American Fiction composer Laura Karpman was living the sweet life when she made a grand entrance at the 2024 Oscars on Sunday.
The 65-year-old jazz musician and occasional scat singer stood out with a striking handbag decorated with the Cadbury Dairy Milk logo, from which she appeared to toss chocolates at the red carpet crowd ahead of the show.
The 96th Academy Awards are honoring the best films of 2023, with the glittering ceremony held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
The most hotly anticipated movies of the past year — Barbie and Oppenheimer — lead the nominations.
Karpman was nominated in the Best Score category for the Best Picture nominee American Fiction.
American Fiction composer Laura Karpman was living the sweet life when she made a grand entrance at the 2024 Oscars on Sunday
The 65-year-old jazz musician and occasional scat singer stood out with a striking handbag decorated with the Cadbury Dairy Milk logo, from which she appeared to toss chocolates at the crowd ahead of the show
Karpman was nominated in the Best Score category for the Best Picture nominee American Fiction
The film stars Jeffrey Wright and was adapted from the acclaimed novel Erasure by Percival Everett.
Karpman opted for maximal glamour with a silver sequined suit that gleamed in the light.
She had on a low-cut sequined blouse that was decorated massive silver dollar–sized spangles, along with draped gold chains and black pearls.
She paired the top with matching pants with smaller sequins, some of which radiated a rainbow of hues.
Karpman covered up with a long knee-length jacket of the same material.
She stayed on the silver theme with large reflective bug-eyed sunglasses and complementary silver nail polish.
But it was her purple Cadbury Milk Handbag that nearly stole the show.
The Anya Hindmarch was decorated with large purple spangles, as well as delicate rhinestones and gold beads to create the Cadbury Dairy Milk logo.
Karpman wore a silver sequined suit that gleamed in the light. She had on a low-cut sequined blouse that was decorated massive silver dollar–sized spangles, along with draped gold chains and black pearls
But it was her purple Cadbury Milk Handbag that nearly stole the show. The $1,695 Anya Hindmarch was decorated with large purple spangles, as well as delicate rhinestones and gold beads to create the Cadbury Dairy Milk logo
She paired her top with matching pants with smaller sequins, some of which radiated a rainbow of hues
Karpman covered up with a long knee-length jacket of the same material
The opulent handbag sells for $1,695 from the designer, and Karpman lived up to it by seemingly tossing chocolates she kept in it to people waiting on the sides of the red carpet.
She completed her playful outfit with chunky silver boots, and she wore her shoulder-length hair in a stylish long bob.
Karpman is competed for Best Score against several heavy hitters, including the legendary John Williams for Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny, as well as The Band’s late guitarist Robbie Robertson (who died in August) for Martin Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon.
Oppenheimer’s Ludwig Göransson and Poor Things’ Jerskin Fendrix round out the stacked category.
Oppenheimer has bagged 13 nods this year, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Cillian Murphy — who is the favorite to win the major category after scooping a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and a SAG award for his role as physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer.
The impressive total — which also includes Best Supporting Actor and Actress for Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt, as well as Best Director for Christopher Nolan — is just one nomination short of the all-time record set by Titanic in 1998.
Last year’s other smash hit movie, Barbie, was nominated for eight awards, but also missed out on some notable categories.
Its star Margot Robbie was not nominated for Best Actress, while Greta Gerwig was not nominated for Best Director.
Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer was nominated for Best Director and a host of other awards
What Was I Made For and I’m Just Ken from Barbie received their expected nominations for Best Original Song
Another surprise saw America Ferrera nominated for Best Supporting Actress over her role in Barbie, with pundits saying her character’s impassioned speech on feminism sealed the deal.
Barbie’s other nominations include best picture, Best Supporting Actor for Ryan Gosling and two nods for Best Song, including Gosling’s famed I’m Just Ken.
Notably, both Robbie and Robbie still secured nominations, as Robbie was a producer on the film and so is nominated for Best Picture, while Gerwig was nominated with her husband Noah Baumbach for Best Adapted Screenplay.
The second most-nominated movie was Poor Things, a graphic art house comedy starring Emma Stone that has wowed critics and earned more than $100 million against a $35 million budget.
Stone plays a sex-crazed young woman, with her performance wowing critics. She previously won Best Actress in 2017 for her performance in La La Land.
For Best Actor in a leading role, Bradley Cooper and Cillian Murphy are set to duke it out for the award. Colman Domingo, Paul Giamatti and Jeffrey Wright received nominations as well.
Leonardo DiCaprio was snubbed for his acting in Martin Scorsese’s critically acclaimed Western crime epic Killers Of The Flower Moon.
Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things took home 11 Oscar nominations and Killers Of The Flower Moon landed 10.
Lily Gladstone is the first Native American nominated for Best Actress, for her performance in Martin Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon
Annette Bening, Lily Gladstone, Sandra Huller, Carey Mulligan and Emma Stone have been nominated for Best Actress in a leading role.
Gladstone is the first Native American nominated for Best Actress — and only the second Indigenous actress — for her performance in Killers Of The Flower Moon, and she is the favorite in the category thanks to her wins at the Golden Globes and SAG Awards.
What Was I Made For by Billie Eilish and I’m Just Ken, performed by Ryan Gosling from Barbie, received their expected nominations for Best Original Song.
Sterling K. Brown, Robert De Niro, Robert Downey Jr., Ryan Gosling and Mark Ruffalo received nominations for Best Supporting Actor.
Emily Blunt, Danielle Brooks, America Ferrera, Jodie Foster and Da’Vine Joy Randolph received nominations for Best Supporting Actress.
Joy already has Golden Globe, Bafta, Critics Choice and Screen Actors Guild awards and is the favorite for an Oscar for her performance as a bereaved cook in The Holdovers.
Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer were nominated for Best Directing, while Greta Gerwig didn’t make the cut for Barbie.
Gerwig was nominated for Best Director in 2018 for her solo directorial debut, Lady Bird. Only three women have won Oscars for Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, Chloe Zhao and Jane Campion.
Da’Vine Joy Randolph was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her part in The Holdovers
Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo were both nominated for their roles in Poor Things
Bradley Cooper was nominated for Best Actor, but was snubbed of a directing nod for Maestro
Though Nolan is regarded as the big-budget auteur of his era, he’s never won an Academy Award, nor have any of his films won Best Picture.
Bradley Cooper was not nominated for directing Maestro but he was recognized for his acting in that biopic.
American Fiction, Anatomy Of A Fall, Barbie, The Holdovers, Killers Of The Flower Moon, Maestro, Oppenheimer, Past Lives, Poor Things and The Zone Of Interest make up the Best Picture category.
The 96th Academy Awards are being held on March 10 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT live on ABC, with Jimmy Kimmel hosting for a fourth time.