Real Fun Begins After the Oscars

The Associated Press

Actors Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson arrive at the ninth annual Oscar party sponsored by In Style magazine to benefit the Elton John AIDS Foundation in West Hollywood, Calif., Sunday, March 25, 2001. Associated Press Photo

It may have been Julia Roberts' night at the Academy Awards, but it was Sean "Puffy" Combs who held court at the Vanity Fair party afterward.

"The bar is open," the rapper shouted exuberantly from behind one of the bars at Morton's restaurant after Sunday night's show.

With him was actress Renee Zellweger, searching for a glass of water.

Combs, acquitted of bribery and gun possession charges in New York just two weeks ago, was the center of attention throughout much of the party, with one movie star after another coming up to congratulate him on the trial's outcome.

"I was standing next to Puffy Combs," an awe-struck Beau Bridges said afterward.

You may be an Academy Award winner, but when you've got to go, you've got to go.

That was the predicament Julia Roberts found herself in when she arrived with boyfriend Benjamin Bratt at Morton's for the Vanity Fair post-Oscars party Sunday night.

Confronting her was a gigantic line to the women's room.

Unwilling to wait, the star of "Erin Brockovich" dashed into the men's room, where she was met with cheers and applause.

No one would say afterward if she used the facility or decided to wait.

Sean "Puffy" Combs arrives at the Ninth annual Oscar party sponsored by In Style magazine to benefit the Elton John AIDS Foundation in West Hollywood, Calif., Sunday March 25, 2001. Associated Press Photo

Elton John feared people would scream "fix," and he wasn't talking about the Academy Awards balloting.

"I know some people are going to say the fix is in," John quipped at his post-Oscars party as he handed the door prize, a diamond-encrusted Chopard watch, to his good friend John Waters.

The director was the big winner at the soiree, at Moomba in Beverly Hills, which appeared to be vying hard with the Vanity Fair gala two blocks down the street at Morton's for hippist post-Oscar bash.

While Julia Roberts, Toms Hanks, Sean "Puffy" Combs and others made small take at Morton's, John schmoozed with Sting, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas.

Russell Crowe ducked in the back door and Cameron Crowe strolled in the front, holding his Oscar for best original screenplay in one hand and clutching his wife's hand in the other.

Among the night's entertainment was John taking the stage to perform a duet with Canadian singer Nelly Furtado.

For music duo Evan and Jaron, it was almost as good as winning an Academy Award when rocker Melissa Etheridge pointed to them and said, "I know who you are."

"It's so unreal to have artists of that caliber say they know our music," said Evan Lowenstein of the brotherly duo whose hits include "Crazy For This Girl."

It certainly beat being nearly bowled over by Whitney Houston and her husband, Bobby Brown, when the two made a mad dash into the Elton John AIDS Foundation party after Sunday night's Oscars.

Not that they were complaining; they were too star-struck.

"Is that David Hasselhoff?" Evan asked, pointing out the "Baywatch" star. "I wonder if he would run over me if I asked him."

At the fabled Governor's Ball after the Academy Awards, the stars included not just actors and directors but also celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck.

As Oscar winners and non-winners ‹ Academy Awards folks don't believe in calling anyone losers ‹ poured into the exhibition hall next to the Shrine Auditorium on Sunday night, they were greeted by dozens of hors' d'oeuvres and a beef and lobster entree prepared by Puck.

There to eat it were such stars Ed Harris, Tom Hanks, Geoffrey Rush, Sigourney Weaver, Winona Ryder, Hillary Swank and Jeff Bridges, as well as a few non-Hollywood oddities such as Superior Court Judge Lance Ito of O.J. Simpson fame.

Fans of the Oscar-winning film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" who visited the Crustacean restaurant after the Academy Awards show weren't disappointed.

As the stars of the movie arrived there for the Sony Pictures party, they quickly ignored a horde of media photographers, choosing to visit with hundreds of their cheering fans instead.

"Oh, I paid for them," actor Chow Yun-fat joked when asked about the enthusiastic turnout.

"Such a wonderful feeling," actress Michelle Yeoh said. "We have four Oscars. Whoever would have thought."

"It's overwhelming," added director Ang Lee, clutching one of the movie's Oscars. "This is the climax."

For some, Oscar parties may have been about making a fashion statement. Musician Melissa Etheridge wasn't among them.

"I put on some high heels. I was, `No Way!' Etheridge said after arriving at the Elton John AIDS Foundation party Sunday night in silk shirt, pants and cowboy boots.

"But I did do my own hair and makeup tonight," she added.

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