BAFTA Los Angeles’ annual awards season tea party, set for Jan. 8, has been canceled.
In a letter to studio executives, BAFTA wrote, “In an abundance of caution, we have taken the difficult decision to halt our plans to host the BAFTA Tea Party on January 8 in Los Angeles. We were anticipating gathering together in person. However, given the uncertainties around the impact this current COVID-19 variant will have on our community, the prudent decision for BAFTA and our attendees is to delay resuming these large-scale events in Los Angeles.”
U.K. BAFTA events, including the 75th BAFTA Film Awards on March 13, 2022, BAFTA TV Craft Awards on April 24 and BAFTA TV Awards on May 8, are currently still going forward.
News of the cancellation comes on the heels of a rapid spike in COVID cases worldwide. Most recently, United Artist Releasing postponed the Dec. 16 premiere of “Cyrano” at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures “out an abundance of caution given the changing COVID landscape,” the studio said in a statement.
Tom Holland’s camp informed guests who attended his VIP party in Los Angeles following last week’s premiere of “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” that one of the attendees tested positive a couple of days later. Holland also nixed his surprise appearances at Los Angeles theaters on the movie’s opening night due, in part, to COVID concerns.
The BAFTA Tea is an annual affair at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills that takes place on the Saturday afternoon before the Golden Globes. The last get-together occurred in 2019 and attracted an A-List crowd, including Elton John, Leonardo DiCaprio, Saoirse Ronan, Greta Gerwig, Taron Egerton, Wesley Snipes, Patricia Arquette, Antonio Banderas, Adam Driver and Laura Dern, and directors Noah Baumbach, Bong Joon Ho, the Safdie Brothers, Pedro Almodóvar and Taika Waititi.