
Los Angeles firefighters honored on stage at Oscars ceremony
Los Angeles firefighters were honored on stage at the Oscars ceremony on Sunday, met with a standing ovation from some of Hollywood's biggest names.
A total of 12 firefighters from across the county were invited to the stage in between award presentations, where they received more than a minute worth of cheering from the crowd for their efforts during January's devastating wildfires in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena.
They were joined on stage by host Conan O'Brien, who reminded the crowd that they had to laugh at jokes read by firefighters from the teleprompter.
"Everyone in this audience has to laugh, these are heroes," he said.
Los Angeles Fire Department Captain Erik Scott read one of those jokes, a jab the sequel to 2019's hit movie "Joker."
'Well our hearts go out to all of those who lost their homes," he said. "And I'm talking about the producers of 'Joker 2.'"
It's not the first time that Los Angeles first responders have been honored during award season, after Los Angeles County Fire Department Captain Sheila Kelliher Berkoh was selected as one of the award presenters at the Grammys in early-February.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Cosmopolitan
2 hours ago
- Cosmopolitan
‘Materialists' Director Celine Song Wants Justice for the Romantic Comedy
The new movie Materialists poses an age-old but always interesting question: Can love exist separate from money? In Celine Song's highly anticipated follow-up to Past Lives, Dakota Johnson plays Lucy, an ambitious New York matchmaker helping her clients realize their dreams of finding true love with someone who conveniently makes more than $500,000 a year. In her pursuit of eligible bachelors, she meets 'unicorn' Harry (Pedro Pascal), who provides a perfect contrast to her barely-employed ex John (Chris Evans). She spends the movie being pulled between a love that is convenient and a love that is decidedly less so. The movie is what many people have been desperate to see back in theaters: a genuine romance. While the film's marketing makes it seem a bit more 'com' than 'rom,' in actuality, Song gives a cynical but honest take on what love looks like in 2025, with surprising and heartfelt performances from her three leads. I alternated between giggling/kicking my feet while watching Johnson and Pescal flirt to crying at the hard-earned growth the characters achieve by the final credits. Song hopped on Zoom with Cosmopolitan to talk about getting the casting of Lucy, Harry, and John just right, why money has always been a part of dating, and how her two films are in conversation with each other. I don't write for actors, so I just wrote a script and I create characters and then I worry about it after. I was casting this movie when I was on the Oscars campaign trail. I was in a good spot to just go and meet actors because they had seen Past Lives. And in the case of all three of these actors, it really was a journey of meeting them during one of these lunches or coffee or dinner and then just falling in love with them as the characters. I wish that I could tell you exactly what it was, but it's just like falling in love. You meet them and then you just fall in love with the idea of that person being Lucy, you know? Dakota and I were having lunch, and at some point in this conversation, I was like, Oh, I think she's Lucy. And it's not really about the literal way that she is Lucy; it's about something in her spirit, in her talent, in her being. And that was true about Chris as well. I expected Chris to be like what I've seen in a magazine. And then I was talking to him, and I just loved him. When it comes to Pedro, it was surprising how the inspiration hit, because I've known Pedro before. We were getting very close, and I wasn't really thinking about it. And then one day, he and I were having this conversation about what love is like and the difficulty of love. Just a personal conversation. And in the middle of it, I remember feeling like, Oh my god, I think my friend is Harry. It has to surprise me a little bit. As in, there is a kind of unexpected quality to it. That's what I really feel is where love is, right? Well, I think that there are things that are easier because it's the second film. My second film gets to be made by somebody who knows how to make a film. The truth is that the way I see my actors is exactly as that—as working actors. And that's how they showed up to set every day. And they just worked their ass off. It was amazing to get to work with such colleagues. I think it's actually the way that he was so completely worthy of love. He's very passionate about it. You know what it is? He was not afraid to be humiliated for love. I think that is a very important quality. Because love humiliates us. It is a humbling experience to be loved and to love. And I think that there is an amazing humbleness that Chris has. He's not afraid to be embarrassing for love. Every actor has an amazing history of work that they're bringing with them. So I wouldn't say that I didn't think about those things. Of course, I did. The surprise of Chris as a person was what really what made me feel like he was John. I found meeting him very moving. And I think that's what really drove me to cast him as John. There's something very heartbreaking about his goodness. I don't ever want to walk into a conversation with an actor about doing a movie and not be able to say, 'You're going to do something you haven't done before.' Because I want not only to be inspired by the work that I'm doing with the actors, but I want the actor to feel inspired, too. The sensitivity that Pedro has, there's a softness that is sometimes being disguised by this hard shell of being a man who is surviving a zombie apocalypse or whatever. Because of what this character is going to eventually go through, it had to be somebody who is completely, entirely lovable. We get to sort of undress him in this movie and see the part of them that is so raw and open. This is the thing about all three actors. The first truth is that they're actors, right? This movie is about self-objectification and self-commodification. It's about turning people into numbers. It's about the way that we are thinking about a love in a material way. Who do you think completely understands that? Actors. That's their work. They have to be judged, and they have to be given value. In the very first line! Did you know? Yes! Yo, that's very Materialists. I worked as a matchmaker for six months back in the 2010s, and something that I noticed is that this completely objectified, completely commodified way of talking about our future partner is the norm. Just because it's not being depicted in cinema as much or in stories as much, it doesn't mean that it's not in our everyday life. I think about this so much. So many love stories, you're like, what does the person who's in love do for a living? Well, they're accidentally very rich. Isn't it amazing that Darcy is, like, accidentally so rich and it's a solution to all of Liz's practical problems and he is also the love of her life? But when he points that out, she goes, 'Fuck off.' People don't remember that conversation. They always only remember the 'ardently.' This has always been something that is part of love, dating, marriage, and, in 2025, still is. In this economy? Abso-fucking-lutely. To not contend with it and to not talk about it directly feels like we're missing a really amazing opportunity. The romantic comedy as a genre or romance is often relegated to something that is for chicks, so therefore not of substance. Romance is something that affects us all. I'm so interested in this amazing opportunity that the romantic comedy presents, which is that everybody gets to show up for two hours to talk about love, dating, relationships, marriage. And then within this fun thing, let's actually talk about something. I do think that it is completely worth talking about. It affects all of us. It's the one thing that makes us all feel like idiots. Love makes fools of all of us. [There are spoilers below for the ending of Materialists. If you haven't seen the movie yet, this is your official warning!] Both movies have at the center of it this woman who is facing the question of, what life does she want to live? It's beyond men. Materialists is pretty openly a love triangle, but at the end of the day, it's about this woman who goes through a transformation that they then at the end of it get to make a choice. And that choice is going to affect her life. And the person who is in the beginning of the film has transformed so much by the end of the film, she's unrecognizable. The Lucy who's at the first wedding could never end up with the cater waiter ex boyfriend. It's very connected in that way. I think about this ancient Greek thing that's like, character is destiny. Who you are is going to determine what kind of choice you're going to make. It's not that you make choices and then that becomes who you are. It's actually like who you are is going to mean that the choice you make is inevitable. Given what Lucy has gone through and given who John is and given what John is saying to her, what could she say except "deal"? That's the most romantic line in the whole film. The film is so interested in the practical. The Pride and Prejudice. The debt. The finance. And then, of course, the way that it is going to be ripped apart, but also put together by this very, very ancient notion that love is all shocking. Love is really what is going to keep us going. That's the only deal you can make.


Black America Web
2 hours ago
- Black America Web
The Beyoncé Effect? BeyHive Questions New Grammy Country Switch-Up
Source: Kevin Winter / Getty Okay, we all know that Beyoncé can make the whole world stop with the snap of her fingers, but did she REALLY just convince the Recording Academy to switch up their Grammy categories… just by winning?! Billboard reports that the 'Best Country Album' category will be renamed 'Best Contemporary Country Album.' Meanwhile, a new category, 'Best Traditional Country Album,' will be added. The new change will take effect at the 2026 Grammys 'The community of people that are making country music in all different subgenres came to us with a proposal and said we would like to have more variety in how our music is honored,' Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. tells Billboard . 'They said, we think we need more space for our music to be celebrated and honored.' The timing of the change is notable, as it comes months after Beyoncé's big night at the 2025 Grammys. In addition to finally winning 'Album of The Year,' Bey's Cowboy Carter won 'Best Country Album.' With that, she became the first Black woman to win the category. However, many in the country music world slammed her win. Notably, John Rich of country duo Big & Rich called Beyoncé's win 'a total joke' and said that the Recording Academy 'outed themselves' as pushing an agenda. It is also not the first time that a Beyoncé win seemingly created a Grammy shake-up. Previously, she won 'Best Dance/Electronic Album' for Renaissance at the 2023 Grammys. The following year, a new category was introduced, 'Best Dance Pop Recording.' Whether it's simply coincidental or part of a bigger conspiracy, the BeyHive is definitely buzzing! Check out some reactions below! The Beyoncé Effect? BeyHive Questions New Grammy Country Switch-Up was originally published on Black America Web Featured Video CLOSE
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Grammys to split country album into two categories and revive album cover field
The Grammy Awards are returning next February with two additional categories. The 68th awards, scheduled for Feb. 1 at Arena, will now include prizes for album cover and traditional country album. The previous country album category has been renamed contemporary country album. The award for album cover is not entirely new. The honor went to Frank Sinatra for 'Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely' during the first-ever ceremony in 1959. Over the years, visual presentation has been recognized in the packaging field under various names. Read more: Everything that happened at the 2025 Grammy Awards Additionally, the award for boxed or special edition limited package will be absorbed into recording package, which considers package design, photography and graphic art and materials. The changes to the country category come after Beyoncé won country album and album of the year for the genre-bending 'Cowboy Carter.' Following her performance at Stagecoach, alternative pop artist Lana Del Rey also plans to release a country album, though the release date has not been confirmed. Read more: How Beyoncé finally won album of the year at the Grammys "Country music has evolved in a major way over the past decade, with traditional country experiencing a massive resurgence, growing in popularity and volume," Recording Academy Chief Executive Harvey Mason Jr. said in a statement. "Traditional country has a timeless, distinct sound that's inspired generations of musicians throughout the years. It's an important part of the country music story and deserves to be celebrated and recognized with intention." In addition to the category and field changes, the Recording Academy has amended the criteria for best new artist. Now, artists who have been nominated for album of the year, but whose contributions were below the 20% playing time threshold, will remain eligible for the award. Music released between Aug. 31, 2024 and Aug. 30, 2025, will be eligible for the 2026 Grammy Awards — so Sabrina Carpenter's forthcoming 'Man's Best Friend,' due Aug. 29, narrowly makes the deadline. Nominations will be announced Nov. 7. Get notified when the biggest stories in Hollywood, culture and entertainment go live. Sign up for L.A. Times entertainment alerts. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.