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Eva Mendes may not have been Ryan Gosling’s date on the 2024 Oscars red carpet, but she made it clear Sunday night that she and her two children were cheering him on from home.
After “Barbie” star Gosling performed best original song nominee “I’m Just Ken” live on television at the 96th Academy Awards, Mendes posted a photo on Instagram of herself wearing a pink jacket and a black cowboy hat with the legend: “You took Ken to the Oscars, RG. Now come home, we have to put the kids to bed. 💋”
Mendes and Gosling, who starred together in 2012’s “The Place Beyond the Pines,” share daughters Esmeralda, 9, and Amada, 7.
Gosling Joins Slash for Star-Studded Performance of ‘I’m Just Ken’
Wearing a bright pink suit, the actor, 43, performed a star-studded live performance of the power ballad written by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt.
Gosling began the performance sitting in the audience behind “Barbie” star Margot Robbie before taking the stage after placing a black cowboy hat on a woman sitting in the crowd.
He was joined on stage for the song by nearly two dozen dancers in cowboy hats, accompanied by other actors who played Kens in the Greta Gerwig film, including Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir and Ncuti Gatwa.
Great Ken-ergy:Ryan Gosling Joined Slash for an Epic, Star-Studded Oscar Performance of ‘I’m Just Ken’
Dancers brought Gosling surrounded by cardboard cutouts of a Barbie doll before a surprise appearance by Slash at center stage playing guitar.
At the end, Gosling returned to the audience, where Robbie, Gerwig, America Ferrera and Gosling’s “La La Land” co-star Emma Stone joined him to sing.
Gerwig and Robbie were snubbed from this year’s best director and best actor categories at the Oscars.
Also on Sunday night, Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O’Connell performed “What Was I Made For?”, their “Barbie”-nominated song.
Eva Mendes to Ryan Gosling: ‘Always with my man’
A previous post about Mendes’ Instagram page. included a video of her standing outside Gosling’s dressing room during a show rehearsal on Friday. In the photo, she is sporting a black hat, a white shirt over a black tank top under a denim jacket, and a long denim skirt.
“Always with my man,” says the legend.
Two months ago, Gosling revealed that his daughters had not seen his starring role in “Barbie.”
He said they watched “small parts” of the film and visited him on set while he was filming his big musical number.
Contributing: Bryan Alexander and Brendan Morrow
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Contact her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.