No one’s rolling out the red carpet for the stars at this Sunday’s Academy Awards show. Though producer Gil Cates and Academy president Frank Pierson assured the public during a Tuesday afternoon news conference that there are no plans to delay the program in the event of war, they said the show will reflect the ''soberness and seriousness'' of the times by axing the traditional red-carpet arrivals in favor of more solemn pre-show.
According to Cates, so many stars had called asking to come in through a back entrance in order to avoid the press that ''it started to be silly to have it when they’re all uncomfortable anyway.'' Celebs will instead enter the theater directly from the limousine drop-off without stopping for interviews or photographs. The 500 people who received tickets to sit in the bleacher seats along the red carpet are also out of luck, though Cates says arrangements are being made for the group to view the ceremony at another location.
Meanwhile, another Academy Awards institution, the annual Barbara Walters Oscar special, has been postponed. ''With such serious issues facing the nation, it was the right decision to postpone the special,'' Walters said in a statement issued by her publicist. No decision has been made on when to air the special, which was to appear right before the Oscars on ABC, and includes interviews with Nicolas Cage, Renée Zellwegger, and Julianne Moore.
Though no other changes to the evening were announced, Cates hinted that this year's awards will likely be dialed down a notch overall, noting that the muted mood will most likely be reflected in Steve Martin’s material and in the clothing celebrities choose to wear. Somewhere, Joan Rivers is wailing.
