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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Lifestyle
Chelsea Ritschel

Oscars bartender shares behind-the-scenes insight into award ceremony: ‘Everybody stopped drinking after slap’

Getty Images

An Oscars bartender has shared insight into the star-studded awards ceremony, and which celebrities were the nicest at the 94th annual Academy Awards.

The Oscars took place on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in California, with the awards ceremony encompassing a number of notable moments, such as an incident which saw Will Smith smack Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about the actor’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

According to bartender Daniel Ralston, who reportedly worked the event, the moment led to shift in the atmosphere at the awards ceremony, as he claimed on Twitter that “everybody stopped drinking after the slap”.

“Bartended the Oscars. Everybody stopped drinking after the slap,” Ralston wrote on Twitter on 28 March.

Ralston also shared which celebrities he encountered that were the “nicest,” which he claimed included Reba McEntire and Bohemian Rhapsody star Rami Malek.

“Nicest celebs of the night were Reba and Rami Malek,” the bartender added in a since-deleted tweet that had been liked more than 233,000 times.

In a follow-up tweet, Ralston then jokingly welcomed all those who followed him “for hot celebrity gossip,” before sharing a photo of himself making a drink as Malek stood in front of the bar.

According to the bartender, the photo showed the “extent” of what he was able to tweet about his experience.

“Hello to anyone who followed me for hot celebrity gossip,” he wrote. “That is the extent of what I can tweet about my job as a private event bartender, unless you want drink recipes. I think I was making a Lemondrop in this pic.”

However, Ralston, who is also a writer, did share another interesting insight into his night bartending at the Oscars, with the bartender recalling an “excellent interaction” he overheard with an unidentified celebrity couple looking for a place to smoke.

“Also overheard an excellent interaction with a celebrity couple,” Ralston wrote. “They asked where they could smoke. It was suggested they go to the fifth floor lounge. They responded with: ‘Is there somewhere closer, where the bartenders smoke?’

“They were taken to the dumpsters.”

The behind-the-scenes insights into the Oscars have been met with a range of reactions from Ralston’s followers, with many urging the bartender to share additional details about Oscars night and the vibe shift that took place following Smith’s reaction to Rock’s joke.

“You could continue to say who’s nice! We could use that!” one person tweeted, while another said: “Can you talk in general terms about the conversation post-slap? Curious about the crowd reaction. If not, I understand.”

Others were more invested in the drinks that were ordered on Oscars night, with someone else asking: “Can you say what were popular drinks that were ordered?”

“Can you divulge what Rami was drinking??” another person asked.

Following the awards ceremony, Smith apologised for his behaviour and claimed that “violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive,” while Pinkett Smith broke her silence on Tuesday with an Instagram post about “healing”.

The Independent has contacted Ralston for comment.

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