DiGiacomo: I was going through the crowd, and I kicked something with my foot. It was heavy. And I looked down, and it was this clearly very expensive diamond bracelet. And I was like, “What do I do with this?” So I went and I found someone who works at Vanity Fair, and I say, “I found this on the floor.” After the party, I was told that it was a $750,000 Harry Winston bracelet. It had been on Elizabeth Hurley’s wrist. I’m a little miffed that she never thanked me for that. [Hurley did not respond to a request for comment.]
Lisa Robinson (contributing editor): In 2001, Bob Dylan RSVPed that he was coming—which is shocking, because that’s just not him. I called his manager and said, “Bob is really coming?” He said, “Yes, he’s coming.”
Bob Dylan never showed up. John McEnroe, Jewel, Sheryl Crow, and I sat at a table right in the middle room at Morton’s with an empty seat for the entire night.
At the party, not all guests were created equal. Invitations came with time slots. The top talent got invited for dinner. The pretty young things and up-and-comers came afterward. Plus-ones got 11:30 p.m. But anyone who won an Oscar, in any category, could enter through a dedicated fast lane.
Paltrow: Walking into the Oscar party with an Academy Award was a surreal and out-of-body experience. I felt somewhere between floating and completely disassociated.
DiGiacomo: In 2002, Jennifer Connelly won best supporting actress for A Beautiful Mind. I asked her if there was any better natural high than winning an Oscar. I remember she just looked at me. She has these amazing eyes. There’s something very almost translucent about them. She said, “It doesn’t suck.”
Lebowitz: This thing—the Academy Award—that these people want with a level of desire you cannot imagine. To me, it always seemed silly. It still does! I used to say, “It is a knick-knack.” At the beginning of each night before the thing started, I would say, “Who won last year?” Lots of times, people couldn’t remember. I’d say, “If it was really important, we’d remember who won last year.”
