PALM SPRINGS, Calif. - Britney Spears' hospitalization and concerns over whether the continuing Hollywood writers strike would keep next week's Golden Globes ceremony off the air dominated red-carpet chatter at the 2008 Palm Springs International Film Festival gala.
As honorees made their way through the media gauntlet Saturday at the year's first major entertainment-award event, many initially chirpy interviews quickly careened into talk about prospects for next week's Golden Globes broadcast.
"It's always sad when a program may have to be canceled," John Travolta, who was honored with an Ensemble Performance Award, told AP Television. "If it doesn't happen, we'll postpone it and do it another time."
A Globes telecast became increasingly unlikely after Friday's announcement by the Screen Actors Guild that its nominated members would not cross the Writers Guild of America's planned picket lines to get to the event.
The actors guild, which represents most of the Globes' 72 acting-category contenders, made its announcement after the writers guild failed to reach a a so-called "interim agreement" with the award show's producers.
The fate of the Globes telecast should be clearer Monday, following a scheduled announcement by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which votes on the awards and hosts the show.
Many Globe nominees were in Palm Springs collecting statuettes from the film festival, including Daniel Day-Lewis (Desert Palm Achievement Award), Ellen Page (Chairman's Vanguard Award) and Travolta's "Hairspray" co-star Nikki Blonsky (Rising Star Award).
Blonsky said she was hoping and preparing for a last-minute resolution that would permit actors to attend the Globes.
"A girl's gotta cover her back and have a dress, just in case," she said.
French actress Marion Cotillard said she would not cross the picket line although she is not an actor's guild member because she believes writers deserve a greater share of the proceeds from productions they work on.
"I think that everyone involved in a project should share the benefit of it," said Cotillard, who received Palm Springs' Breakthrough Performance Award and is a Globe nominee for her performance in "La Vie en Rose."
The fate of Britney Spears was the other red-hot topic on the Palm Springs red carpet. The troubled pop star was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center by paramedics Thursday night after police were called to her home because of a dispute involving her two sons with ex-husband Kevin Federline.
Television show psychologist "Dr. Phil" McGraw said Spears was released from a hospital Saturday but still needs psychological help, according to syndicated celebrity news programs "Entertainment Tonight" and "The Insider."
"I feel bad, you know, because everyone kind of judges her and splatters her business everywhere," said Page, who appeared in the film "Juno." "No one goes, 'Why is this happening?' They just judge and judge and judge. It's too bad."
Amanda Bynes, who acted in "Hairspray" and TV's "What I Like About You," said she sympathized with Spears.
"I think that this business just does weird things to people, and I think that it's sad," Bynes said. "They get wrapped up in the hoopla and the hair and the makeup, the shopping, the paparazzi and the trying to be famous. That's not what it's about. It's about doing what you love."
Other Palm Springs honorees in attendance included Sean Penn (Director of the Year), Halle Berry (Desert Palm Achievement Award) and "Into the Wild" actor Emile Hirsch (Rising Star Award). The 19th Annual Palm Springs Film Festival continues through Jan. 14.
