ARE the Academy Awards chopped liver to Brad Pitt?
Eyebrows were raised when Angelina Jolie's man was a no-show at Hollywood's four-hour backslap to itself - even though he starred in one Best Picture nominee, "Babel," and was one of the producers of Best Picture winner "The Departed."
There's no mystery about it, his flack, Cindy Guagenti, insisted to us. "He was filming in New Orleans," she said, adding, "He wasn't nominated for anything."
Maybe so, but that didn't stop Cate Blanchett, who co-stars with Pitt in the upcoming F. Scott Fitzgerald fantasy "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" - about a man who ages backward - from taking time off to attend. Some observers note the last time Pitt was nominated was more than a decade ago for Best Supporting Actor in "Twelve Monkeys," a prize he didn't win. Oscar has been kinder to Blanchett, who was nominated for "Notes on a Scandal" and won for "The Aviator" a few years back.
Meanwhile, Eddie Murphy acted like a sore loser when he didn't get the Best Supporting Actor prize for "Dreamgirls," our spies said. Murphy left his seat at the Kodak Theatre and ditched the gala. He also didn't bother showing at any of the Oscar parties. "He was furious and just went home," a source said.
His co-star, Jennifer Hudson, did win big - but lost big, too, because of the much ridiculed metallic bolero Andre Leon Talley made her put on. (Post fashion editor Serena French said it made her look "lost in space.") "Jennifer was kind of sponsored by Talley and Vogue," said one fashionista. "Andre insisted she wear that hideous Oscar de la Renta dress with the awful, awful gold python bolero.
"Jennifer really didn't want to, and so [noted stylist] Jessica Paster got her a beautiful gold Roberto Cavalli custom-made. But when Andre found out, he went ballistic. Moments before she left for the show, there was a power struggle and Jennifer ended up putting his outfit on."
Also during the show, Jack Nicholson got stares when he stayed seated during the standing ovation for Al Gore and "An Inconvenient Truth." Later, at the Vanity Fair party at Mortons, Oprah Winfrey was working hard to try to land the first post-rehab interview with Keith Urban, who had his doll-like wife, Nicole Kidman, in tow.
Eyebrows were raised when Angelina Jolie's man was a no-show at Hollywood's four-hour backslap to itself - even though he starred in one Best Picture nominee, "Babel," and was one of the producers of Best Picture winner "The Departed."
There's no mystery about it, his flack, Cindy Guagenti, insisted to us. "He was filming in New Orleans," she said, adding, "He wasn't nominated for anything."
Maybe so, but that didn't stop Cate Blanchett, who co-stars with Pitt in the upcoming F. Scott Fitzgerald fantasy "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" - about a man who ages backward - from taking time off to attend. Some observers note the last time Pitt was nominated was more than a decade ago for Best Supporting Actor in "Twelve Monkeys," a prize he didn't win. Oscar has been kinder to Blanchett, who was nominated for "Notes on a Scandal" and won for "The Aviator" a few years back.
Meanwhile, Eddie Murphy acted like a sore loser when he didn't get the Best Supporting Actor prize for "Dreamgirls," our spies said. Murphy left his seat at the Kodak Theatre and ditched the gala. He also didn't bother showing at any of the Oscar parties. "He was furious and just went home," a source said.
His co-star, Jennifer Hudson, did win big - but lost big, too, because of the much ridiculed metallic bolero Andre Leon Talley made her put on. (Post fashion editor Serena French said it made her look "lost in space.") "Jennifer was kind of sponsored by Talley and Vogue," said one fashionista. "Andre insisted she wear that hideous Oscar de la Renta dress with the awful, awful gold python bolero.
"Jennifer really didn't want to, and so [noted stylist] Jessica Paster got her a beautiful gold Roberto Cavalli custom-made. But when Andre found out, he went ballistic. Moments before she left for the show, there was a power struggle and Jennifer ended up putting his outfit on."
Also during the show, Jack Nicholson got stares when he stayed seated during the standing ovation for Al Gore and "An Inconvenient Truth." Later, at the Vanity Fair party at Mortons, Oprah Winfrey was working hard to try to land the first post-rehab interview with Keith Urban, who had his doll-like wife, Nicole Kidman, in tow.
