Ironic thought

Here's something that I've thought about for years concerning this film. It was released in 1996 with Whoopi Goldberg and Alec Baldwin. Earlier that year, at the Oscars, Whoopi hosted and applauded Alec for his handling the papparazzi. Did anyone else notice that coincidence? Or did she do that joke in a way to subtly plug her upcoming film with Alec?