Chelsea Handler Takes a Friendly Jab at Leonardo DiCaprio and Jeff Bezos at the 2026 Critics Choice Awards

Chelsea Handler, Leonardo DiCaprio.
Credit: USA

NEED TO KNOW

• Chelsea Handler delivered her opening monologue at the 31st annual Critics Choice Awards on Sunday, Jan. 4.
• The 50-year-old comedian roasted actor Leonardo DiCaprio for vacationing recently with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
• This marks Handler’s fourth consecutive year hosting the award ceremony, held live at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California.

Chelsea Handler took a playful jab at Leonardo DiCaprio during her opening monologue at the Critics Choice Awards 2026. Acknowledging DiCaprio, who was seated in the audience, Handler remarked, “Leo’s here,” as the actor, 51, was nominated for his performance in One Battle After Another.

Handler quipped, “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,” drawing laughter from the audience.

This quip alluded to DiCaprio’s recent vacation in St. Bart’s, where he was unable to leave due to transport restrictions following the U.S.-Venezuela conflict. Consequently, he missed an awards ceremony at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, where he was set to receive the Desert Palm Achievement Award for his latest film.

Chelsea Handler giving her opening monologue at the 2026 Critics Choice Awards in Santa Monica, Calif., on Jan. 4.
Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty

This year’s ceremony kicked off the awards season, with the Critics Choice Association recognizing outstanding movies and TV shows from the past year. Sinners led the film category with 17 nominations, while Netflix’s Adolescence topped the television categories with six nominations.

Noteworthy additions to this year’s awards include four new categories: Best Variety Series, Best Stunt Design, Best Casting and Ensemble, and Best Sound.

The 2026 event follows a tumultuous 2025 Critics Choice Awards, which were postponed twice due to the devastating Los Angeles fires that began on January 7, 2025. The awards were eventually held on February 7, 2025.

Chelsea Handler at the 30th annual Critics Choice Awards in February 2025.
Credit: Michael Kovac/Getty

During last year’s ceremony, Handler and the audience offered a standing ovation to firefighters in attendance, honoring their bravery in combating fires that resulted in loss of life and displacement across Los Angeles 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 stated, revealing a QR code on the broadcast for viewers to donate to affected individuals.

Handler emphasized the importance of community resilience in her remarks: “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.”