If you’re among Vogue’s East Coast or European readers, it’s likely that as your day is already in full swing, the after-hours celebrations following the 2026 Oscars are still raging on somewhere in the Hollywood Hills. Alas—it all began in a rather civilized manner at the Governor’s Ball: the requisite first stop for Oscar winners to have their statuettes engraved.
From the moment the ceremony ends at the Dolby Theater, thousands of guests begin to trickle in to the large-scale after-party to congratulate each other, quaff champagne, and chow down on some much-needed sustenance after the four-hour show. Inside the softly-lit plush lounge-style set up, underneath the watchful eye of several hundred security guards and many colossal Oscar-shaped monuments, the buzz in the air was palpable.
The area right beneath the trophy engraving station was mobbed. Best Actress winner Jessie Buckley told reporters that she planned to pull an all-nighter and keep the party going—acknowledging that her fans in her native Ireland who are eight hours ahead in time difference had done the same; skipping bed time to watch her take home her first Oscar win. Best Actor winner Michael B. Jordan and his Sinners director Ryan Coogler, both first-time winners too, arrived in rapid succession with their hardware in-hand and grins ear-to-ear. Jordan came and went quickly with his new trophy, navigating his way through throngs of well-wishers and obliging some people’s selfie requests before continuing celebrations elsewhere. Namely, a pitstop at the nearby In-N-Out.
Best Support Actress winner Amy Madigan and Maggie Kang could both be seen making a pitstop at the Don Julio Tequila bar, where the After Glow cocktail—a recipe devised by Lorenzo Antinori who was in town from Bar Leone Hong Kong—made for a fitting accessory.
Elsewhere in the room, Leonardo DiCaprio and Benicio Del Toro held court at a table over a bottle of red wine, while their One Battle After Another co-star Chase Infiniti caught up with actor Tyriq Withers. Kieran Culkin rubbed elbows with a duo of Olympians from the women’s U.S. hockey team, Hilary Knight and Hannah Bilka. “I’ll trade your gold medal for my Oscar,” Culkin quipped as Chef Wolfgang Puck’s signature chicken pot pies passed by on silver trays.
While there may have been no British actors or actresses nominated in this year’s top categories—a first since 2012—at least there was a taste of the U.K. on the menu. Wolfgang Puck’s righthand man, Chef Elliott Grover, who’s better known to the international crowd as the culinary director of London’s 45 Park Lane, was serving up proper hearty grub in the guise of beef Wellington, Wagyu-stuffed Yorkshire pudding, and fish and chips. The station was proving popular, with a steady line of hundreds of hungry guests waiting patiently to be served the English classics.
Catching attention in the crowd due to her pannier dress embellished with countless safety pins—and an ICE OUT badge—was Malgosia Turzanska, a Best Costume Designer nominee for Hamnet. “We’ve all spent months together on this awards show circuit, so it’s just like a big night out with friends and I’m so happy for everyone,” she told Vogue. “I just can’t really believe that it’s all over now.”