Few in Hollywood thought Vanity Fair would dare restart its annual Oscar party in this lousy economy after cancelling it last time around because of the writers strike. (We could hope, right?) But Graydon Carter just announced: “Vanity Fair will hold its annual Oscar Night party at the Sunset Tower Hotel on February 22, 2009. The party will be a much more intimate affair than in years past; we’re going to scale back the guest list considerably. We’ll celebrate Hollywood’s big night the way we did when we first threw the party 15 years ago — it will be a cozier, more understated event. And one with familiar décor — given the current economy, and our dedication to the green movement, we will be recycling many of the elements of years past. We also look forward to working with Jeff Klein, who owns the Sunset Tower (and is my partner in another venture), in making next year’s Oscar party a memorable one.” Oh, now I get it: Graydon got an insider’s deal. Carter, the co-owner of NYC’s Waverly Inn, recently bought the lease of East 54th Street’s Monkey Bar from the Glazier Group with two partners including hotelier Klein, who helped out VF with a barebones price to replace defunct Morton’s as the VF party venue. The Sunset Tower used to be the old St. James Club, then the unchic Argyle, and now its reputation consists mostly of Page Six-publicized fights with the likes of Britney Spears and Sean Diddy Combs while Jeff Klein comes off as a nasty piece of work. Yes, Graydon really is a restaurateur now, not an editor.
I appreciate the desire to move forward this year and have a party to try and keep spirits up. Yet, why announce a reduction in the number of people who can attend this event? It is already a whose who of Hollywood.
Why not just have it at a private residence or keep the event private all together and not promote it? The sad thing is that sometimes a nominee can’t even get in the party until the 11pm shift because they aren’t AAA list,
Morton’s was home to the VP party for good reason – it was part of the community. Frankly, I would rather the money for that party save jobs for people at Conde Nast or VF? We have to be smart in bad econimic times. While we have a tradition in this town to celebrate the Oscars we also need to face reality that to spend several hundred thousand dollars so people who earn millions of dollars can have a complimentary drink or two is just silly.
Graydon Carter is Having this party for one reason. Which is to feed his overblown ego. The guy seems to be an egomaniac who is too concerned with his own star-power- he likes to see pictures of himself mingling
with celebrities. It shows the Board of Directors at Conde Nast that they need to renew Graydon’s contract for another term, that he’s still vital in the Hollywood community. Graydon Carter is a poser !
timesrtough:
The other way to look at it is if they are the only game in town for the most part, they will have huge worldwide PR for a few hundred grand. Why would a mag like VF want to throw a party with no PR? Throw it as cheap as you can with LOTS of PR…which is what they are doing as this story is also linked to drudge via vanity Fair.com!
I’m glad VF is having its annual party. Yes, it looks bad in tough economic times, but cancelling the party punishes a lot of working people who would have gotten a job for that night. Money spent putting on that party is not going into a vacuum. It will pay the wages of servers, caterers, gardeners, decorators, truck drivers, valets, cleaners, dress makers, tailors, dry cleaners, and more.
“Vanity Fair will hold its annual Oscar Night party at the Sunset Tower Hotel on February 22, 2009. The party will be a much more intimate affair than in years past; we’re going to scale back the guest list considerably.
Crap. There goes my necessary invite. I’m already nobody, Vanity Fair! Why rub it in?
@ Diogenes
I can not agree more. Our local economy does much better when I and other people who have been party DJs, hosts, caterers, planners, and others get paid.
A party is not always in bad taste and the only way many below-the-liners get paid is when the show goes on….
Oh get a grip. A one-off extravagant party does not benefit anyone job-wise. It is one night.
People don’t need an excuse to spend money if they have it. If they want to spend it, so be it. They have it, I/we don’t.
I know rich people are going to spend/waste money and I’m not jealous or bothered. I don’t give a damn that they plan to recycle. In fact, I find the whole “lets recycle and reuse” idea tacky and actually a slap in the face to people who have to do such a thing.
Like, oh, lets pretend to be like the little (poor) people, and show how good we are.
They need to cut the crap, and all of you do too. Lets just be honest now.