
As awards seasons go, it’s been a strange one. This year’s red-carpet whirlwind started fairly typically, kicking off with the 2025 Golden Globes on January 5 (where first Kylie Jenner’s Liz Hurley impression and then Zendaya’s new diamond absorbed much of the limelight). But then, just two days later, a series of wildfires broke out in Los Angeles. The fires, which blazed for more than three weeks, claimed 29 lives, thousands of acres of forest, and more than 16,000 homes. The disaster left LA reeling, and thoughts of red carpets rightly fell by the wayside as the community rallied to support relief efforts.
As the weeks passed, the traditional awards campaigning rumbled on—albeit very much in the background. Then journalist Sarah Hagi discovered some shockingly offensive tweets posted by Karla Sofía Gascón, the star of Emilia Pérez who is nominated in the best-actress category. The controversy—and Gascón’s response to it—represented the nadir of what British Vogue’s film and culture editor Radhika Seth has called the messiest Oscars race in recent memory. But even if the divisive mob-boss musical does win some prizes on the night (it’s nominated in 13 categories) the film’s Oscars journey has been irrevocably marred.
Ahead of the 2025 Oscars, revisit some ceremonies from simpler times: like when Mariah and Whitney posed together for photographers, or Miss Piggy stole the show with a cameo onstage in 1980.
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1992
The ever elegant Audrey Hepburn in 1992. She passed away the following year at 63.
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2002
Four years before they put their heads together to create The Row, the Olsen twins were still former child stars making family-friendly films.
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1997
Then couple Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon breeze into the 1997 ceremony.
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1997
J Lo gets an admiring glance from her then husband, Ojani Noa.
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The ever cool Denzel Washington arrives at the Academy Awards a year after winning his first Oscar, for Glory.
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2010
Zoe Saldaña’s (incredibly 2010, in hindsight) Oscars dress was Givenchy Haute Couture by Riccardo Tisci.
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Long before Victoria Beckham took a victory lap on her Paris Fashion Week runway on crutches, Melanie Griffith showed up to the Vanity Fair party with her leg in a cast. Where there’s a will…
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Charlize Theron plants a kiss on Adrien Brody as he presents her with her best actress Oscar for Monster.
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These days she prefers slinky gowns by Saint Laurent or Valentino, but back in 1995, Julianne Moore happily attended the Oscars in hot pants.
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Eastenders alum Martine McCutcheon was still riding high on the success of her role in rom-com hit Love Actually when she attended the Vanity Fair party in 2005.
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Lauren Hutton is fun and fabulous in gold sequins at the 1980 Oscars.
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Olivia Newton-John on stage at the 1979 Oscars.
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Goldie Hawn and Liza Minnelli at the Academy Awards.
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Salma Hayek and Penélope Cruz out-bombshell everyone else on the red carpet in 2000.
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The list of performances that year included a surprise cameo from the ever-glamorous Miss Piggy.
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Their reality show, Newlyweds, was coming to an end when Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson attended the Vanity Fair party in 2005. The following year, their marriage came to an end, too.
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Raquel Welch at the ceremony in 1979.
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Kim Basinger and Meg Ryan smile for the cameras on the red carpet.
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A young Meryl Streep arrives at the ceremony, where was up for best supporting actress for her performance in The Deer Hunter. (Maggie Smith would win, however, for California Suite.)
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One for the Dirty Dancing fans: Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in 1988.
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Frances McDormand took the best-actress Oscar in 1997 for Fargo. She never did have much time for photographers.
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River Phoenix with his date, the actor Martha Plimpton.
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Did Cindy Crawford take inspiration from Richard Gere’s Pretty Woman co-star Julia Roberts’s famous red dress from the film?
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Lauren Hutton oozes glamour on arrival at the 1975 Oscars.
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2018
Daniel Kaluuya—who would go on to win an Oscar in 2021—with Timothée Chalamet, who has twice been nominated.
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1992
Demi Moore, who has enjoyed close ties with Versace throughout the years, wore a lavender gown designed by Gianni in 1992.
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Paul and Linda McCartney on the red carpet.
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Nothing to see here, just a couple of music industry legends.
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A young Kate Winslet resplendent in candy-pink Vivienne Westwood.
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Long before Emily was in Paris, an 11-year-old Lily Collins attended the Oscars in 2000.
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2000
She’s a regular on the red carpet in her own right these days, but back in 2000, a wide-eyed Dakota Johnson was attending with her mom, Melanie Griffith.
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Anne Heche and Ellen DeGeneres in matching optic white (and itty-bitty sunnies).
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A young Anthony Hopkins with the unmistakable beauty that is Charlotte Rampling.
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A shimmering Aretha Franklin performing “Funny Girl,” from the Barbra Streisand film of the same name, in 1969.
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A very Old Hollywood moment, courtesy of Daryl Hannah.
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Audrey Hepburn cradles her best-actress trophy for Roman Holiday.
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A staple of British breakfast television at one point in the aughts, Kelly Brook swapped the sofa for Vanity Fair’s Oscars party in 2005, attending on the arm of her then partner, Titanic star Billy Zane.
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In 1961, an Oscar win was not yet traditionally followed by a trip to In-N-Out Burger. Best-actress winner Elizabeth Taylor steals a glance at her then husband Eddie Fisher in a more salubrious location.
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Not one but two icons of cinema: Audrey Hepburn with Julie Andrews.
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Diahann Caroll with Don Marshall at the 1969 ceremony.
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Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise on the Oscars red carpet, the year before they publicly announced their split.
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An after-party-ready Joan Collins in 1969.
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A pre-SATC SJP on husband Matthew Broderick’s arm at the Oscars.
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Decades before the “naked dress” craze, actor Edy Williams showed up at the Oscars in a leopard-print bikini.
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Onetime It-couple Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston.
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All in black, Angelina attended with her brother, James Haven.
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Goldie Hawn and Steve Martin go head-to-head in the micro-sunnies stakes.
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Miyoshi Umeki became the first Asian performer to win an Oscar in 1957, for the film Sayonara. She’s seen with Red Buttons, Joanne Woodward, and Jean Simmons.
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Judi Dench has a moment with her best supporting actress Oscar for Shakespeare in Love.
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At just 14, Jodie Foster was up for the best-supporting-actress Oscar for her turn in Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver.
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Minnie Driver with her sister, Kate.
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A young—and incomparably beautiful—Candice Bergen at the 1973 Oscars.
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Cate Blanchett at the 1999 ceremony.
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Lucy Liu waves to the crowds in 2000.
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Chloë Sevigny was Oscar-nominated in 2000 for her performance in Boys Don’t Cry.
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Cher outshining the life-size Oscar statue in 1988.
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Madonna channeled Marilyn on Oscar night 1991.
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A cozy greeting between Drew Barrymore and Liv Tyler.
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The ever-fabulous Sophia Loren arriving in 1999.
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A radiant Cicely Tyson in 1977.
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Monica Lewinsky wore a vintage dress to attend the Vanity Fair Oscar party in 1999, a year after the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal.
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Julia Roberts—seen here with Kiefer Sutherland—had a brief yet compelling flirtation with platinum blonde in the early ’90s.
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Halle Berry in a slinky slip dress and an ultra-’90s hairstyle.
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James Baskett is presented with his Oscar for Song of the South by Ingrid Bergman.
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Rocky star Sylvester Stallone squares up to real-life boxing legend Muhammad Ali.
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A fresh-faced Matt Damon and Ben Affleck on the red carpet, the year after they won an Oscar for their Good Will Hunting screenplay.
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A 15-year-old Scarlett Johansson at the Oscars. She’s since been nominated for trophies twice, but has yet to win.
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Gwyneth Paltrow arrives in bubblegum-pink Ralph Lauren on the arm of her late father, Bruce, the night she won for Shakespeare in Love.
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Diana Ross presented Stevie Wonder with his Oscar for “I Just Called to Say I Love You,” from the film Woman in Red.
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Former husband and wife Jude Law and Sadie Frost on the red carpet in 2000.
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Elton John and Basic Instinct star Sharon Stone catch up at his Oscars party in 1993.
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Definitely not J. Lo in Versace—rather, Trey Parker’s Oscar-night homage.
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Before Brad and Gwyneth, Brad and Juliette Lewis were a thing.
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Dangerous Liaisons co-stars Glenn Close and Michelle Pfeiffer.
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The always-fabulous Erykah Badu on the red carpet.
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Robin Williams with model Elle MacPherson at Elton John’s Oscars party.
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Grace Kelly captured mid-conversation at the 1955 ceremony.
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Remember American Pie? Co-stars Tara Reid and Jason Biggs were guests at the Vanity Fair party in 2000.
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Basketball star Dennis Rodman with Independence Day star Vivica A. Fox at the 1997 Vanity Fair party.
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The unforgettable Heath Ledger—and an unforgettable fashion moment from Michelle Williams in saffron Vera Wang.
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Gwyneth Paltrow and Cate Blanchett greet each other enthusiastically on the red carpet.
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Name a more ’80s outfit than Demi Moore’s bike shorts-meet-ballgown Oscars look.
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Heathers co-stars Winona Ryder and Christian Slater.
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A stunning Oscars cameo from supermodel Naomi Campbell.
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Laurence Fishburne was nominated in 1994 for his chilling performance in the Tina Turner biopic What’s Love Got to Do With It.
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Zhang Ziyi waves to fans as she arrives.
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Before Hailey Bieber at the 2019 Met Gala, there was Gillian Anderson at the 2001 Oscars.
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Aughts couple Kirsten Dunst and Jake Gyllenhaal at the 2004 ceremony.
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A 20-year-old Sofia Coppola, whose film Lost in Translation would be nominated for a best-picture Oscar in 2004.
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Charlize made her Oscars debut in a shimmering halter-neck silver gown that highlighted her platinum crop.

