Maya Salam

<h1>Seven nominations later, Glenn Close remains Oscar-less, retaining her less-than-enviable title of most nominated living actor, male or female, without a statuette.</h1>

Close had been the best actress favorite for much of awards season, but it was Olivia Colman, of “The Favourite,” who clinched the win at Sunday night’s ceremony.

“Glenn Close, you’ve been my idol for so long,” Colman said in her acceptance speech. “This isn’t how I wanted it to be.”

Close, who resembled an Oscar statuette herself in a gold dress that weighed more than 40 pounds, won a Golden Globe in January for her role in “The Wife.” In her emotional speech at the time, Close, who seemed surprised by her achievement, said: “It will have been 45 years in September that I am a working actress. And I cannot imagine a more wonderful life.”

The actress’ dry spell has lasted decades. In the 1980s, she racked up five nominations, for “The World According to Garp,” “The Big Chill,” “The Natural,” “Fatal Attraction” and “Dangerous Liaisons.” She wasn’t nominated again until 2011, for “Albert Nobbs.”

Nipping at Close’ heels for the most nominations without any wins is Amy Adams, who lost a sixth time Sunday for her turn as Lynne Cheney, the wife of Vice President Dick Cheney, in “Vice.”

Though seven is a lot of Oscar losses, Close is not the most losing actor of all time. Peter O’Toole earned eight nominations and Richard Burton earned seven. (O’Toole was awarded an honorary Oscar.)

Last month, when asked if winning even matters at this point, Close told The New York Times: “If I, in my heart and soul, feel that I’ve fulfilled the challenges of a certain character, that’s where I find my personal fulfillment. I don’t feel like I need to be validated by some award, even though in the nature of our business, it does mean something.”

This article originally appeared in <a id="f08f61f6-a249-4314-802b-ccdfe402604d" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/24/arts/glenn-close-oscar.html">The New York Times</a>.

Glenn Close loses at the Oscars once again

Close had been the best actress favorite for much of awards season, but it was Olivia Colman, of “The Favourite,” who clinched the win at Sunday night’s ceremony.

<h1>Those expecting a ho-hum Grammys night were surely jolted awake Sunday when, just minutes into the show, Michelle Obama walked onto the stage hand-in-hand with Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith and Jennifer Lopez. They were joined by host Alicia Keys.</h1>

In the surprise appearance, which doubled as a moment of female solidarity the Grammys needed, Obama spoke to the crowd as it erupted in applause and cheers.

“All right, all right, we got a show to do,” Obama, who wore a loose-fitting shimmering silver jumpsuit, said playfully when the audience wouldn’t settle down.

“From the Motown records I wore out on the South Side to the ‘who run the world’ songs that fueled me through this last decade, music has always helped me tell my story, and I know that’s true for everybody here,” she continued, referring to the Chicago neighborhood where she was raised.

“Whether we like country or rap or rock, music helps us share ourselves, our dignity and sorrows, our hopes and joys. It allows us to hear one another, to invite each other in. Music shows us that all of it matters — every story within every voice, every note within every song. Is that right ladies?” she said as many in the crowd remained standing.

The moment could not have come at a better time for the show. Last year, the event, which has struggled to stay relevant, came under fire for a statement made by Neil Portnow, chief executive of the Recording Academy. Women in music should “step up” to advance their careers, he had said. The academy has since changed its membership and nominations process in efforts to address underlying problems of inequality.

On Sunday night, the women onstage with Obama spoke about how music gave them a space to explore who they are.

“They said I was weird, that my look, my choices, my sound, that it wouldn’t work,” Lady Gaga said. “But music told me not to listen to them. Music took my ears, took my hands, my voice and my soul, and it led me to all of you and to my Little Monsters who I love so much.”

Next, Pinkett Smith spoke. “We express our pain, power, progress through music — whether we’re creating it, or just appreciating it,” she said. “But here’s what I know: Every voice we hear deserves to be honored and respected.”

Lopez closed out the segment. “Back in the Bronx, music gave me a reason to dance, from hip-hop to freestyle, pop, soul and salsa,” she said. “It kept me moving from the block to the big stages and even bigger screens. It reminds me where I come from, but it also reminds me of all the places I can go. Music remains the one place we can all feel truly free.”

This article originally appeared in <a id="b9096b01-e003-4bb5-bea9-21600a3744f6" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/10/arts/music/michelle-obama-grammys.html">The New York Times</a>.

Michelle Obama stuns Grammys audience with surprise appearance

In the surprise appearance, which doubled as a moment of female solidarity the Grammys needed, Obama spoke to the crowd as it erupted in applause and cheers.

<h1>Messages of inspiration and hope prevailed at a colorful and uplifting Grammy Awards on Sunday, defying expectations that the event would be drab. The stars also all but steered clear of any political messages.</h1>

The host, Alicia Keys, set the positive tone by telling personal stories and speaking often of peace and love. And she led the event with an all-star moment of female solidarity, which included a surprise appearance by Michelle Obama, who said that music “has always helped me tell my story,” and “allows us to hear one another, to invite each other in.”

Obama wasn’t the only unexpected attendee with a message of empowerment. Drake, one of the most nominated artists this year, with seven nods and one win, showed up to accept the award for best rap song for his smash “God’s Plan.”

Drake, who has skipped the Grammys in recent years and turned down an offer to perform at this year’s show, used his time onstage to speak to other artists and to children who aspire to music fame. His message: That awards like the Grammys are not a measure of success in the music industry.

“We’re playing in an opinion-based sport, not a factual-based sport,” he said, explaining that music is a business where powerful people who don’t necessarily understand artists’ experiences are often making the decisions.

“The point is you’ve already won if you have people who are singing your songs word for word, if you’re a hero in your hometown, if — look, look — if there’s people who have regular jobs who are coming out in the rain, in the snow, spending their hard-earned money to buy tickets to come to your shows, you don’t need this right here, I promise you that, you already won,” he said, holding up his Grammy.

Not long after, Diana Ross, in a flowing red gown, celebrated her upcoming 75th birthday with two hits from her solo career: “The Best Years of My Life” and “Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand).”

She punctuated her performance by speaking to the crowd. “So much love in this room,” she said. “Together we have no limits. There’s only success ahead and you can lead the way. Learn, dream, unlock new doors. All is possible.”

Earlier in the night, Lady Gaga accepted an award for “Shallow” from “A Star Is Born” and said she was proud to be part of a movie that addresses mental health issues. “A lot of artists deal with that, and we’ve got to take care of each other,” she said, adding, “So if you see somebody that’s hurting, don’t look away.”

And Dua Lipa, winner for best new artist, clapped back at Neil Portnow, the chief executive of the Recording Academy, who said last year that women in music should “step up” to advance their careers.

“I guess this year we really stepped up,” Lipa said, accepting her award, referring to the strong showing by women this year.

“For anyone that hasn’t realized how special they are to have a different story, a different background, a name that honors their roots because they just want to be normal, whatever the hell that means,” she went on, adding, “never let that get in the way of you and your dreams, because you deserve it.”

This article originally appeared in <a id="18cc4839-a9db-490b-a714-fa11a89a9759" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/11/arts/music/grammys-dua-lipa-drake-diana-ross-lady-gaga.html">The New York Times</a>.

The host, Alicia Keys, set the positive tone by telling personal stories and speaking often of peace and love.

At the Grammys, messages of hope prevail

<h1>Last year’s Golden Globes “blackout” — when nearly every attendee was draped in black — was an undeniable act of solidarity with the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements.</h1>

But on Sunday night’s red carpet, the energy surrounding the issue of workplace sexual harassment and holding those in power accountable was dialed way back (though certainly more present than at the Emmys Awards in September, where the issue was eerily absent).

At the Globes, celebrities, including hosts Sandra Oh and Andy Samberg, donned black-and-white bracelets and ribbons that read #TimesUpx2 that were designed by Arianne Phillips, who created last year’s Time’s Up pins.

“What a difference a year makes,” Phillips posted on Instagram on Saturday along with a photo of the accessories.

Before the show, actress Rachel Brosnahan, wearing a ribbon, said: “While we’re still fighting for safety and equity in the workplace, those are symptoms of a larger problem of an imbalance of power” — the message attached to the new #TimesUpx2 hashtag. She is nominated for best actress for “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” an award she won last year. Her husband, Jason Ralph, wore a bow tie he said he fashioned on the spot from one of the ribbons.

Elsewhere on the carpet, Laura Dern’s daughter Jaya, 14, said: “I want my generation to not have to say #MeToo.” Dern is nominated for “The Tale.”

In her opening comments, Oh, choking up, took a moment from the gags to say: “I wanted to be here to look out into this audience and witness this moment of change. And I’m not fooling myself. I’m not fooling myself. Next year could be different. It probably will be. But right now, this moment is real.”

The camera scanned to the faces of women in the audience, particularly those of women of color.

Not long after, Regina King, accepting her Golden Globe for “If Beale Street Could Talk,” stopped the play-off music with the words “Time’s Up times two.” She then announced that she was dedicated to finding gender parity in her projects.

“I am making a vow,” she said, “to make sure that everything that I produce, that it’s 50 percent women. And I just challenge anyone out there — anyone out there who is in a position of power, not just in our industry, in all industries, I challenge you to challenge yourselves and stand with us in solidarity and do the same. God bless you. Thank you.”

In a statement last week, Time’s Up, which aims to address systemic inequality and injustice in the workplace, said it had been contacted for help by more than 3,800 men and women in the last year. For its second year, the organization is calling for the number of women in leadership roles throughout all industries to be doubled.

“We created the fund because all people deserve to be safe at work, but safety alone is far from our end goal,” the statement read. “It’s the bare minimum. Sexual harassment stems from an imbalance of power. Issues of workplace safety for women, and especially for women of color, are but a symptom of the power imbalance that plagues nearly every sector. We won’t stop fighting until there is gender balance in leadership and all women have the opportunity to reach their full potential at work.”

This article originally appeared in <a id="3de0d511-53e7-424a-9bcd-f34fe2532b96" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/06/movies/times-up-pin-bracelet.html">The New York Times</a>.

Golden Globes 2019: Time's Up shows up on pins and bracelets

At the Globes, celebrities, including hosts Sandra Oh and Andy Samberg, donned black-and-white bracelets and ribbons that read #TimesUpx2 that were designed by Arianne Phillips, who created last year’s Time’s Up pins.

<h1>Carol Burnett sometimes daydreams of being young again and reliving her unparalleled career, she said at Sunday night’s Golden Globes, but then she stops short. “I realize how incredibly fortunate I was to be there at the right time, because what we did then couldn’t be done today,” she said.</h1>

Burnett, 85, considered the “queen of comedy,” was accepting the inaugural Carol Burnett Award, an accolade that focuses on life achievement in television. And she took the moment to reflect on the opportunities that were available to her when she began a variety show called “The Carol Burnett Show” in 1967, which ran for “11 joy-filled years,” as she put it, and earned 25 Emmys.

Burnett won five Golden Globes for the program, which drew about 30 million viewers a week.

In her acceptance speech Sunday, Burnett, who has been in the industry for seven decades, said she fell in love with movies as a young girl and then with television as a teenager.

“What fascinated me was the way the stars on the screen could make people laugh or cry or sometimes both,” she said. “And I wished and I hoped that maybe, just maybe, some day, I could have the chance to do the same thing. Well, those childhood dreams came true.”

But it was the message that those dreams may not pan out for someone today that was her focus.

“The cost alone would be prohibitive,” she said, adding that other variety shows of the era, which ruled in the small screen, “could never see the light of day today because the networks just wouldn’t spend the money.”

“They are not going to take a chance,” she went on. “It’s sad to say today’s audiences might never know what they are missing.”

Even while making this more sobering point, though, Burnett did not pass on a punch line: “So here’s to reruns and YouTube!”

Burnett said she was “gobsmacked” to not only be accepting the award but also to have it named after it her — “does this mean I get to accept it every year?” she joked. Burnett has collected numerous awards throughout her career, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a Kennedy Center Honor, the Mark Twain Prize for Humor and two Peabody Awards, one of which she accepted last year.

“I’m just happy that our show happened when it did, and that I can look back and say once more I am so glad we had this time together,” she said in closing, using the same words — and signature gesture, an ear tug — that she closed her show with for all those years. The ear tug, which began as a secret greeting for her grandmother, has since become an iconic symbol, likely to forever represent the comedian.

This article originally appeared in <a id="bc78e424-a649-4c10-9acf-c854ec97060b" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/06/movies/carol-burnett-award-speech.html">The New York Times</a>.

Carol Burnett says her show 'couldn't be done today'

Burnett won five Golden Globes for the program, which drew about 30 million viewers a week.

“We created the fund because all people deserve to be safe at work, but safety alone is far from our end goal,” the statement read. “It’s the bare minimum. Sexual harassment stems from an imbalance of power. Issues of workplace safety for women, and especially for women of color, are but a symptom of the power imbalance that plagues nearly every sector. We won’t stop fighting until there is gender balance in leadership and all women have the opportunity to reach their full potential at work.”

This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/06/movies/times-up-pin-bracelet.html" id="17a8db49-278b-36f0-a7c0-2cfc458b85eb">The New York Times</a>.

Last year’s Golden Globes “blackout” — when nearly every attendee was draped in black — was an undeniable act of solidarity with the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements.

Golden Globes 2019: Time's Up Shows Up on Pins and Bracelets

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