Tons of Hollywood celebrities came out to the Costume Institute Gala Benefit to celebrate the opening of the “American Woman: Fashioning a National Identiy” exhibition at The Metropolitan Musem of Art Monday night (May 3) in New York City.

Some of the celebs who attended the event and walked the red carpet were Jennifer Lopez, Janet Jackson, Diddy, Russell Simmons, Oprah, Pharrell Williams, Justin Timberlake, Whoopi Goldberg, Naomi Campbell and more.

Check out 20+ pictures of celebrities at the Annual Metropolitan Musem of Art Costume Gala below and when you continue reading…

Actress/comedienne Mo’Nique was honored last night with the Oscar award for “Best Supporting Actress” at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards! As many critics (and the media alike) predicted, the actress turned late night TV talk show host won the prestigious award for her role as “Mary Jones” in the hit movie “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire.”

Backstage at the Oscars, Mo’Nique had this to say:

“The reason why I have on this royal blue dress is because it’s the color that Hattie McDaniel wore in 1940 when she accepted her Oscar. The reason why I have this gardenia in my hair, it is the flower that Hattie McDaniel wore when she accepted her Oscar. So for you, Miss Hattie McDaniel, I feel you all over me,” Mo’Nique said.

Mo’Nique made history with her win as she is the first stand up comedienne to win an Oscar. She also added to history as the fifth black actress to win an Academy Award. Those who went before her were Hattie McDaniel, Whoopi Goldberg, Halle Berry and Jennifer Hudson.

And speaking of historics, Geoffrey Fletcher, who won the Oscar for “Best Adapted Screenplay” for his role as the screenwriter for Precious, was the first African American screenwriter to win a gold statue, so congratulations are definitely in order for both he and Mo’Nique. Neither actress Gabourey Sidibe, who played the lead role in the movie, nor director Lee Daniels won in their respective categories. “Best Director” went to Kathryn Bigelow and “Best Actress” went to Sandra Bullock.

Check out a few pics of Mo’Nique, Geoffrey Fletcher, Sandra Bullock and Kathryn Bigelow with their brand new prized possessions below… And continue reading to watch, Mo, Geoff and Sandra’s acceptance speeches!

MO’NIQUES OSCAR ACCEPTANCE SPEECH

GEOFFREY FLETCHER’S OSCAR ACCEPTANCE SPEECH

SANDRA BULLOCK’S OSCAR ACCEPTANCE SPEECH

The 82nd Annual Academy Awards, also known simply as “The Oscars,” was held Sunday night (Mar 7) in Los Angeles at the Kodak Theater. Some of the celebrities who walked the red carpet were Mariah Carey and her husband Nick Cannon, Mo’Nique, Gabby Sidibe, Jennifer Lopez, Paula Patton and her husband Robin Thicke, and more.

Check out 20+ pictures of celebs walking the red carpet at the 2010 Oscars, the biggest night in Hollywood, below and when you continue reading…

Actresses Gabourey Sidibe and Mo’Nique were presented with high honors over the weekend at the 25th Annual Film Independent Spirit Awards, held Friday (Mar 5) at the Nokia Theater LA Live in Los Angeles. Gabby took home the award for “Best Actress,” while her co-star Mo’Nique won the award for “Best Supporting Actress.” And director Lee Daniels won “Best Director” while the movie “Precious” as a whole won accolades in the “Best Screenplay” and “Best Feature” categories.

Other celebrities at the event were Mariah Carey, Taraji P. Henson, Lenny Kravitz and his daughter Zoe, Regina King and Rosario Dawson. Check out 10+ pictures from the 2010 Indie Spirit Awards below…

Check out this last batch of photos from last night’s NAACP Image Awards in Los Angeles, CA. We have flicks of Keri Hilson, Eva Marcille, Mo’Nique, Gabby Sidibe, Paula Patton, Lee Daniels, Morgan Freeman, Nick Cannon and more posing backstage, in the audience and/or in the press room of the 41st annual event.

20+ pictures below and after the cut…

The hit movie “Precious” (nominated for an Oscar) took home a total of 6 awards Friday night (Feb 26) at the 41st Annual NAACP Image Awards, which aired live on FOX from Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium.

Newcomer Gabourey Sidibe was awarded with “Outstanding Actress,” while Mo’Nique picked up the “Outstanding Supporting Actress” award, Lee Daniels won the “Outstanding Director” award and Geoffrey Fletcher was named “Outstanding Writer.” And the film as a collective won “Outstanding Motion Picture of the Year” and “Best Independent Film.”

Other award winners last night were Tyler Perry, Keke Palmer, Wyclef Jean, Maxwell and more, while the show, hosted by Hill Harper and Anika Noni Rose, featured performances from Keri Hilson, Mary Mary, Jill Scott and others. 15+ pictures of various celebrities accepting/presenting awards and performing at the 2010 NAACP Image Awards can be found below and when you continue reading…

Black star power was in full effect as celebrities like Keri Hilson, Gabrielle Union, Jill Scott, Tyler Perry, Maxwell, Keke Palmer, Tyrese, John Legend, Gabby Sidibe and tons more walked the red carpet of the 41st Annual NAACP Image Awards, held last night (Fri. Feb 26) at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

Check out 40+ pictures of everyone arriving at the NAACP Image Awards below and when you continue reading…

This is huge! Just a few weeks after winning a Golden Globe, actress/comedian Mo’Nique has received an Oscar nomination for “Best Supporting Actress” for her role in “Precious!” In addition, breakthrough actress Gabourey Sidibe received a nomination for “Best Actress” and the film’s director Lee Daniels received a nod for “Best Director.” The film itself has two nods of its own as well in the “Best Picture” and “Best Adapted Screenplay” categories. And the film’s editor Joe Klotz received his own nomination in the category of “Best Editing.”

In a call to “The Early Show” on CBS this morning, the actress gushed over her most recent honor. “I’m floating!” she exclaimed. As excited as the actress is over her nomination, she’s well aware that the proof is right there for all to see. “I believe it is about the performance,” she said, concluding, “and the performance is on the screen.” The ever-humble star was also quick to point out that awards of this sort were not the driving force behind making “Precious,” a Sundance 2009 favorite directed by “Monster’s Ball” producer Lee Daniels.

“With the campaigning, we were very much behind the movie,” she said. “The message of this movie is so strong that it changed lives. That’s what we were supportive of, that’s what we wanted to get out there.”

Mo’Nique is nonetheless honored by her nomination. “I’m very honored and grateful that they recognized the performance,” she said. “We didn’t do the project in the feeling of ‘This is going to get us an award.’ We did the project with the feeling of, ‘Oh my god, this will change lives.’ So for this to be happening, it is just — it’s beautiful.”

SOURCE: MTV

Congratulations (and good luck) to all the nominees! The Oscars will be hosted by actors Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, and is set to air live on Sunday March 7th on ABC. Click here for the full list of nominees for the 82nd annual Academy Awards.

The 2010 Golden Globes went down last night (Sun. Jan 17) in Beverly Hills, CA at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The annual event honors outstanding achievements in the entertainment industry and is organized by the members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), who are also responsible for tallying up the votes for all of the winners (click here for the full list).

Celebs like Halle Berry, Mariah Carey, Nick Cannon, Gabourey Sidibe, Mike Tyson, Leona Lewis and more were all dressed to impress as they attended the show and posed for pictures on the red carpet and in the press room. More pics from the 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards when you continue reading…

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES / WIRE IMAGE

Actress Meagan Good hit up the Sunset Tower in West Hollywood Saturday evening (Jan 9) for the celebration of Glee’s Golden Globe nominations with InStyle and 20th Century Fox.

Actress Gabourey Sidibe and film director Lee Daniels posed for a pic together on the red carpet of the 9th Annual New York Times Arts & Leisure Weekend at The Times Center Saturday night in New York City. Gabby played the lead role in Daniels’ breakthrough film “Precious.”

Regina King, who plays Lydia Adams on TNT’s “Southland,” was seen at a sceening for the show at the Ritz-Carlton in Philadelphia Thursday night (Jan 7).

Actress Tracee Ellis Ross and her sister Rhonda attended a photocall with the new cast members of the play “Love, Loss and What I Wore” Thursday at Marseille in New York City. Tracee is a part of the play’s cast.

Former Spice Girl Melanie Brown aka “Mel B” spoke onstage for Oxygen’s television show “Dance Your Ass Off” during Day 2 of the NBC Universal 2010 Winter TCA Tour at the Langham Hotel Sunday (Jan 10) in Pasadena, CA.

George Lopez and Jackie Chan posed for pics as they arrived at the premiere of Lionsgate and Relativity Media’s latest film “The Spy Next Door” at The Grove in Los Angeles Saturday (Jan 9).

Lil Jon, the original King of Crunk, rocked a pair of gold fronts at his album listening session at Digiwaxx Friday (Jan 8) in NYC. HIs debut solo album Crunk Rock is scheduled to be released sometime early this year.

Actor/comedian Mike Epps was spotted on the red carpet of the premiere of “Youth In Revolt” at the Mann Chinese 6 in LA last Wednesday (Jan 6).

More pics below…

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES / WIRE IMAGE / WENN

Actress/singer Mariah Carey was presented the award for “Breakthrough Actress Performance” live onstage at the 2010 Palm Springs International Film Festival gala, which was held Tuesday night (Jan 5) at the Palm Springs Convention Center in California. Director Lee Daniels was onstage with Mariah as she accepted her award and spoke on her achievement.

But her acceptance speech raised eyebrows as she appeared to be drunk as a skunk.

So what made Carey seem so hazy-minded during her speech? She wouldn’t say, but she acknowledged something was amiss. “Please forgive me because I’m a little bit, um…” Carey said, pausing as an audience member finished Carey’s sentence with an obscenity that implied she was somewhat impaired. “Yeah,” the pop diva replied, before starting to laugh.

SOURCE: REUTERS

That’s Mimi for ya… LOL.

Continue reading to check out a video of her drunken speech…

Paula Patton‘s hoo-hahs were on display in her short, black, bedazzled dress as she arrived at a screening of the new movie “Precious” at the Crosby Street Hotel Thursday night (Nov 5) in New York City. The actress and her husband Robin Thicke are expecting their first child, which explains the sudden growth in the area below her kneck and above her stomach.

Other folks at the “Precious” screening, hosted by Tommy Hilfigher and The Cinema Society, were the film’s director Lee Daniels, actor Terrence Howard, supermodel Chanel Iman and actress Lynn Whitfield.

The New York Times has a preview on the upcoming movie “Precious” directed by Lee Daniels (producer of Oscar-winning film “Monster’s Ball”). The movie stars Mo’Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, and newcomer Gabourey Sidibe, pictured above on the cover of the Times. The article explores not only the story of Precious but also process that it took to make this film. From having studios reject the story to casting Gabourey Sidibe and Mo’Nique as her “demon” mother. The article also goes into the inspiration behind the film. Below are some quotes that struck us and a link to the whole article. It is well worth the read!

As the script was being written, Daniels began to figure out the financing of the movie. “Getting Sapphire’s permission was only half the challenge,” Daniels explained. “ ‘Shadowboxer’ hadn’t done so well, so I found myself back at Square 1. It was very, very hard to get financing for ‘Precious.’ All the studios said no. They didn’t want to make a film about a 350-pound black girl who is abused. Everybody kept saying no. My whole life was no. It was just a bunch of nos.”

[Lee] Daniels says that he was a victim of abuse, that he was beaten by his father, a policeman. “He wanted Lenny to be tough,” Daniels’s Aunt Dot, who is his father’s sister, told me. “Leonardo is Lee’s given name, and we all call him Lenny. I think Lenny was gay from the time he was a baby, and his father saw him walking and acting real feminine, and he wanted Lenny to be tough. He tried to get him into boxing. He was verbally cruel. He cracked the whip.”

“Precious” is a world without glitz, glamour — or, for the most part, men. Daniels convinced his actresses to leave their vanity behind. “I asked Mo’Nique to grow a couple of pimples,” Daniels recalled. “And I asked her not to shave under her arms, and she went there for me.” Mariah Carey’s role was originally offered to Helen Mirren, who had scheduling conflicts. Carey and Daniels are close friends — he calls her Kitten, and she calls him Cotton — and he offered her the part on the condition that she show up at the set alone (no entourage) in a taxi (no limo) and freshly scrubbed (no makeup). “People say to me, ‘You are so ugly in this movie,’ and I take that as a compliment.”

After winning three awards, “Precious” was finally bought by a distributor. “I had shown the movie in L.A. to my manager, and he didn’t respond positively,” Daniels said. “My manager, who is white, said, ‘I’m sorry, but I don’t think anybody is going to see this movie.’ That man is no longer my manager.”

Click here to read the whole article and expect a review of “Precious” when it hits theaters November 6th.

Mo’Nique, left, plays the mother in “Precious.” Mariah Carey, right, plays the welfare caseworker.

At left, Paula Patton, who plays the teacher in Precious. Gabourey Sidibe, right, plays the title character.

Singer Mariah Carey, director Lee Daniels & musician Lenny Kravitz posed for a pic together as they arrived at the exclusive “Precious” luncheon at la plage Vitamin water early Friday in Cannes, Paris (France).

A lot of celebrities are there for the big Cannes Film festival, including Robin Thicke‘s actress wife Paula Patton and Eva Longoria & Tony Parker. Continue reading for a couple more photos.

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES