. When she left her birthday party to go to bed early, he ended the night yelling at her friends. When she refused to quit her Barstool gig, he offered to pay her double the salary, telling her she was “destined for so much more.”
“I was made to hate so many things about myself that I want to love,” LaPaglia said. “Everything good, anything good I did for me, he made sure to ruin it for me.”
“Why did I stay?” she added. “There’s no answer.”
The “BFFs” episode comes after Portnoy and Richards released a diss track aimed at Bryan, which they said his team has repeatedly attempted to suppress through legal means. But with Barstool’s social media reach, Richards said, “it’s still getting millions of views.”
“If people want to say, ‘The diss track was immature, me talking about [Bryan] was immature,’” LaPaglia said near the podcast’s conclusion. “You know what’s f— immature?”
“The way you treated me,” she said, addressing Bryan. “Everything you did was immature.”
The day before the episode aired, Bryan announced the release of his latest single, “This World’s a Giant,” on Instagram.
The singer said that upon returning home to Oklahoma, he visited his mother’s grave and “told her I quit touring because I got accepted to get my masters in Paris next year.” (Country music magazine Holler later reported that Bryan’s master’s program is in Paris, France.)
Within a few hours of Bryan’s post, LaPaglia wrote on her Instagram story that she “can’t believe how many women and men have experienced the same abuse. You have me, I’ll be a voice for you all always.”
“This is all two weeks out so I’m still processing everything I went through. I’ll continue to process and heal with you all!” she wrote. “Morals > 12 million.”
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