Blogging from the press room at the Academy Awards, Variety's On the Town asked Officially Oscar-Recognized The Departed producer Graham King the uncomfortable, inevitable question about Paramount emperor Brad Grey's losing appeal to have the opportunity to hop onstage and clutch the Best Picture statuette he helped win for a rival studio:

10:19 So I finally asked a question of Graham King, the producer of best picture winner "The Departed:" What did he think about the Brad Grey controversy, the fact that the Paramount Pictures head was denied a producing credit? "I think he deserved the credit on the picture, but I don't make the rules." No, he doesn't, but as the sole credited producer, he did give the speech at the Kodak — and Brad Grey wasn't in it.

We're sure that King's omission of Grey was just an honest mistake (or, at the very least, an attempt not to bore a billion people* with an explanation of why Grey couldn't join him on the stage) and that the Paramount chief carried no ill feelings to the various after-parties they'd both later attend. Still, the security detail at the Vanity Fair event was on high alert to monitor any interactions between the two men, just in case Grey's jilting finally overwhelmed him, leading him to try and drown the victorious King in a chocolate fountain and make off with his loaner Oscar.

[*Not really a billion people.]

• Liveblogging the Oscars: In which we take it from the top [Var On The Town]

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