red carpet

red carpet (plural red carpets)

1. A strip of red carpet that is laid for a VIP to walk on.
   • 2012, Simon Packham, The Bex Factor

     I've been gunged on children's TV, hung out with some actors off that soap Dad used to watch, done a photoshoot for a major highstreet fashion outlet and now here we are on the red carpet, outside the cinema in Leicester Square […]

   • 2015 February 23, “Oscars 2015: 10 things we learned”, in The Guardian (London)‎:

     This time, the actor was in uncomfortably touchy-feely form. First he sidled up behind Scarlett Johansson as she posed on the red carpet, kissed her, and slid his hand around her waist.

2. (figuratively) VIP treatment.