Glamor on the Red Carpet

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The 2009 Oscars Red Carpet (literally)

In 2009, I helped write the Oscars’ Red Carpet pre-show. Standing on the red carpet, I was inches from Beyonce, Daniel Craig, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, and Taraji P. Henson. They all disappeared into the Kodak theater but I didn’t have a ticket so I stayed behind. Instantly, the Red Carpet became a ghost town. There were a few workers off to the side, already starting to rip up the carpet when I decided to walk the entire length and savor the moment. About halfway down, something caught my eye–a tiny flash of bright white in this sea of red.

I bent down to examine the item and laughed.  Someone had dropped an oval-shaped, scored line down the middle – definitely not a Tic Tac. I took a photo and later googled the shape. It was a Xanax.

And I thought, well, that sums up the evening…. and all of Hollywood in fact. Because when you strip away all the glamor and excitement, the composure and the confidence, you get to what holds this entire industry up… and that’s pharmaceuticals.