At this point, you’ve just got to wonder why Ryan Seacrest even showed up. Even if he is innocent of the sexual harassment allegations against him, there was no way the E! red carpet coverage was going to be anything but awkward with him at the helm.
After there was some rumours that E! were considering a thirty second delay on their broadcast to quickly address any confrontations if they did arise, his actual red carpet coverage was pretty uneventful – even if it did allegedly involve a number of stars dodging interviews with him.
But there was a little bit of shade – if the eagle-eyed Oscars viewers of Twitter are to be believed which they absolutely should be). Seacrest interviewed actress Taraji P. Henson, who seemingly made a jab at him, leading to a very awkward pause.
Welp 😳 pic.twitter.com/zKmUpYaYp2
— TV Guide (@TVGuide) March 5, 2018
“You know what? The universe has a way of taking care of the good people,” Henson says to Seacrest in a seemingly unprompted aside. “You know what I mean?”
As she said it, she reached out and touched Seacrest’s chin, leading him to quickly say “I agree,” and pausing.
https://twitter.com/NerdAboutTown/status/970451570306506759
https://twitter.com/Ellojoe/status/970451840415432705
I literally just gasped out loud at Taraji bopping Seacrest on the chin while shading his character.
— Craig Bro Dude (@CraigSJ) March 5, 2018
That’s the level of shade I aspire to. Taraji the goddess.
— 🤌🏾 Imani Gandy 👆🏾 (@AngryBlackLady) March 5, 2018
Yes, Taraji. I would say we know what you mean.