Depp, Witherspoon win People’s Choice Awards

Author: Reuters

LOS ANGELES — Johnny Depp and Reese Witherspoon were among the celebrities who won People’s Choice Awards on Tuesday in a televised program that was drastically altered due to the Hollywood writers strike.

Instead of receiving their statuettes to great applause during a traditional awards ceremony, the recipients taped acceptance speeches for a canned broadcast that aired on CBS.

The event’s organizers were forced to change their plans last month because the Writers Guild of America is refusing to allow many awards shows to hire union writers and actors are not crossing the writers’ picket lines.

This one-two punch knocked out the Golden Globes on Monday, reducing that awards gala to a news conference next Sunday.

Roughly 10,500 Writers Guild members went on strike against Hollywood’s major studios in November in a dispute that centers on fees writers want when their work appears on the Internet.

The strike has ended production of TV shows, derailed films and altered many awards shows that air at this time of year.

In all, there were 38 categories for the 34th annual People’s Choice Awards, split among film, TV and music. Winners were voted on by audiences, and Queen Latifah hosted the two-hour telecast in a "magazine-style" TV format.

Speeches by presenters that would have been written by striking union members in a traditional awards ceremony were dropped, and the winners avoided having to cross a live broadcast’s picket lines by taping speeches in advance.

Depp and Witherspoon were named favorite male and female movie star. Neither was cited for any particular film, though Depp was in theaters last year with "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End," which won two other awards. Witherspoon appeared in only one movie, the box office bomb "Rendition."

Joaquin Phoenix and Drew Barrymore also had a quiet year at movie box offices, but that did not stop them from being named favorite leading actors.

Matt Damon and Keira Knightley, respective stars of "The Bourne Ultimatum" and "Pirates of the Caribbean," took the honors for favorite action stars.

"Pirates of the Caribbean" was also named favorite movie and "threequel," and "Bourne Ultimatum" favorite action movie. "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" won favorite drama, "Knocked Up" favorite comedy, and "Shrek the Third" favorite family movie.

"Grey’s Anatomy" actors Patrick Dempsey and Katherine Heigl were named favorite TV stars. But another medical show, "House," won favorite drama. The comedy category went to "Two and a Half Men."

Justin Timberlake and Gwen Stefani won for favorite singers. Country combo Rascal Flatts was named favorite group.– Reuters

Source: Malaya

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