Diane Warren Ends Ryan Seacrest’s Celeb Interview Dryspell on Oscars Red Carpet

Songwriter Diane Warren was Ryan Seacrest‘s first celebrity interview on the Oscars red carpet. It took over a half hour into E! Network’s red carpet coverage for the embattled host to get an interview with an Oscar nominee.

Warren, who has been nominated for nine Oscars, has yet to win. She is up again this year for “Stand Up For Something,” a song she co-wrote with Common for Marshall.

In the interview, Warren told Seacrest she was thinking about working with Common while writing the song. She happened to bump into him on a flight and started singing the song to him to convince Common to collaborate. Common already has an Oscar for the Selma song “Glory,” written with John Legend.

Seacrest has been on the red carpet by himself and nominees avoided him for the first chunk of coverage. But after Warren, Coco actor Gael Garcia Bernal spoke with Seacrest.

Prior to the start of the red carpet ceremony, there were questions about how much work Seacrest would get in after he was accused of sexual harassment by former E! News stylist Suzie Hardy. Seacrest has denied the allegations, and E! News said its investigation found insufficient evidence to punish him.

“I remained quiet for years out of fears that my story wouldn’t be believed and that I would be subject to scorn and ridicule for telling it,” Hardy told Variety after Seacrest denied her allegations. “I was emboldened by the bravery of others to finally and confidentially tell my story to NBC. Ryan elected to take the story public with a false narrative that he was exonerated and the victim of some sort of money grab. He is not the victim, and I refuse to let him victimize me for telling the truth.”

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