‘We are doing it maskless’: Regina King reveals why 93rd Oscars attendees are not wearing face masks

The ceremony got under way in Los Angeles on Sunday evening, with A-listers forgoing face coverings

The 93rd Oscars got under way on Sunday night in Los Angeles, and while the usually glittering ceremony is pared back for 2021, there is still plenty of glamour as the great and good of Hollywood join together to celebrate the best of film.

A socially distanced red carpet was graced by the likes of Carey Mulligan, Viola Davis, Regina King, Halle Berry and Daniel Kaluuya, before the scaled-back ceremony, which will be split between Los Angeles's Union Station and the event’s usual home of the Dolby Theatre.

Click through the gallery above to see maskless, A-list arrivals to the 93rd Academy Awards. 

Aldis Hodge, left, Regina King, centre, and Andra Day, right, arrive for the 93rd annual Academy Awards. EPA

While there is no one presenter at this year's event, previous Oscar winner Regina King kicked things off with an impassioned speech, referencing the trial of Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis last week, which led to the former police officer's conviction for the murder of George Floyd.

The One Night in Miami... director said if things had gone differently, she would have "traded in her heels for marching boots".

“The fear that so many live with, no amount of fame and fortune changes that,” she said.

The star also referenced the fact that audience members were not wearing masks at the Oscars, a move that steps away from protocols followed at many other major awards ceremonies and red carpets to take place this year.

“We are doing it maskless,” she said. “People have been vaxxed, tested, retested, socially distanced.”

She said that protocols followed on the night mirrored those many in the room will have experienced when returning to the set of films.

“When we are rolling, masks off, and when we are not rolling, masks on,” she said.

Follow The National’s live coverage of the 93rd Oscars here.