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Chelsea Handler gave her opening monologue at the 31st annual Critics Choice Awards on Sunday, Jan. 4
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The comedian, 50, roasted actor Leonardo DiCaprio for recently vacationing with Amazon founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos
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This is Handler’s fourth time in a row hosting the award ceremony, which took place live from the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif.
Chelsea Handler took playful aim at Leonardo DiCaprio during her Critics Choice Awards 2026 opening monologue.
“Leo’s here,” she said, while motioning to DiCaprio, 51, who was seated in the audience. The actor is nominated for his performance in One Battle After Another.
“Thank God. Leo almost didn’t make it tonight because he was trapped on a boat in St. Bart’s. It was just like the Titanic, but worse, because Jeff Bezos was there,” she added, evoking loud laughter from the audience.
The jab was in reference to the fact that the actor was recently unable to leave St. Bart’s — where he was photographed on vacation with celebrity friends, including the billionaire — due to air restrictions in the Caribbean following the recent U.S.-Venezuela conflict. He ultimately missed an awards ceremony at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, where he was set to receive the Desert Palm Achievement Award for his performance in his most recent movie, One Battle After Another.
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Chelsea Handler giving her opening monologue at the 2026 Critics Choice Awards in Santa Monica, Calif., on Jan. 4
This is the fourth year in a row that the comedian, 50, has hosted the annual ceremony, which was broadcast live on Sunday, Jan. 4 from the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif.
This year’s ceremony kicked off awards season with the Critics Choice Association highlighting the best movies and TV shows of the past year. Top nominees included Sinners, which led in film with a total of 17 nominations, along with Netflix’s Adolescence topping the TV categories with six total nods.
Four new categories have also been added this year: Best Variety Series, Best Stunt Design, Best Casting and Ensemble, and Best Sound.
The 2026 event comes less than a year after the 2025 Critics Choice Awards were postponed two times due to the devastating Los Angeles fires that began on Jan. 7, 2025. The ceremony officially took place on Friday, Feb. 7, exactly one month later.
Michael Kovac/Getty
Chelsea Handler at the 30th annual Critics Choice Awards in February 2025
At the start of that show, Handler and the star-studded audience offered a standing ovation to firefighters who were in attendance that night in honor of their heroic acts fighting fires that left several residents dead and several hundred displaced across L.A. county.
“I know I speak for all of us when I say what we saw and the scope of loss has been almost impossible to imagine,” Handler said at the time, revealing that the broadcast would be displaying a QR code that viewers could use to donate to those impacted by the fires.
“My hope for tonight is to take our time here together, and use it to remind each other and everyone watching of the resilience and determination that is within all of us when we come together as a community, with a huge debt of gratitude to our honored guests tonight, the firefighters, Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity volunteers,” the Chelsea Lately alum added. “And so many more – that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
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See PEOPLE’s full coverage of the 31th annual Critics Choice Awards as they’re broadcasting live on E! and USA Network at 7 p.m. ET from Barker Hangar in Santa Monica. The show will also be available to stream the following day on Peacock.
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