The writers' strike and the canceled Golden Globes ceremony didn’t stop NBC Universal from rolling out the red carpet last night for it's annual pre-Globes party.
Okay, there was no real red carpet. It was actually a private affair at Wolfgang Puck’s Spago restaurant in Beverly Hills, which meant no big arrival line full of paparazzi, television crews and reporters.
But I still got some details for you. The official start time was 7 p.m., and roughly 600 people eventually filled the legendary eatery.
The Great Debaters director and star Denzel Washington arrived with his wife, Pauletta, around 8:15 p.m. He was spotted sipping a Diet Coke in one corner of the room and chatting with his American Gangster director, Ridley Scott.
Ron Howard hung out with his producing partner Brian Grazer. Atonement stars James McAvoy and Saoirse Ronan were also there, as was Debra Messing. Even Ms. Courtney Love made an appearance.
Washington took off after about 45 minutes.
There were plenty of servers walking through the party with plates full of appetizers like bite-size pieces of pizza, crab cakes and spanakopita.
Puck made the rounds and skedaddled by 10 p.m.
—Filed by Marc Malkin, with additional reporting by Laura Lane