Ryan Seacrest: no drama on the red carpet

ajc.com

Credit: Rodney Ho

Credit: Rodney Ho

Posted Sunday, March 4, 2018 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog

It was business as usual for Ryan Seacrest on the red carpet during the annual E! pre-Oscar special, but star power was a bit dimmed from previous years.

Celebrities who spoke with him such as Oscar nominees Allison Janney and Christopher Plummer didn't bring up his issues regarding a former stylist accusing him of sexual impropriety.

Some publicists anonymously told New York Post's Page Six last week that they had directed their clients away from him.

Indeed, several hot celebrities skipped E! in favor of the ABC pre-show including Matthew McConaughey, Daniel Kaluuya ("Get Out"), Margot Robbie ("I, Tonya"), Viola Davis, Saoirse Ronan ("Lady Bird"), Timothée Chalamet ("Call Me By Your Name") and two #MeToo movement stars Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino, who both accused Harvey Weinstein of attacking them. (ABC does have exclusive rights to the red carpet in the final hour so some actors who showed up at the last second wouldn't have made it on E! anyway.)

E! stuck by Seacrest after investigating allegations by a personal stylist against him of sexual impropriety and deemed "insufficient evidence" of their veracity. She detailed what he allegedly did in Variety last week but he continued to deny he did anything wrong and said she was blackmailing him.

In the end, any talk of the movement wrought by Weinstein was studiously avoided by everyone on the E! show.

Taraji B. Henson, a presenter, grabbed Seacrest's chin playfully and said, "The universe has a way of taking care of the good people." (Some on Twitter thought that was actually a dig at him.) Actress Eiza Gonzalez  ("Baby Driver") wished Seacrest to "be good" at the close of her interview.

Miguel

Gael García Bernal

Kelly Ripa and her husband Mark Consuelos

Allison Janney, nominee for I, Tonya

Christopher Plummer, nominee for All the Money in the World

Andy Serkis, Black Panther

Richard Jenkins, nominee for The Shape of Water

Bradley Whitford, Lil Rel Howery, Betty Gabriel from Best Picture nominee Get Out

Donald Sutherland, honorary Oscar winner

Rita Moreno, presenter

Eiza Gonzalez (Baby Driver)

Mary J. Blige, nominated for Mudbound

Andra Day and Common, nominated for original song from Marshall

Taraji P. Henson, presenter

Whoopi Goldberg

Tiffany Haddish