Oscars Draw 18.7 Million Viewers, Up 12% From Last Year

Tom Cruise was “a little sensitive” for missing the 2023 Oscars after Top Gun: Maverick was snubbed.Cruise, whose new film received six nominations, was not in attendance at the Los Angeles ceremony. According to Entertainment Tonight, this was because the actor is shooting Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part II on location in the UK.Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Letterman said that the supposed production issues were “nonsense,” and that he should have attended to celebrate “his big jet pack Maverick show”.Kimmel then responded: “Yeah. It seems like he should’ve been there, but he was not there.

Sibling love forever. Pedro Pascal’s siblings are showered with love whenever he mentions them. The Mandalorian actor talks about them on social media sometimes as well as interviews.

David Letterman is curious about a missing nominee during Sunday night’s Oscars.

The Nielsen U.S. streaming chart didn’t change much from the second week of February to the third. You and New Amsterdam continued to dominate from February 13 to February 19.

up two million viewers from the previous year (the year of “the slap”) to a total 18.8 million viewers. They brag about the 13% uptick before launching into how (and I’m guessing here), somewhere in Idaho, six 17-year-olds watched the show for an average of two minutes, which resulted in the audience being 0.25% younger.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large On Sunday, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” appeared to be everything, everywhere, all at once. The film, of course, dominated the 95th Oscars with seven wins — including best picture. Virtually all the stars (except Stephanie Hsu — hey Daniels, can you spare one of your SIX Oscars and share one with her??) received wins, on what was truly a historic night. And an emotional one. As the opening clips of this week’s Variety Awards Circuit Podcast illustrates, family was on the minds of this year’s winners. Listen to our Mega Roundtable edition, in which Clayton Davis, Jenelle Riley, Jazz Tangcay and myself (that’s me, Michael Schneider) recount the show and dissect the winners — from Jimmy Kimmel’s excellent monologue to how every single category panned out:

Seth Rogen is recalling his unique introduction to Meghan Thee Stallion.

Salma Hayek attended the 95th Academy Awards on Sunday with her 15-year-old daughter, Valentina Paloma Pinault. The two walked the champagne-colored carpet at Los Angeles' Dolby Theatre, and Valentina wore a dress her mom first sported in 1997.The red vintage, strapless Isaac Mizrahi gown was originally worn by Hayek, who presented at this year's award show, when she attended the Fire and Ice Ball 10 years before her daughter was born.In 1997, Hayek paired the dress with a thick diamond choker and red bag, while her daughter made it her own with a thin diamond necklace and a Gucci Jackie 1961 bag. Meanwhile, Hayek walked with her daughter down the red carpet, posing together for all photos.

Variety Staff Follow Us on Twitter In the 24 hours following the start of the 2023 Oscars red carpet, Variety notched its highest-ever day of social traffic, racking up 122 million video views across platforms.  Top performing videos include Marc Malkin’s interview with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson about the negative reviews that plagued “Black Adam” and fashion footage of stars like Pedro Pascal and Lady Gaga.  Twitter video racked up 59.4 million views, while TikTok accounted for 47.5 million. Instagram earned an additional 15.1 million views for the brand.  Variety’ssocial team, led by social media editor Katcy Stephan with coordinator Rachel Seo, previously saw success through the record-breaking launch of “Actors on Actors” Season 17, which earned over 35 million views on TikTok. Under Stephan’s leadership, the brand gained over 1.5 million new followers across social platforms in 2022.

Vanessa Hudgens seemingly reacted to her super awkward run-in with her ex Austin Butler and OMG!

been a yearsince Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars — and the banned actor’s award still doesn’t have his name on it. Janet Yang, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, told The Hollywood Reporter’s “Awards Chatter” podcast that Smith, 54, may be prohibited from the show or any Academy events for nine more years, but he’s still welcome to get his nameplate engraved onto his Best Actor trophy. “He earned the Oscar.

There’s more where that came from!

Tom Cruise because the actor decided not to attend the ceremony, Oscars producers have admitted.Kimmel was the host of the 95th iteration of the Oscars on Sunday (March 12). The comic opened his the show with a monologue in which he poked fun at Avatar director James Cameron, last year’s Will Smith slapping incident and a dig at the poor box office performance of Babylon.The late-night TV host also couldn’t help but alert the audience to the fact that Cruise, whose Top Gun: Maverick received six nominations, was not in attendance.

Oscars red carpet.The actor made a point of directing photographers’ attention to the rabbit while he was at the event on Sunday (12 March). The tiny rabbit toy generated a flurry of questions both from the public watching and, indeed, the press pack at the event.Nighy, who was nominated in the Best Actor category for his role in Living, has now revealed that the tiny bunny is in fact his granddaughter’s beloved toy.

Pauly Shore can still take a joke.

Justin Bieber had an interesting accessory at the Vanity Fair Oscars after-party. The singer wore a colorful quilted blanket over his suit for the exclusive event. He did not show it off on the red carpet, and his wife, Hailey Bieber walked it alone.

Addressing the drama. Vanessa Hudgens seemingly reacted to her awkward encounter with her ex-boyfriend Austin Butler after the 2023 Oscars.

@TheAcademy Awards. Pardon the helmet hair.

The Sorvino family is not pleased with the Oscars.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Pauly Shore is over the moon about his “Encino Man” co-stars Brendan Fraser and Ke Huy Quan becoming Oscar winners at the 95th Academy Awards. Fraser took home the Oscar for best actor thanks to his acclaimed performance in “The Whale,” while Ke Huy Quan won best supporting actor for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” which also took home the best picture trophy along with six other Oscars. “Encino Man” made it into host Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue when he observed that 16 actors were nominated for their first Oscars at the 2023 ceremony. Fraser and Quan were both first-time nominees. “Two actors from ‘Encino Man’ are nominated for Oscars,” Kimmel said. “What an incredible night it must be for the two of you, and what a very difficult night for Pauly Shore. Maybe it’s time to reboot ‘Bio-Dome.'”

Jimmy Kimmel poking fun at him during his Oscars monologue on Sunday and gave heartfelt congratulations to his old Encino Man co-stars, Brendan Fraser and Ke Huy Quan, both of whom won on Sunday.«I don't know if you guys saw @TheAcademy Awards last night, but @jimmykimmel poked fun at me in the monologue,» Shore tweeted on Monday. «I loved it.»He added, «But what I REALLY loved is that my old buddies from back in the day, Brendan Fraser and Ke Huy Quan, took home the Oscars! Never quit on your dreams.»I don’t know if you guys saw the @TheAcademy Awards last night, but @jimmykimmel poked fun at me in the monologue.

Ke Huy Quan's not ready to stop celebrating Oscar triumph just yet. As Jimmy Kimmel recapped this year's Oscars gala during his opening monologue on  on Monday, Quan dropped in for a high-energy surprise visit.Kimmel — who hosted Sunday's star-studded show — recalled some of the night's biggest (and most hilariously awkward) highlights, when he was paid a visit by Quan, still decked out in his tuxedo and holding his coveted golden statue.«I didn't know you were coming, what are you doing here?» Kimmel asked, beaming.«I'm looking for my car,» Quan replied, explaining that he was still up from the night before.

Oscars has revealed that a number of Will Smith jokes were cut from Jimmy Kimmel’s script.At last year’s ceremony, Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage for making a joke about the hair of his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Just moments later, Smith received the Best Actor award for his performance in King Richard.While giving his opening monologue at the 95th Academy Awards on Sunday (March 12), presenter Kimmel jokingly referenced the incident, saying: “If anyone in this theatre commits an act of violence at any point during this show, you will be awarded the Oscar for Best Actor and permitted to give a 19-minute-long speech.”However, there were additional jokes about the Smith-Rock slap that didn’t make Kimmel’s final script.Molly McNearney, an executive producer of Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Kimmel’s wife, explained that the writing team decided to restrict the number of jokes about the incident, as they didn’t want to focus too much on the past.“We didn’t want to make this year all about last year,” McNearney told Variety.“I cannot tell you how many Will Smith jokes we had that then we got rid of.

Jimmy Kimmel’s wife, Molly McNearney, says her husband took it easy on Will Smith at the 95th Academy Awards on Sunday.Kimmel hosted Hollywood’s biggest night at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, one year after Smith slapped Chris Rock onstage in response to Rock making a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.McNearney, an executive producer for this year's Oscars, tells  why her husband didn’t go «harder» on Smith. «We didn't want to make this year all about last year,» McNearney explains. «I cannot tell you how many Will Smith jokes we had that then we got rid of. We think that only the best for that room made it.

Not every joke about Will Smith made it into Jimmy Kimmel’s big monologue.

“We didn’t want to make this year all about last year,” McNearney, 45, told Variety. “I cannot tell you how many Will Smith jokes we had that then we got rid of.

Ke Huy Quan's not ready to stop celebrating Oscar triumph just yet. As Jimmy Kimmel recapped this year's Oscars gala during his opening monologue on  on Monday, Quan dropped in for a high-energy surprise visit.Kimmel — who hosted Sunday's star-studded show — recalled some of the night's biggest (and most hilariously awkward) highlights, when he was paid a visit by Quan, still decked out in his tuxedo and holding his coveted golden statue.«I didn't know you were coming, what are you doing here?» Kimmel asked, beaming.«I'm looking for my car,» Quan replied, explaining that he was still up from the night before.

Jimmy Kimmel has revealed who was in the Cocaine Bear suit at the Oscars on Sunday night.

Did you know that Jimmy Kimmel‘s wife Molly McNearney is one of the executive producers of his late night show Jimmy Kimmel Live? She’s now opening up about secrets from the 2023 Oscars telecast!

Pedro Pascal, one of the most popular actors at the moment and best known for his current roles in HBO’s ‘Last of Us’ and Disney+’s ‘The Mandalorian,’ attended the Oscars not only to present an award, also to support someone special in his life, his sister, Javiera Balmaceda.While Pedro has been in the spotlight a lot lately, his sibling also has a very successful career in the film industry. Javiera is a producer, and while she didn’t receive a nomination, she was part of several projects recognized throughout the awards ceremony.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large As he was lifted into the Dolby Theater rafters five minutes before the Oscars were set to begin, Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue still wasn’t locked. It couldn’t be: Several of his gags would involve pop superstar Rihanna — but it all depended on whether she’d be in her seat. “We had two versions of the monologue,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live” executive producer (and Kimmel’s wife) Molly McNearney told Variety on Monday afternoon. “One if Rihanna was in her seat, one if she was not in her seat. One if Rihanna had her baby on her lap, which she wanted to do. And one if her baby was not on her lap. A lot of our jokes were kind of at the mercy of people being in their seats.”

Will Smith was keeping a low profile while the 95th Academy Awards were taking place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday.

aired Sunday night on ABC, was viewed by an estimated 18.7 million, according to preliminary Fast National Live+Same Day numbers released Monday by ABC. That’s up 12% from last year’s show — and was a three-year high — but was still low compared to most years.The evening’s main counterprogramming, the season finale of “The Last of Us” pulled in 8.2 million viewers across HBO and HBO Max. The show began at 9 p.m.

Whether it was the lingering drama of The Slap or the prominence of blockbusters in the best picture race, a bigger audience was lured back to the Oscars this year.

Oscars since Will Smith infamously slapped Chris Rock on stage rolled around, fans and even fellow celebrities alike couldn't help but recall the shocking moment.The Academy ensured no such moment would ever happen again, even having a crisis team involved, and Will was banned from attending any Academy events for the next ten years.Chris on the other hand, is free to return, though it seems he preferred to keep his distance on the anniversary of the altercation, and not only did he not attend the Oscars – he has claimed he was however asked to host but turned it down – but he was far away from the Dolby Theater and Los Angeles too.WATCH: Will Smith apologizes to Academy after Chris Rock altercationMORE: Chris Rock's daughter Zahra breaks silence after being called 'rich and spoiled' by famous dadRight as Hollywood's biggest and most beloved stars gathered on the red – or rather champagne – carpet, the comedian was spotted across the country all the way in Miami. However, he still tuned in and watched the show, attending a watch party hosted by fellow comedian Whitney Cummings at the Four Seasons Hotel in Surfside, Florida, in partnership with Vanity Fair and injectable brand Xeomin, who Christina Aguilera recently partnered with.MORE: Who is Chris Rock's ex-wife and why did they split?In a video shared on Twitter by one of the party's attendees, Whitney is seen standing on top of the bar, shocked as Chris made his seemingly unexpected appearance.. @chrisrock just walked into the @VanityFair @XeominAesthetic #oscars #Oscars2023 viewing party in Miami and we were not prepared! @WhitneyCummings was pretty shocked as well..

The executive producers of the 2023 Oscars, Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner, gave an interview about the show and revealed some interesting information in THR.