The majority Omicron variant in the United States, showbiz panics again

With a million new cases as of Monday alone, the Omicron variant has become the majority in the United States. In the country which has paid the heaviest price for Covid-19, with more than 830,000 victims, the deterioration of the health situation is worrying. And disrupts the entertainment industry in a concrete way. On Wednesday, the Sundance independent film festival, which should open on January 20, announced its decision to opt for a 100% virtual formula for the second year in a row.

“Despite ambitious protocols, the incredibly high transmission rates of the Omicron variant push the boundaries of health, transportation and infrastructure security across the United States“, explain the organizers. It is therefore online that festival-goers will be able to discover some expected nuggets such as” Jeen-yus: A Kanye West trilogy “, a highly anticipated Netflix documentary since it is based on 20 years of archives of the life of the American rapper.

The world of music is also impacted since the management of the Grammy Awards has just decided to postpone its annual ceremony, scheduled for January 31 in Los Angeles. “The health and safety of members of the music community, the public and the hundreds of people who work tirelessly to produce our show remain our number one priority.“, argue the organizers. Off, it is rumored that many stars have refused to perform on this date.

The Golden Globes won’t have that problem. Stuck in a scandal of racism and corruption, the ceremony organized by the association of the foreign press in Hollywood will take place next Sunday behind closed doors. The NBC channel having unilaterally broken the broadcast contract, after catastrophic audiences in 2021, it will not be broadcast this year.

Worse: no leading star would have agreed to hand over the trophies and nothing says that the nominees will go to the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles where the press has not even been invited. Remember that four Frenchies are in the running this year: Marion Cotillard, Tahar Rahim, Omar Sy and the composer Alexandre Desplat.