Everyone in this room knows that the nicest guy in Hollywood was Rob Reiner,” host Chelsea Handler said in kicking off the Critics Choice Awards.

Chelsea Handler is paying tribute to a Hollywood legend. The comedian, 50, returned to the Critics Choice Awards as host on Jan. 4 and kicked off awards season with a bang. For her fourth consecutive year helming the star-studded ceremony, Handler made multiple outfit changes, as one does when they're the face of a night like this.

Chelsea Handler's opening Critics Choice monologue included a tribute to Rob Reiner, hits at David Zaslav and a shoutout for Heated Rivalry.

In another incident, she told Jimmy Kimmel that she had slapped a Black woman back in 2019 on the set of the documentary film Hello Privilege. Handler was also forced by Netflix to undergo racial sensitivity training as well as se**al harrasment training.

Chelsea Handler recalled Rob Reiner describing their conversation about plastic surgery as 'edifying' during a tribute to the murdered star.

Chelsea Handler faces racism accusations after making a controversial joke about Nicki Minaj during the 2026 Critics' Choice Awards monologue.