Pro-Palestine protesters managed to block traffic to the 2024 Academy Awards Sunday afternoon, forcing organizers of the annual awards show to shuttle attendees around the demonstration in golf carts, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Vehicles on their way to the Hollywood venue were waylaid for more than 20 minutes at the intersection of Sunset and Highland, the trade publication reported, until cops showed up to break up the protest. The disruption did not go unnoticed by those who arrived early—with a number of people commenting to reporters that the red carpet seemed empty. Later Sunday night, the Los Angeles Police Department said it had arrested one person for “battery on a police officer.” It’s not the first awards show this year that protesters have managed to disrupt, after demonstrators angry at U.S. support for Israel’s brutal campaign in the Gaza Strip could be heard chanting just outside the Film Independent Spirit Awards on Feb. 25 in Santa Monica. Host Aidy Bryant even acknowledged the disruption during the ceremony, saying, “We are at the beach and people are practicing their freedom of speech.”
Protesters against the war in Gaza shut down a major traffic artery in Hollywood about a mile away from the Dolby Theatre, ahead of Sunday’s Oscars ceremony. pic.twitter.com/tQOWPYUz2q
