LOS ANGELES, CA.- Its hard not to see the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures attempt to put on this years gala a glamorous party that raises more than $10 million for the museum and burnishes its image by drawing Hollywood A-listers as anything but ill-fated.
First the Hollywood strikes complicated efforts to hold the party, since striking actors are barred from promoting films and few would want to rub elbows socially with executives from the big studios that they are on strike against. That difficulty was ironed out after studio executives, who are among the museums biggest financial supporters, agreed not to come and union officials said actors could attend as long as they did not promote films.
Then the Israel-Hamas war cast a shadow over the festivities, which had been scheduled for Saturday night. First the museum announced that the red carpet where stars parade in their finery for photographers before going in would be canceled. Then, on Thursday, the museum announced that the gala would be postponed.
Out of respect for the devastating conflict and loss of life happening overseas, we have made the decision to postpone the Academy Museum gala this Saturday, the museum said in a statement Thursday evening. We look forward to rescheduling at a later date. We thank everybody deeply for their support.
The gala was to have honored Meryl Streep, Oprah Winfrey, Michael B. Jordan and Sofia Coppola. The chairs of the gala, which is raising money for exhibitions, education and public programs, are director Ava DuVernay, actor Halle Berry, producer Ryan Murphy and producer Eric Esrailian, a physician and a trustee.
The museum, through a spokesperson, said it had no further comment.
This article originally appeared in
The New York Times.