Hey, That Red Carpet Isn’t Red!

There are some fundamental truths in the world: The sky is blue. The grass is green. The Oscars red carpet is re —— champagne-colored.

Jimmy Kimmel, this year’s host, joked at the unveiling on Thursday that the color change — the first time in more than six decades that the academy’s arrival rug will not be red — had been prompted by Will Smith slapping the comedian Chris Rock across the face onstage at last year’s ceremony.

“I think the decision to go with a champagne carpet rather than a red carpet shows just how confident we are that no blood will be shed,” he said.

Oscars organizers said they wanted the rug to be mellow, like a beach at sunset.

The 50,000-square-foot rug, which was created in a color chosen by the academy, is the latest in a trend of colorful carpets sweeping premieres, galas and award ceremonies across the country, from the Emmys (gold) to the Golden Globes (gray) to the purple-carpeted world premiere of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” in Los Angeles in November.

“Every year, a new color will be a hot color,” said Steve Olive, the president of Event Carpet Pros, the company that has manufactured the carpet for the Oscars for more than 20 years, as well as events on both coasts like the Golden Globes, the Emmy Awards, the Grammy Awards and thousands of movie premieres. “This year seems to be a lot of lavender,” he said. (Red, he notes, is still the most popular color, though black, white and gray are gaining on it.)