Los Angeles: A swarm of protesters have shut down a major section of Hollywood during the Oscars red carpet, making it into a traffic nightmare.
With just a few minutes ahead of the telecast’s scheduled start time, seats went almost empty and the broadcast itself started off five minutes late due to the protestors.
They shut down Sunset Boulevard between Vine Street and La Brea Avenue. Protestors walked down the street with signs that read “No awards for genocide” and drove school buses covered with Palestinian flags, reports variety.com.
Executives, such as Bob Iger, waited an hour to walk the red carpet due to the traffic jam.
Some people abandoned their black-tie attire and high heels to walk uphill from Sunset Boulevard to the Dolby Theatre.
On the red carpet, “What Was I Made For?” singer Billie Eilish, “Poor Things” star Ramy Youssef and more celebrities wore red pins in support of Artists for Ceasefire at the Oscars red carpet on Sunday.
“We’re calling for an immediate, permanent ceasefire in Gaza. We’re calling for peace and lasting justice for the people of Palestine,” Youssef told Variety’s Marc Malkin on the red carpet.
Youssef added: “It’s a universal message of, ‘Let’s stop killing kids. Let’s not be part of more war.’ No one has ever looked back at war and thought a bombing campaign was a good idea. To be surrounded by so many artists who are willing to lend their voices, the list is growing.”
“A lot of people are going to be wearing these pins tonight. There’s a lot of talking heads on the news, this is a space of talking hearts. We’re trying to have this big beam to humanity.”
The 96th Academy Awards is airing on Disney+ Hotstar in India.
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