A Scaled-Back, Empty Red Carpet?

Hollywood’s red carpet, the well-orchestrated peacock walk from limousine to awards show that is lined with adoring media and screaming fans, is a staple of the entertainment industry. Imagine, then, the Tinseltown gasps when the Associated Press reported Tuesday that “the red carpet will be missing” from the prime-time Emmy Awards. The news sent many a manicured hand to carefully Botoxed brow.

We asked ourselves: Has the hype machine died along with its brother-in-arms--irony? Will fashion be next? What will red carpet fashionista Joan Rivers do? And, worse still, what will she wear?

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences assures us the red carpet will remain for the Oct. 7 show at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. However, it will be “scaled back significantly” with fewer reporters and no screaming fans.

The shift is an effort by the academy “to reduce some of the spectacle aspects” of the Emmys to respect the fact the nation is still mourning the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, said Bryce Zabel, academy chairman-elect. “If people are not being mobbed by fans, that may allow them to be a little more thoughtful.”

Metal detectors will greet guests, and black-tie attire has been scrapped for “dressy business,” a look that confounded even the most expert stylists.

Rivers was forced to put away red Vera Wang gowns and reconsider those black pantsuits, said her stylist Cary Fetman. “What do you wear and what do you do when this happens?” he asked.

“Access Hollywood’s” Nancy O’Dell, the blond on-air anchor who occupies a power spot on the red carpet, said canceling the awards show may have been a better idea. “You don’t really want to see awards given to actors and actresses right now,” she said.

Celebrity stylist Phillip Bloch returned to L.A. from New York last weekend only to find that he had no one to dress. “People I was dressing are with HBO, and nobody’s going ....” he lamented.

The red carpet is a much-needed distraction from the tragic events of the world, Bloch said. Besides, he asked, what does dressing down accomplish?

“I don’t think Osama bin Laden’s plan was to change the dress code at the Emmys,” he said. “I don’t think he’s sitting in Afghanistan saying, ‘We’re really going to get them. We’re going to make them all wear cocktail dresses!”’

Group Discord

Last week, in-fighting erupted at the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences over how much to donate to the relief fund for victims of the terrorist attacks.

Los Angeles-based NARAS CEO and President Michael Greene directed the New York chapter to donate $10,000 but dodged questions about how much the national group would give. His action inspired a series of grumpy group e-mails read by the organization’s trustees.

“You came off pretty surly and nasty ... remember it is the New Yorkers that bear the true brunt of this man-made catastrophe,” one trustee e-mail carped to Greene. “This is a concern that they take personally. I’m not sure I can do the type of damage control necessary to repair this laceration.”

In the end, NARAS’ New York Chapter donated the $10,000. Greene refused to comment, but his spokesman said that $12,000 was donated from the national coffers.

Hugger in Chief

Former President Bill Clinton is making good on a recent promise to take several commercial flights to reassure the nation that air travel is safe. He’s flying to Los Angeles next week to receive the American Oceans Campaign 2001 Partners Award for “preserving and restoring the environment.”

In the meantime, he’s doing what he does best: hugging. He’s embraced traumatized New Yorkers at a vigil in Washington Square, rescue workers at the World Trade Center and some who attended a memorial service at Yankee Stadium.

Chipping In

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver have donated $1 million to the Twin Tower Relief Fund. Schwarzenegger has also joined the new group’s board of directors. “I was inspired by the thousands of incredible heroes who emerged in the wake of this tragedy,” Schwarzenegger said in a statement. “I have never before seen the dedication and strength demonstrated by the firefighters, police officers, rescue workers and volunteers providing help and hope to our country.”

Cops and Kisses

Salma Hayek and Ed Norton were spotted canoodling at Fototeka Gallery in Echo Park on Tuesday. Also present--but not canoodling--were Bernard Parks and a group of LAPD officers. The event celebrated the opening of “LAPD Archives: One Hundred Years of Photography.”

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Ann O’Neill is on vacation. This column was written by staff writers Gina Piccalo and Louise Roug.