Billie Eilish’s Long-Lost Choir Teacher Speaks Out (Exclusive)

Billie Eilish’s Oscar Speech Shout-Out Speaks Up

Before the Oscar ceremony, an announcer begged nominees not to waste airtime by name-checking their agents and publicists in their speeches — but nobody said anything about thanking old choir teachers. “Ms. Brigham, thanks for believing in me,” Billie Eilish gushed while accepting the trophy for best original song, adding cryptically, “Ms. T, you didn’t like me, but you were good at your job.” Although Ms. T’s identity remains a mystery, Rambling Reporter was able to track down Mandy Brigham, the aforementioned (and now retired) teacher who schooled 8-year-old Eilish on songbird stylings at Los Angeles Children’s Chorus back when she began attending in 2010. “I wasn’t watching the Oscars,” Brigham confesses. “I was at the tennis matches at the Indian Wells Open. And then I started to get text messages. More text messages than I’ve ever received in my life.” Not surprisingly, Brigham says she was “flabbergasted” by Eilish’s shout-out — “I never expected anything like that would ever happen to me” — adding that she was particularly grateful the singer remembers her belief in her. Says Brigham, “That’s the ultimate compliment for a teacher.” 

Have You Seen These Movie Stars?

When Oppenheimer won top prize Sunday night, it looked like half of Los Alamos climbed the podium to accept the award. Chris Nolan, Emma Thomas, Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., Emma Blunt, Florence Pugh and a slew of others crowded around the mic. But one major castmember was notably absent: Matt Damon. Nor was he the only A-lister missing on Oscar night. Where was Killers of the Flower Moon star Leonardo DiCaprio? And what happened to Michelle Pfeiffer, who was slated to present best picture with Al Pacino? Even some winners were no-shows, like Wes Anderson and animation legend Hayao Miyazaki. As it happens, there are reasonable explanations for all the MIAs. DiCaprio (notably not nominated for his part in Moon) was busy shooting Paul Thomas Anderson’s new movie — though he found time to appear at Apple’s post-show party; Wes Anderson was in Germany filming his latest project; Miyazaki, 83, was never expected to attend; and Pfeiffer’s Scarface reunion with Pacino was abandoned for “personal family reasons.” Damon, who was not nominated for his part in Oppenheimer, was spotted at the Vanity Fair party but had an excuse for forgoing the Oscars. “Matt and his wife were invited but had to pass because of a family celebration,” a source close to the actor explains. “Those plans changed, so they decided to attend Vanity Fair.”  

Zigzagging Swag Bag Price Tags Are No Gag

And you thought the price of eggs was out of control. Over the past decade, Oscar gift bag inflation has surpassed all other indexes, leaving even gas and housing prices in its dust. This year’s nominees picked up a suitcase worth a reported $180,000 (it included a $50,000 stay at a Swiss ski chalet, an $1,800 wine fridge and a $1,350 portable grill), up 112 percent from 2014’s $85,000 bag (a $16,000 hair-transplant coupon, a $280 bottle of maple syrup). For context, over that same 10-year period, there was a relatively modest 23 percent increase in the cost of gasoline and a 59 percent bump in median home prices in L.A. Granted, Oscar swag bags tend to fluctuate wildly from year to year — the 2016 version was estimated to be worth $232,000 (a $54,000 private walking tour of Japan, $300 worth of personalized M&Ms), while the 2017 edition dropped 57 percent to a mere $100,000 (a $599 Oomi smart home starter kit, $4.99 worth of ChapStick). But when you flatten out the numbers over a decade, it adds up to a 12 percent average annual increase. That’s about four times the current U.S. inflation rate of 3.2 percent. 

Who Let the Dog In?

Last week, THR was told that Messi, the scene-stealing border collie from Anatomy of a Fall, would bow out of the Oscars ceremony. Speculation spread that the French pooch was canina non grata after rival campaigners yelped at the disproportionate attention the dog was receiving at February’s nominee luncheon, where he cuddled with Bradley Cooper, Billie Eilish and Ryan Gosling. Imagine our surprise, then, when the Oscars broadcast cut to Messi clapping in his seat at the Dolby Theatre. Asked about Messi on the red carpet beforehand, writer-director Justine Triet played coy. “He’s an excellent actor,” is about all she would say. So, was Messi there or not? Yes and no. The cutaway shots during the ceremony were in fact filmed before the broadcast, between 3:20 and 3:30 p.m. (as caught by a spy in the Dolby’s balcony, THR’s own Chris Gardner, who also confirms that those were not Messi’s actual paws applauding, but props held by a handler crouching below). — Julian Sancton

This story first appeared in the March 14 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.