You can always count on a few things during Oscars weekend: a joke from the evening’s host bombing, a best actress nominee (or several) in Armani Privé, and candid snaps of celebrities eating In-N-Out burgers after the ceremony.
You have the Vanity Fair Oscars Party for the latter: the outlet’s star-studded extravaganza has been serving cheeseburgers to the most famous people in the world for more than 30 years. What began with a food truck set up to feed the police, firefighters, and crew working the party has morphed into a longstanding tradition, with In-N-Out burgers becoming almost as coveted as an Oscar statuette itself.
At last night’s party, Vogue witnessed Mark Eydelshteyn—the breakout Russian actor from best picture winner Anora—try his very first In-N-Out. “It’s very tasty,” Eydelshteyn said while mid-bite. “And unexpected!” He wasn’t the only star to feast on the West Coast delicacy, either. Shortly after arriving at the bash, best actor winner Adrien Brody joined his mother, Sylvia Plachy, his father, Elliot, and his girlfriend, Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman, to indulge in a burger together. Even newly minted best supporting actress winner Zoë Saldaña could be spotted gliding through the party with her burger in one hand and her Oscar in the other. Last year, Steven Spielberg famously snapped a few personal pics of his prized burger before chowing down.
What, one might ask, is the enduring appeal of the In-N-Out burger on Oscar night? “There’s a lot of energy invested in awards season and the best way to end it is with a good burger because it s comforting,” said Édgar Ramírez, one of the stars of Emilia Pérez. “I love that having burgers at cool parties is the rule and etiquette now. Every time I’ve been invited, I’m going to have In-N-Out—always!”
In-N-Out first appeared at Vanity Fair’s inaugural Oscar Party in 1994, then held at Morton’s Steakhouse in West Hollywood. After the burger truck pulled up to feed the behind-the-scenes staff, some of the celebs attending the modest 100-person dinner—which included Diane von Furstenberg, Nancy Reagan, Lee Radziwill, Gene Hackman, Donald Sutherland and Barry Diller—noticed and got jealous. “The first guests asked if they could have one, which prompted the decision to bring them inside the party—not knowing how it would evolve to what it is today,” explained Sara Marks, Vanity Fair’s director of special projects who has been organizing the Oscar party for the past three decades.
Handing out the burgers was an immediate hit, and now, 31 years later, it’s an awards season staple. Precisely 1,707 burgers were served to the starry guests at last night’s party, including hamburgers, cheeseburgers, Double-Doubles, Double-Meats, and grilled cheese. (The cheeseburgers are always the most popular on the menu, and are prepared fresh onsite at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.) Indeed, the Vanity Fair Oscar Party has become so closely associated with In-N-Out that two PETA protesters showed up at Sunday evening’s party, although the disturbance was quickly contained.
Kaitlyn Dever, the actor set to star in season two of HBO’s The Last of Us, has been invited to the party a few times before, and always makes sure to grab a burger first. “When you go to the Vanity Fair party, you kind of fast for the day because of the In-N-Out burger—it’s the best,” she joked. “Even though In-N-Out has branched out to other states now, it really feels like and represents L.A. Since we’re celebrating Hollywood and movie making on Oscar night, having a classic In-N-Out burger feels right.”
Olivia Munn is also known to actively seek out an In-N-Out every time she attends the party. “We all wait for that certain point in the night when you see someone walk around with the burger, and then everyone starts saying, ‘Who has the burgers? Where are the burgers?’ That’s a very exciting moment,” she said, laughing. Munn’s only request for next year? “There needs to be milkshakes! We all want the milkshake—that’s my special request. That’s the only way the party could get even better.”