Donald Trump and the end of the age of celebrity

The ongoing war between Donald Trump and the Hollywood A-list has entered a new and unpredictable phase. Celebrity criticism of Trump — keenly anticipated as the chewy takeaway from last week’s Academy Awards ceremony — was instead overshadowed by a celebrity cock-up. Thanks to a mix-up of the sacred envelopes, presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway temporarily awarded Best Picture to La La Land, rather than the real winner, Moonlight. The result was an unforgettable tableau of confusion at the ceremony’s crowning moment.

Trump had earlier let it be known that he wasn’t watching. Like a kid talking too loudly about his maths project while the others are getting ready for the school prom, he had tweeted: ‘Big dinner with Governors tonight at White House. Much to be discussed, including healthcare.’ I would be astonished, however, if he didn’t play the La La Land misfire on repeat later on, relishing in particular the uneasy eyes and frozen smile of Beatty, Hollywood’s famously libidinous leftie old lion.