Ariana Grande might’ve stunned on the Oscars red carpet and onstage at the ceremony, but she was missing in action at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party. The Wicked star was not photographed on the red carpet or inside the event, and neither was her boyfriend, Ethan Slater. Their co-star, Cynthia Erivo, did attend. It’s possible Grande preferred to end the night on a more private note instead.
In fact, she told Extra ahead of the ceremony that she was planning to lay low and work—yes, really!—after the Academy Awards. “I’m gonna have some coffee and get to work,” she said. “I think I have to do some finalizing of something tomorrow. So I won’t be out too late, I’ll just get back to work.”
She added, “But I will celebrate and have fun. This whole thing just feels like a big celebration.”
Though she wasn’t able to give us an after-party look, Grande delivered a number of outfit changes during the ceremony. She started out with a custom, structural Schiaparelli couture gown, which was embroidered with over 150,000 sequins.
While performing with Erivo, she wore another Schiaparelli number, this one made of ruby-red fabric as a nod to Dorothy’s shoes in The Wizard of Oz. Grande sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” before joining Erivo in a rendition of “Defying Gravity.”
Then later in the ceremony, she was seen wearing a strappy black halter dress.
The Glinda actress was nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. It marked her first-ever Academy Award nod, though Zoe Saldaña ultimately took home the trophy. Wicked won two Oscars, for costume design and production design, at last night’s show.
When Grande first learned of her nomination, she called it “unfathomable recognition” by the Academy. “I cannot stop crying, to no one’s surprise,” she wrote on Instagram. “I’m humbled and deeply honored to be in such brilliant company and sharing this with tiny Ari who sat and studied Judy Garland singing ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ just before the big, beautiful bubble entered. I’m so proud of you, tiny. Thank you again, from the bottom of my heart, for this acknowledgement @theacademy.”
In mid-February, Grande gave an interview to The Hollywood Reporter where she discussed how Glinda allowed her to be herself in public, rather than her pop star persona.
“At a certain point, you get tired of that [pop star] character, because it is a character,” she said. “There are pieces of you and your story that are woven throughout your songwriting, but then, because of the way it travels and becomes sensationalized, it gets away from you. And beneath all of it is just a girl from Boca [Raton, Florida] who loves art, and I think that’s why it’s been such a deeply healing gift to disappear into this character—to take off one mask and put on another.”
