George Clooney’s costars (like Cate Blanchett), pals (like Julia Roberts) and studio heads flooded the home of the Oscars to honor him with the AFI Life Achievement Award on Thursday. Bill Murray and Miley Cyrus’ backstage party for two topped the social scene at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood.
Three-and-a-half years in, George and Amal are still newlyweds, right?
Shirley MacLaine pulled an Adrien Brody by stealing a kiss. Clooney produced “The Graduate” spinoff “Rumor Has It” with MacLaine and…
Jennifer Aniston (far right) with Courtney Cox, Jimmy Kimmel head writer Molly McNearney, and Cindy Crawford posed together. Didn’t we just hear that that a “Friends” reunion was “never happening”?
Clooney’s close pal and Casamigos Tequila partner Rande Gerber was on the scene.
Kimmel (here with Laura Dern backstage) plugged and chugged the pricey booze on stage. With Gerber and developer Mike Meldman, they sold the brand last year in a deal valued at up to $1 billion.
A billion is what Warner Bros. would love to get out of Cate Blanchett’s “Ocean’s 8,” which opened the morning after. The studio heads hanging with Blanchett, Paramount’s Jim Gianopulos and Sony’s Tony Vinciquerra, probably have other ideas.
After Clooney’s private gathering of friends at Craig’s on Thursday night after the show, the party rolled over to Friday night. The three amigos behind Casamigos – Mike Meldman (left), Gerber (with Crawford), and Clooney – hosted a “House of Friends” dinner at TAO Hollywood. About 100 of their personal friends took over the entire bottom floor of the restaurant for a relaxed, casual, non-pretentious, non-Hollywood (e.g. no red carpet, no randoms) night of tequila and mezcal cocktails from a custom Casamigos bar, sitdown sushi and sweets, and celebration.
Those flash bulbs popping on Selma were the paps capturing Ryan Seacrest and friends on the way in…
Inside, he headed right for Clooney.
For Maria Menounos, a longtime friend of the Casamigos crew, it was an especially poignant birthday on Friday night. A year ago to the day, she had brain surgery to remove a brain tumor. She looked happy and healthy on Friday night and was in high spirits. “I’m so thankful to be healthy and happy today as I turn 40,” she posted earlier in the day. “God blessed me with a new lease on life.”
As the DJ spun throwback classics (“Rumors” from Timex Social Club, Chaka Khan’s “Ain’t Nobody”) guests like the Medavoys (Nicholas, Mike, and Irena), social and fashion captain Rachel Zalis, Hunter and Will Meldman, Thea Andrews, author Angella Nazarian, and Casamigos CEO Lee Einsidler stunned diners elsewhere in the restaurant who only gradually noticed the constellation in their midst.
The night before back at AFI, the entourage was more business-hours corporate: AFI CEO Bob Gazzale (in deep center) and Clooney’s long time publicist and body man Stan Rosenfield (on the chunky cell phone on the red carpet in a nod to the 90’s) keep it close.
From AFI, “Ghostbusters” and “Meatballs” fans would have had a geek meltdown over Murray and director Ivan Reitman just casually hanging out nearly 40 years later.
There will be a lot more speeches and montages and a lot less of the fun table hopping (with “Ocean’s 11” costar Don Cheadle) when TNT airs the AFI show as a 90-minute special on TNT on June 21.
O Trophy Designer, Where Art Thou? The underwhelming physical prize Clooney took home looks like it may have come from “Star Search”… and it really doesn’t matter. With two Oscars, an Emmy, four Golden Globes, a BAFTA, a congratulatory message from President Obama, and near universal approval, the 2018 Life Achievement honoree had a trophy-worthy career long before he got one that matches his hair color.
