A few days before the Oscars, Page Six ran a curious story about celebrities complaining in advance of the annual Vanity Fair Oscar party. VF switched locations for their party (from the Wallis Annenberg Center to LACMA), and the new VF chief Mark Guiducci had culled the guest list, leaving various executives and celebrities fuming. Well, what was funny about all of that is it seems like the biggest issue on Oscar night wasn’t the guest list. The lighting was the biggest problem – no one at Vanity Fair thought to ensure that their celebrity guests looked cute as they posed for photos.

Some stars say the Vanity Fair Oscar party cast them in a bad light — literally. Following the high-profile post-Academy Awards soirée at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on Sunday, A-list attendees were allegedly complaining of the “crazy-bright” lighting and “unforgiving” pics.

“I felt like I was standing under klieg lights,” one guest told the Hollywood Reporter following the ultra-exclusive fête that VF retooled with a slashed guest list, less outside press and a new venue. Another attendee joked that she felt like she was hitting early menopause under the glaring lights.

“It was like a hundred degrees,” the anonymous guest told THR. “I was literally having hot flashes.”

The Hollywood trade pointed out that the annual affair was previously known for its “sublime” red carpet lighting when the party was traditionally in Beverly Hills at the Wallis Annenberg Center.

A person described by THR as “a longtime party fixture” noted that the “meticulously calibrated” and flattering lighting was previously “the secret of the Oscar party’s success.”

“I’ve been shot at a million parties, but the setup for that party was always sublime,” they told the outlet. “When you posed for the paps at the VF gala, even the ugliest stars knew they’d come out all right. It was like magic!”

But an insider noted that the lighting this year was, “Like being shot in extremely high-def.”
“You saw a lot of excess pounds and wrinkles that used to be hidden,” they shared. “Nobody wants to be photographed like that!”

A light gray carpet — which was new for Sunday’s event — seemingly made matters worse.

“I genuinely feel bad for some of these women,” another guest complained. “One poor actress looked like a Diane Arbus character. She was on her phone looking at her pictures and shrieking at her publicist. I heard that she went home and cried herself to sleep. Nobody has heard from her since!”

[From Page Six]

I’m including photos from this year’s VF party in the post – judge for yourself. It’s true that the old VF party had much more moody and forgiving lighting – the old set up was geared more towards pools of light on certain marks, and dramatic shadows and a calmer mood in general. This year’s photos really come across as antiseptic, like they’re being used to illustrate a medical journal. Those poor celebrities! Many of the A-listers didn’t even go to the VF party either, maybe they heard about the lighting. Apparently, Emma Stone rented a bus for her Bugonia peeps and they party-hopped all night, but didn’t go to the VF party. Hm.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.