The Red Carpet of the 2023 Academy Awards will be champagne-colored before the ceremony

March 11, 2023

“I think the decision to go on the red carpet with champagne shows how confident we are that no blood will be spilled,” host Jimmy Kimmel joked.

What happens when Hollywood’s biggest night (and arguably the glitziest red carpet event of the year) doesn’t have… red carpet?

For the first time since 1961, the Academy Awards won’t have a literal red carpet leading into the Dolby Theater. Instead, like the Associated Press announced that there will be a “champagne-colored” carpet ahead of the 2023 Academy Awards ceremony.

“I think the decision to put a champagne rug on the red carpet shows how confident we are that there’s not going to be any blood,” host Jimmy Kimmel said, possibly referring to Will Smith’s attack on Chris Rock last year.

The non-red carpet color change at the 2023 Oscars was chosen by creative consultants Lisa Love, a longtime Vogue collaborator, and Raúl Àvila, creative director of the Met Gala in New York. Sienna and saffron were also tried with other shades to “evoke the sunset”, but in the end they decided on a light beige shade, paired with champagne during the awards ceremony.

“Someone always has a way of finding fault with something,” said creative director Love. “It’s just lightness and hopefully people like it. That doesn’t mean it’s always going to be a champagne-colored carpet.”

The carpet will also be covered due to the unusually stormy weather in Los Angeles this year as the evening’s event is ushered in, despite it being the afternoon when the celebrities arrive.

“We turned a day event into a night,” Love said. “It’s evening, although it’s still 3 o’clock in the afternoon”

The iconic red carpet was first televised in color in 1966, five years after its inaugural debut became a household name with pre-event arrivals everywhere.

This year’s “red” carpet kicks off at 1:30pm PT, with the live awards show starting at 5:00pm PT / 8:00pm ET on Sunday, March 12th. , Florence Pugh, Jessica Chastain and more are set to appear.

As for the night’s awards contenders, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s “Everything Everywhere All at Once” leads this year’s Oscar nominations with 11 nods, including best picture. Martin McDonagh’s “The Banshees of Inisherin” and Edward Berger’s “All Quiet on the Western Front” follow with nine nominations each.

Click here to see the full list of candidates.

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