Chelsea Handler Roasts Leonardo DiCaprio & Jeff Bezos During Critics Choice Monologue

Chelsea Handler is once again kicking off this year’s award season! The comedian hosted the 2026 Critics Choice Awards on Sunday, Jan. 4, marking her fourth time emceeing the event. During her monologue, Handler cracked jokes at the A-listers in the room, including Leonardo DiCaprio, who missed being honored at the Palm Springs Film Festival a day earlier due to restricted airspace following the U.S. attack on Venezuela. “Leo’s here. Thank God. Leo almost didn’t make it tonight because he was trapped on a boat in St. Barths. It was just like the Titanic, but worse, because Jeff Bezos was there,” she quipped. The 50-year-old also threw shade at Nicki Minaj, who recently joined Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, onstage at Turning Point USA’s annual conference, as well as Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav while shouting out the studio’s hit film “Sinners.” Plus, at the end of her remarks, Handler paid tribute to legendary director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele after their tragic deaths.“Rob and Michele were tireless in their efforts to so many important causes, all stemming from one basic idea: decency. That we should all look out for each other, and I think we can all agree that we definitely need more of that. So let’s use tonight as a reminder of that decency and a reminder of everything Rob and Michele stood for,” she said in part. Nick Reiner, one of the couple’s sons, has been taken into custody and charged for the murder of his parents. He has not yet entered a plea.