Bradley Cooper's Oscar women

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Hello and welcome to Gossip Time, a weekly guide to the stars by Allie Jones. Today, we’re exploring the ways in which Bradley Cooper has deployed the women in his life in pursuit of that elusive Academy Award for Best Director. This post is just for paid subscribers; if you’d like to sign up, you can do so in the box below. 

The Oscar nominating period starts tomorrow, and no one has been campaigning harder than Bradley Cooper, actor-DIRECTOR extraordinaire. The creative genius behind Maestro has been slipping in the race lately — he lost in both the Best Actor and Best Director categories at the Golden Globes — but that’s nothing 500 tabloid stories about his serious and appropriate relationship with Gigi Hadid can’t fix. 

In past awards seasons, Cooper, 49, has depended on his model girlfriends to keep his name in the headlines. But this time around, our guy is not taking any chances: He has deployed every known woman in his life in service of his goal, including his current “girlfriend” Hadid, his ex-girlfriend and mother of his child, Irina Shayk, his close personal friend Laura Dern, his mother, and even his six-year-old daughter. Let’s review.

Topless in Venice

Cooper started the season in August with a bang, despite the fact that SAG was on strike and he wasn’t allowed to officially promote anything.