You’re Not Coming In!

A ticket to the 2001 Oscars, which was advertised on the auction website Taketoauction.com, has been withdrawn from sale following pressure from the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. The hot ticket, presumably proffered by an Academy member out to make a fast buck, caused a furore at Oscar headquarters where, in the wake of threats to kidnap scheduled presenter Russell Crowe and last year's theft of several Oscar statuettes, security is of paramount concern. "The Academy will use every legal avenue open to prevent unauthorized sale or distribution of tickets to its annual Academy Awards presentation," thundered executive director Bruce Davis. "The awards are a private party, and the only audience we want are invited guests, and we want these guests to feel as safe as humanly possible from those who might want to disrupt the proceedings." Bidders for the ticket were vying not only for a seat at the awards but a five-night stay at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel (the ultra deluxe doss-house featured in Pretty Woman) and a $5000 shopping spree on Rodeo Drive (the glitzy, taste-free thoroughfare also featured in Pretty Woman). A spokesman for the Florida-based site claimed they had no idea who supplied the ticket and that the package, dubbed "The Ultimate Hollywood Experience," was received through a reputable vendor. When the controversial 'in' was withdrawn, bidding stood at a paltry $11,400 which, given the room rates at the Beverly Wilshire, places a value on a night at the Oscars of roughly $0.