2025 Critics Choice Awards postponed due to wildfires in LA

On By Littum

The Chelsea Handler-hosted 2025 Critics Choice Awards has been postponed as a series of wildfires continue to spread through Southern California.

As evacuation orders and casualties sweep the region, the Critics Choice Awards canceled its originally scheduled ceremony on Sunday, January 12 at 10 p.m. 7:00 PM ET/PT. Instead, the Critics Choice Awards will air Sunday, January 26 live on E! and stream on Peacock the following day. The event remains at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California.

“This tragedy has already had a profound impact on our community,” Joey Berlin, executive director of the Critics Choice Association, said in an email. “All our thoughts and prayers are with those fighting the devastating fires and with everyone who has been affected.”

Handler is set to return for a third consecutive year as host of the Critics Choice Awards, presiding over a ceremony where the Critics Choice Association will name its annual list of winners in film and television categories.

Other entertainment entities affected by the ongoing wildfires in LA, which have so far forced the evacuation of over 30,000 people in the region and killed at least two people, include the announcement of the live 2025 SAG Awards nominations, which were canceled Wednesday morning, as well as Universal Studios Hollywood theme park, which closed for the day for the first time since the 2020 COVID pandemic.

Chelsea Handler.

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty


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Stars such as Jamie Lee Curtis, Steve Guttenberg, Spencer Pratt and Mark Hamill also described evacuation and damage efforts in their areas, with Curtis urging his followers on social media to “stay out of the way and let the firefighters do their job.”

Leaders among the 2025 Critics Choice Awards nominees included Evil and Conclave with 11 nominations each, while Shogun led television nominees with six overall nods.