When FX and 20th Television announced that Billy Porter, Mj Rodriguez and Ryan Murphy would be stepping out on April 29 for the Season 3 premiere of “Pose” at the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City, Variety’s headline for the news asked, “Are Red Carpets Coming Back?”
The answer was yes. The “Pose” event was the first live in-person premiere since the onset of the pandemic. For the following eight months, Hollywood’s in-person events slowly but surely returned. While arrival lines had less press, and guests lists were dramatically cut to allow for social distancing, the industry seemingly embraced the new normal: mask-wearing, proofs of vaccination and countless COVID tests.
Here, Variety takes a look back at how 2021 red carpets helped bring glamour, glitz and fun back to Hollywood.
While the event space is hitting another bump, with many January in-person plans being canceled or postponed due to the Omicron variant, here’s hoping Hollywood will be back live and in-person sooner than later in 2022.
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Billy Porter
Image Credit: Lexie Moreland for Variety Billy Porter is a vision in many colors at the Season 3 premiere of “Pose” in New York City.
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Lady Gaga
Image Credit: Invision Lady Gaga arrives at the world premiere of “House of Gucci” in London.
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Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds
Image Credit: Michael Buckner for Variety Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds arrive at the premiere of Netflix’s “Red Notice” at L.A. Live.
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Simu Liu
Image Credit: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP Simu Liu arrives at the premiere of “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles.
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Saweetie
Image Credit: Michael Buckner for Variety Saweetie gets an assist at the BET Awards at L.A. Live.
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Timothée Chalamet, Wes Anderson, Tilda Swinton and Bill Murray
Image Credit: Michael Buckner for Variety Timothée Chalamet, Wes Anderson, Tilda Swinton and Bill Murray attend the photocall for “The French Dispatch” at the Cannes Film Festival.
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Jamie Lee Curtis
Image Credit: Michael Buckner for Variety Jamie Lee Curtis pays tribute to her mother, “Psycho” star Janet Leigh, at the Hollywood premiere of “Halloween Kills.”
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Kate Hudson
Image Credit: Michael Buckner for Variety Kate Hudson is a gold goddess at the 2021 InStyle Awards at the Getty Center in Los Angeles.
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Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet
Image Credit: Invision Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet pose for photographers at the premiere of “Dune” at the Venice Film Festival.
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Lin-Manuel Miranda and Leslie Grace
Image Credit: Sipa USA via AP Lin-Manuel Miranda and Leslie Grace attend the premiere of “In The Heights” at United Palace Theater in New York City.
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Kim Kardashian
Image Credit: Invision Kim Kardashian attends the Met Gala in New York City. At least we think it was her.
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Angelina Jolie, Zahara Jolie-Pitt and Amanda Gorman
Image Credit: Michael Buckner for Variety Angelina Jolie, Zahara Jolie-Pitt and honoree Amanda Gorman are a triple threat at Variety’s Power of Women Presented by Lifetime event at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills.
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Tiffany Haddish
Image Credit: Michael Buckner for Variety Tiffany Haddish arrives at the gala opening of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles.
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Michelle Visage, RuPaul Charles, Gottmik and Symone
Image Credit: Michael Buckner for Variety Michelle Visage, RuPaul Charles, Gottmik and Symone celebrate “RuPaul’s Drag Race” at the 73rd Emmys at L.A. Live in Los Angeles.
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Jack Farthing, Kristen Stewart and Pablo Larraín
Image Credit: Eric Charbonneau Jack Farthing, Kristen Stewart and Pablo Larraín attend the Los Angeles premiere of “Spencer” at the DGA.
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Jennifer Coolidge and Connie Britton
Image Credit: Christopher Polk for Variety Jennifer Coolidge and Connie Britton attend “The White Lotus” premiere at the Bel-Air Bay Club in Pacific Palisades, California.
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Prince Charles and Daniel Craig
Image Credit: Invision Prince Charles and Daniel Craig have a chat at the world premiere of “No Time to Die” in London.
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Jared Leto
Image Credit: Courtesy: Gucci Jared Leto is one of the many celeb models walking in Gucci’s Love Parade fashion show in Hollywood.
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Miley Cyrus and Lizzo
Image Credit: Michael Buckner for WWD Miley Cyrus and Lizzo attend Gucci’s Love Parade fashion show in Hollywood.
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Diane Keaton and Serena Williams
Image Credit: Getty Images for LACMA Diane Keaton and Serena Williams attend the LACMA Art + Film Gala at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
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Lee Jung-jae, Jung Hoyeon, Hwang Dong-hyuk and Park Hae Soo
Image Credit: Michael Buckner for Variety Lee Jung-jae, Jung Hoyeon, Hwang Dong-hyuk and Park Hae Soo hit Hollywood for a “Squid Game” screening at NeueHouse.
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Ariana DeBose
Image Credit: Sipa USA via AP “West Side Story” star Ariana DeBose walks the carpet at the film’s New York City premiere.
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Elle Fanning
Image Credit: Frank Micelotta/Hulu/PictureGroup Elle Fanning enjoys some bubbly at the Season 2 premiere of Hulu’s “The Great” at the Sunset Room Hollywood.
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Jay-Z
Image Credit: Michael Buckner for Variety Jay-Z attends the at the premiere of Netflix’s “The Harder They Fall” at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.
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Avril Lavigne and Olivia Rodrigo
Image Credit: Variety Avril Lavigne and Olivia Rodrigo attend Variety‘s Hitmakers event in downtown Los Angeles.
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Jon Bernthal and Sandra Bullock
Image Credit: Michael Buckner for Variety Jon Bernthal and Sandra Bullock share a laugh at “The Unforgivable” premiere at the DGA in Los Angeles.
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Rachel Zegler
Image Credit: Michael Buckner for Variety Rachel Zegler stuns at the Los Angeles Premiere of “West Side Story” at the El Capitan Theatre.
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Sydney Sweeney
Image Credit: Michael Buckner for WWD “The White Lotus” star Sydney Sweeney goes for a mechanical bull ride at the Tom Ford Ombre Leather fragrance launch at Saddle Ranch in West Hollywood.
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Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez
Image Credit: Todd Williamson/January Images Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez attend “The Tender Bar” premiere in Los Angeles.
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Aaron Sorkin, Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem
Image Credit: Michael Buckner for Variety Aaron Sorkin, Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem give each other a hand at the premiere of “Being the Ricardos” at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.
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Scarlett Johansson and Garth Jennings
Image Credit: Michael Buckner for Variety Scarlett Johansson and her “Sing 2” director Garth Jennings are all smiles at the film’s premiere at Los Angeles’ Greek Theatre.
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Jennifer Lawrence
Image Credit: Courtesy: Netflix Jennifer Lawrence poses at the “Don’t Look Up” premiere at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City.
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Ashley Park, Lily Collins and Jeremy O. Harris
Image Credit: Michael Buckner for Variety Ashley Park, Lily Collins and Jeremy O. Harris reunite at the “Emily in Paris” Season 2 premiere at the West Hollywood Edition hotel.
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Tom Holland and Zendaya
Image Credit: Michael Buckner for Variety Tom Holland and Zendaya at the Los Angeles premiere of “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” which was one of the last red carpets before the onset of the Omicron variant.