For the first time since Sunday’s Oscars, Academy Awards executive director Bruce Davis admitted Tuesday that Farrah Fawcett wasn’t included in the Academy Awards’ In Memoriam segment because the actress was better known as a TV star.

Davis said the academy committee debated including both Fawcett, who died of cancer last June, and Gene Barry, a longtime TV actor who passed away in December at age 90, in the memorial segment but ultimately omitted both.

Davis — who has organized the Oscars “In Memoriam” tribute — and his colleagues thought that while the two stars appeared in movies over the course of their career, they were best known for their “remarkable television work” and would be more appropriately honored by the television academy at the Emmys.

In the meantime, Fawcett’s de facto stepdaughter Tatum O’Neal — whose Oscar-winning father Ryan was Farrah’s longtime on-again, off-again flame — issued a statement saying her family is “deeply saddened” over the omission.

“On behalf of myself, my father Ryan O’Neal and my entire family, we are deeply saddened that a truly beautiful and talented actress Farrah Fawcett was not included in the memorial montage during the 82ND Academy Awards,” the statement said. “We are bereft with this exclusion of such an international icon who inspired so many for so many reasons. Beautiful, talented Farrah will never be forgotten by her family and amazing fans.”

When asked why Michael Jackson was included when actors were left out, Davis explained that the music legend had appeared in a popular theatrical film recently, thanks to the success of the concert documentary This Is It. “Think of all the blogging we would have gotten if we had left him out!” he retorted.

Kathy Ireland’s isn’t quitting her day job after channeling her inner Paula Abdul with a stiff presentatio as one of ABC’s Oscars red carpet correspondents at this weekend’s Academy Awards.

The 46-year-old former supermodel shocked viewers Sunday night as she awkwardly interviewed Precious star Gabourey Sidibe and heartthrob Zac Efron, leading thousands to question her behavior on Twitter.

According to UsMagazine.com, some viewers called her a “hot mess,” while others voted the beauty Oscar winner for “Best Use of Medication.”

Ireland took to her Twitter to personally dispel the rumors:

-”cannot please everyone…and frankly I wouldn’t ever want to,” she wrote.

-”Don’t feel embarrassed for me. Had a blast and it was so much FUN! great for people 2B honest” because it helps me “learn & grow.”

-”No meds or alcohol Angel===just J.O.Y.! Never use drugs and that as a Mom is not a cool or funny suggestion.”

-”Some say I looked pregnant.LOL! Not true…others say I was drinking…would LOL if it were not so sad. Just excited 2 be involved. Grateful…..I wont give up my day job of design”

Producers of this weekend’s 82nd Annual Oscars have defended a slight that left ’70s sex symbol Farrah Fawcett out of the annual “In Memoriam” montage — which pays tribute to Hollywood stars who have died over the past year. The Charlie’s Angels actress died in June after a nearly three year battle against cancer, but she was absent from the Academy Awards’ tribute section on Sunday night, which marked the deaths of stars including Brittany Murphy and Patrick Swayze.

The snub has caused some film fans to speculate that Fawcett had been left out because of her notable television career. The actress was best known for her career in television, but she did act in several movies; including The Cannonball Run and The Apostle, and Extremities — for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination in 1987.

Bruce Davis, the executive director of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, argues that it’s impossible to pay tribute to every star who has passed away in the last year.

“It is the single most troubling element of the Oscar show every year, because more people die each year than can possibly be included in that segment. You are dropping people who the public knows. It’s just not comfortable.”

That explanation isn’t sitting well with some Hollywood vets, who used the Web to voice their displeasure with the Fawcett Diss.

“Why didn’t they show Farrah Fawcett during the memoriam? So strange,” socialite Nicky Hilton Tweeted during last night’s ceremony.

Star Jones argues that Farrah appeared in several facets of entertainment: Jones wrote on her Twitter page, “FYI (for your information)… Farrah had a very diverse career… that included Broadway, TV & Film. She even received a Golden Globe nom.”

Jane Fonda was also shocked that the Oscars montage omit Fawcett: “Where was Farrah Fawcett? She should have been included.”

The Blind Side’s Sandra Bullock says she never aspired to win Oscar, saying the opportunity to appear in the inspirational drama — about a wealthy family that takes in a homeless future NFL star — came out out of “left field.”

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Film fans were left scratching their heads with raised eyebrows as screen stars Farrah Fawcett and Bea Arthur were left out of the annual Oscars “In Memoriam” montage, honoring Hollywood’s fallen giants, at Sunday night’s 2010 Academy Awards.

Each year, there are a few names who end up being left out of the tribute to stars who died the previous year. This year, Farrah — best known as one-third of television’s Charlie’s Angels — and Emmy winner Bea Arthur, former star of small hits Maude and The Golden Girls, were the unlucky pair noticeably absent from an obit reel that featured Brat Pack director John Hughes and actress Brittany Murphy.

Both stars appeared in films and theater in addition to their work in TV, with Fawcett even earning an Emmy nod for her 1984 film The Burning Bed.

Someone’s going to have some explaining to do, says film critic Roger Ebert, who summed up the snub in the following Tweet: “No Farrah Fawcett in the memorial tribute? Major fail.”

And The Oscar goes to….Sandra Bullock and Jeff Bridges earned standing ovations as they took home lead actor statuettes at the 82nd Academy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday night.

Bullock won for her role as a wealthy Southerner who takes in a homeless future NFL star in the inspirational biopic The Blind Side. After 38 years, Bridges finally went home a bride. He won a Best Actor Oscar at Sunday’s ceremony, his first ever Academy Award, for his role as a drunken country singer who finds redemption in Crazy Heart.

The Hollywood veteran was first nominated for The Last Picture Show in 1971.

“Mom and dad! Yeah look! Woo-hoo! Thank you mom and dad for putting me onto such a groovy profession,” said Bridges. “This is honoring them as much as it is me.”

Supporting-acting Oscars went to Mo’Nique for Precious and Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds. The director and best picture categories were two of the biggest Oscar battles in years. The race pitted Avatar’s James Cameron against his ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow, whose Iraq War drama The Hurt Locker was made for a fraction of the cost of the sci-fi blockbuster — reportedly the most expensive film ever made.

The Hurt Locker’s widespread critical acclaim helped it win the coveted gongs for Best film and Best Director. Avatar won two Oscars, both in technical categories. Bigelow — only the fourth female Best Director nominee in history — is the first woman to take home the prize.

Did any of your favorites win?

Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, for “Inglourious Basterds”

Best Actress: Sandra Bullock, for “The Blind Side”

The red carpet came alive with some of the year’s most head-turning fashions as Hollywood’s elite stepped out to celebrate movie’s biggest night at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday night.

Jennifer Lopez looked incredible in Giorgio Armani Prive. Taylor Lautner was dapper in a Dolce & Gabbana suit. Kristen turned up Monique Lhuillier for her first gig as an Oscars presenter. Cast your votes for the best and worst-dressed stars at the 2010 Oscars!

Hollywood arrives at the Oscars: Who are your picks to win at tonight’s 82nd Annual Academy Awards? Will Meryl win again? Can Clooney finally take it? How about The Hurt Locker or Avatar? Watch the drama unfold!

You just can’t invite some people anywhere! Sarah Palin took a day off from shopping her proposed network reality show around Tinseltown to stock up on free swag at an Oscar suite this week.

You Betcha!

On Wednesday, the controversial politician and an entourage of nearly two dozen cohorts — including nannies, assistants, and security personnel — descended on an Oscar gifting suite benefiting the Red Cross and snatched up freebies until their arms nearly gave way. That’s not very conservative of you, Sarah! Pascal Mouawad baubles, Skagen watches, United Hair Care products, and Bloom beauty products were among the items Palin and Co. carted off before making a dash, say spywitnesses, who watched in awe as the group cleaned out the joint.

Palin’s 16-year-old daughter, Willow, had her ‘do done by one of Jennifer Aniston’s hairstylists, and a Hollywood Life spy claims Palin took as many as 40 pairs of headphones!

“They were like locusts,” a staffer at the Silver Spoon’s Swag Lounge snickered to E! News. “She showed up with like 20 people, and they immediately swarmed the place taking everything!”

The Los Angeles Times says Palin made a $1,700 donation to the Red Cross following her freebie frenzy and many hawk some of the items she grabbed in an upcoming charity auction.

James Cameron has given Sacha Baron Cohen the green light to mock his Oscar-nominated blockbuster Avatar at the upcoming Oscars — despite organizers quick move to scrap the sketch over fears it would offend the director.

The Borat star had been tipped to present a trophy at this Sunday’s star-studded Academy Awards, but once producers saw the ideas for his sketch — which reportedly included the comic dressing as a blue-skinned female Avatar creature who proclaims she is pregnant with Cameron’s child — the skit was axed.

Cameron, who is up for a Best Director prize, is adamant he will take any joke aimed at his film in good spirits.

He tells E! Online: “I don’t know anything about that… I don’t produce the Oscars. If they want to poke fun at Avatar (on) Sunday, that’s OK by me. The Oscars are a celebration of movies… even the gaffes and out of bounds stuff are all part of the fun.”