The night of Critics Choice Awards 2024 rolled beyond scripted convention when host Chelsea Handler spontaneously levelled a sharp verbal jab at ex-boyfriend Jo Koy, who had faced widespread criticism for his recent hosting of the Golden Globes, on Sunday.
“Thank you for laughing at that — my writers wrote it,” Handler quipped at one point, alluding to Jo Koy’s recent Golden Globes monologue where he had blamed his writers and included a controversial joke about Greta Gerwig’s neon comedy film Barbie.
Handler also took the opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women in the film industry. “This year proved that when given the opportunity, women show up for each other and dominate the culture. You could almost say it was the year of women,”she declared, highlighting victories ranging from Barbie’s success at the box office to Taylor Swift and Beyoncé’s triumphs on their tours.
Gerwig, the highest-grossing female director of all time thanks to Barbie’s success, received special mention and applause from Handler, who contrasted the filmmaker’s achievement with former WarnerMedia CEO David Zaslav's sailing adventures. “So while David Zaslav was wearing a zip-up vest and sailing off to Saint Tropez, one very talented woman swooped in with a movie about female empowerment and saved the entire movie industry.”
Handler, a comedian and talk show host, humorously navigated through the recent actors’ and writers’ strikes in Hollywood as she joked about the apparent hardships faced by studio executives who were “forced to vacation for six consecutive months in a row”.
Amid the clamour for bright young things in the film industry, Handler took a different route by expressing her admiration for older men. "I personally prefer older men like Harrison Ford and Robert De Niro — men who have been around since the railway was invented."
In a particularly funny moment, Handler expressed her regret over the absence of Martin Scorsese, a nominee for best director for Killers of the Flower Moon. “Unfortunately, Martin Scorsese isn’t here tonight, but that’s not going to stop me from letting everyone in this room know that I would toss him around like a little Italian meatball,” she declared, leaving the audience in stitches.
