GQ salutes its Men of the Year with lavish party at Chateau Marmont
In a room full of famous people, heads turned at the arrival of Robert Pattinson and FKA Twigs, the actor and musician who slipped in quietly despite their megawatt star status, interacting with other partygoers but staying within shouting range of each other.
They were just a few of the many bold-face celebrities at GQ magazine’s glitzy 21st Men of the Year party Thursday night at the Chateau Marmont, a star-studded bash thrown in honor of the magazine’s Men of the Year issue.
The Times was a fly on the wall at the super-exclusive event, whose guest list was so tight that guests’ plus ones were turned down at the door. This was just par for the course for the annual event, which rapper Wiz Khalifa told me is one of his favorite parties.
Cigar smoke commingled with the scent of marijuana and cigarettes wafting poolside at the posh Hollywood hotel as women in towering heels and dresses with long trains tried arduously to not to fall into the pool. The patio, decked out in floating candles and strings of lights, was Times-Square-on-New-Year’s-Eve-packed with Hollywood’s best and brightest.
Models (Lucky Blue), musicians (Vic Mensa, Kelly Rowland) and movie stars (Mahershala Ali, Joel Edgerton) trickled in early and stayed long after the DJ stopped spinning R&B and hip-hop hits. Blue, in black sequined pants, shuffled off to the side as the seating area was cleared for Man of the Year Ryan Reynolds and his entourage.
Fellow Men of the Year Warren Beatty and Usain Bolt were also in attendance, with Beatty seated with wife Annette Bening, Jason Patric and Chris Noth at a lounge by the door, while Bolt preferred to stand and zig-zag through the crowd.
Over by the bar, Christian Slater, his wife (Brittany Lopez) and Carly Chaikin extolled the virtue of reality TV, specifically “The Bachelor” and its offshoots.
“We started watching [Lifetime’s] ‘UnReal,’ so that led to us going, ‘Now let’s check out “The Bachelorette,”’” Slater said.
“From a critical perspective, of course,” Lopez chimed in.
“Because we only wanted to educate ourselves,” Slater said with a laugh. “That’s all it was. No, but, it’s a guilty pleasure, what can I say?”
“Atlanta” stars Donald Glover and Brian Tyree Henry held court on the packed patio in perfect view of the fashionably late guests: Christina Milian and Karrueche Tran, Chad Michael Murray, Rami Malek and the L.A. Lakers’ Nick Young, who stood next to the rapper PartyNextDoor. Kevin Hart and Terry Crews talked to Rowland (resplendent in a floor-length red dress) while pop star Nick Jonas puffed from a cigar, careful not to drop ashes on his white sports coat.
“How to Get Away With Murder” stars Alfred Enoch and Matt McGorry mingled separately in the standing room-only crowd, alongside actors Tom Payne (“The Walking Dead”), Aldis Hodge (“Underground”) and Shemar Moore (“Criminal Minds”). Mensa sported a bright pink bomber jacket, white jeans and silver heeled boots and shared a laugh with Keke Palmer and singer Mario.
The full house grew increasingly diverse as the night went on. Marvel’s new Spider-Man, Tom Holland, smoked a cigarette by the bar while talking with friends about costars Robert Downey Jr. and fellow Marvel hero Hugh Jackman. As the night wound down (well past this reporter’s bedtime), guests filed down the steps as people lined up to get a glimpse of them climbing into their valet cars.
Just another night in Hollywood.
Follow me on Twitter @sonaiyak
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