We are now going through the third awards season to see major upheaval in five years as wildfires continue to devastate LA

Dear Gossips,

As wildfires continue to devastate Los Angeles—an event that looks more and more on the scale of Hurricane Katrina swamping New Orleans nearly twenty years ago—more awards season shuffling is happening. This is obviously not the most important thing right now, but as we observe celebrity culture, it’s worth noting we’re now going through the third awards season to see major upheaval in five years.

The latest changes are the Producers Guild Awards pushing back their nomination announcement for a second time, this time to “sometime next week”, a tacit acknowledgment that things are still very much in flux with the fires still burning. The Makeup Artists and Hair Stylists Guild and the American Society of Cinematographers also delayed their nominations, and the Writers Guild delayed their noms to today.

There is also a question of whether or not the Grammys will go ahead as scheduled on February 2. The telecast could be turned into a fundraising concert event, or it could be postponed to a later date. As Lainey mentioned on Thursday, Jean Smart took to Instagram to ask networks to consider cancelling televised award shows in favor of donating revenue to relief efforts.

I understand the sentiment but I’m not sure there is revenue if there’s nothing to air and thus, advertising contracts are not paid out. Her comments are also full of people reminding her—and everyone—how many below-the-line workers depend on awards season for their jobs. Rather than cancelling events outright, jeopardizing thousands of jobs, delaying events to more conducive times and pivoting them to fundraising efforts might be the best option. Whatever ends up happening, this will be another wild awards season.

But some things are continuing on schedule, such as the Palm Springs International Film Festival announcing their juried prizes (the festival occurred earlier this month). Walter Salles’s I’m Still Here won the FIPRESCI Prize for Best International Feature Film, which boosts not only that film’s international Oscar prospects, but also those of star Fernanda Torres, who won a Golden Globe for her performance in the film. If she pulls a BAFTA nomination this week, she could upset the Best Actress Oscar race next week.

The fest also recognized Zoe Saldaña for Emilia Pérez, so she has the Palm Springs vote going into Oscar nominations. And Irish hip-hop artists Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap, and DJ Provái were all awarded the FIPRESCI Prize for Best Actor in an International Film for their roles in Kneecap, a film loosely based on their lives as Irish-language rappers (it’s really good and on Netflix). As of this writing, Oscar nominations are still expected on Sunday, January 19, but honestly. Who knows.

Live long and gossip,

Sarah