Bizarre gift of Australian land in lavish Oscars goodie bags

This year’s Oscars goodie bags come with almost $200,000 worth of gifts – and include the bizarre present of a piece of land in rural Queensland.

It’s two days until this year’s Oscars. Picture: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP

Oscars bosses are hoping nobody loses the plot on Monday — as the stars are given a piece of land in their goodie bags.

Guests — on best behaviour after Will Smith’s slap last year — will receive almost $200,000 of gifts, including a chunk of rural Queensland, Australia.

But the idea has not gone down well with Indigenous groups, prompting threats of legal action.

The finishing touches are being put on the Oscars ahead of Monday’s ceremony. Picture: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP

This year, nominees including Austin Butler, Cate Blanchett, Paul Mescal and Andrea Riseborough will sit through three hours of awards in LA — as bosses revert to form and include every category in the live televised show.

The academy decided to take the 95th ceremony back to basics after a turbulent 12 months — and will even include a “crisis team”.

The 2022 event was over­shadowed by Smith slapping host Chris Rock on stage over a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith — and it will be mentioned tomorrow.

Oscars executive producer Molly McNearney promised: “It’s certainly something we can and will address in a comedic fashion.”

Smith won Best Actor but has since been banned so will not, as is the tradition, hand over the Best Actress gong.

Categories including Original Score and Film Editing will be reintroduced to the live broadcast after being cut last year to save time.

Rihanna will sing her Best Song-nominated tune Lift Me Up, from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and rocker Lenny Kravitz will perform during the In Memoriam segment.

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel will host the event. Picture: Rodin Eckenroth/Getty

Bosses are taking no risks on security after being heavily criticised last year for failing to remove Smith on the spot.

Academy president Janet Yang has told nominees including Ana de Armas that they will act “swiftly, compassionately and decisively”.

CEO Bill Kramer said: “We have a whole crisis team, something we’ve never had before.

“We’ve run many scenarios. So it is our hope we will be prepared for anything.”

US comic Jimmy Kimmel is presenting this year after stints in 2017 and 2018.

He said: “Being invited to host the Oscars for a third time is either a great honour or a trap.

“Either way, I am grateful to the academy for asking me so quickly after everyone good said no.”

Following the bash at the Dolby Theatre, guests will head to the afterparties.

In their goodie bags will be two tickets, worth $120,000, to the famous Vanity Fair bash.

At the Governors Ball, chef Wolfgang Puck will serve Wagyu beef sliders, spicy tuna tartare and cod bouillabaisse.

There will also be the much-loved chicken pot pie, with Wolfgang admitting guests would revolt if it was not available.

Meanwhile, British chef Elliott Grover revealed he would be dishing up calorie-laden battered fish and chips followed by sherry trifle and custard.

He said: “I’m pretty sure there’ll be a lot of unhappy personal trainers the next day.”

Luckily for any weight-conscious stars, the $62,000 of cosmetic treatments in their goodie bags include liposuction and a facelift.

They also get a $12,000-plus, three-night stay for eight people in a clifftop lighthouse at Ischia, Italy, and a $60,000 visit to a ten-acre luxury estate in Ottawa, Canada.

Ownership of a one square metre piece of land in Queensland will also be theirs — although that has sparked controversy.

It is a gift from Aussie Mate Conservation but one Indigenous group referenced in their handbook say they have “no connection whatsoever” with it and will seek legal advice.

Last year, stars got a plot of land in Scotland plus more than $150,000 of goodies.  

This story originally appeared on The Sun and is republished here with permission.