Last year, Bradley Cooper — in the running for Oscars for “Maestro” — was dating Gigi Hadid, the model.
Hadid was very busy on social media promoting “Free Palestine” and coming across as antisemitic.
Cooper didn’t need that baggage. Leonard Bernstein, whom Cooper played, was a huge Zionist who would have been appalled. Hadid was a flashpoint for Academy voters, and even for audiences.
So, as the Oscar campaign heated up, Hadid disappeared. Cooper took his mom to the Oscars. If “Oppenheimer” hadn’t been such a force, Cooper might have gotten his Oscar for “Maestro.” But the damage was done.
Did someone speak to Cooper and tell him to cool it with Hadid? I don’t know. I do know that the big stars’ “teams” are afraid to offer advice because they might be fired.
I can tell you that no one in Timothee Chalamet’s inside circle was brave enough to tell him the truth about two things. The first was about his fashion choices, which were fun for a young guy but no good for Academy voters. Outlandish styles and colors, or looking like he’d rolled out of bed, didn’t endear him to anyone. He looked like an ice cream cone last night, which is fine for 29 but not in a room of adults.
But the big problem was Kylie Jenner, a Kardashian who dressed scantily in public when she was on his arm. The Kardashians are jokes, and Chalamet comes across as their latest punchline. (Think of all the past K suitors and hsubands.) But she’s hot, he’s in love, and couldn’t stay away. If he’d been five years older, he might have said, ‘Kylie, I’m taking my mom to these things.’ But the more she was in the picture, the Academy soured on her.
Why did he win the Screen Actors Guild Award? The actors didn’t care. They rightly so respected his intense work on playing Bob Dylan — a five year investment — and wanted to reward him. But beyond the SAG contingent, it was Adrien Brody — elegant, with a classy looking dame on his arm — who came off as sincere, and serious.
One of the great things about Chalamet is that he’s incredibly articulate. He’ll get an Oscar one day, but the next time the opportunity arises he’ll be older and wiser about his public identity.
