Pamela Anderson and Liam Neeson both skipped the 2026 Critics Choice Awards despite their 2025 film, The Naked Gun, winning Best Comedy.
The Naked Gun scored the victory ahead of the ceremony at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, on Sunday, January 4. Neither Neeon, 73, nor Anderson, 58, was present on the red carpet for the win, and they appeared to be absent during the ceremony. The Best Comedy nod marked the movie’s only nomination at the awards show.
Neeson and Anderson first connected while starring in The Naked Gun reboot last year. The pair made headlines after exhibiting flirty behavior on various red carpets while promoting the film in the summer of 2025.
“With Pamela, first off, I’m madly in love with her. She’s just terrific to work with. I can’t compliment her enough, I’ll be honest with you. No huge ego,” Neeson said of Anderson in an October 2024 interview with People ahead of the film’s release. “She just comes in to do the work. She’s funny and so easy to work with. She’s going to be terrific in the film.”
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In that same interview, Anderson referred to Neeson as “the perfect gentleman.”
“He brings out the best in you … with respect, kindness and depth of experience,” she gushed. “It was an absolute honor to work with him.”
In a joint interview with Anderson, Neeson revealed his first impression of the Baywatch alum.
“I thought, ‘Oh my god, she is so easy on the eyes,’” Neeson told People. “I was really taken with your ‘thereness.’ You were absolutely there. There was no [brushing me off], I knew we had kind of a chemistry from very early on.”
A source later confirmed to Us Weekly at that Anderson and Neeson started off as friends before pursuing a romantic connection.
“They had chemistry while they were filming, and their friendship naturally developed into something more,” an insider told Us in August 2025.
The source added that nothing romantic happened between the costars until filming ended.
“Feelings were definitely happening between them, [but] they both felt it was important not to blur any lines during production,” the insider continued. “They started spending more time together [and getting] more personal … introducing their children and having dinners. They realized the connection went deeper.”
Anderson later confirmed her and Neeson’s fling.
“If you must know, Liam and I were romantically involved for a short while, but only after we finished filming [The Naked Gun],” Anderson, told People earlier this month, adding that the pair spent an “intimate week” together at his home in upstate New York, where she had her “own room.”
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Anderson also addressed rumors that her and Neeson’s connection was nothing more than a PR stunt for the movie.
“I always was laughing when people thought, ‘Oh, that’s a publicity stunt.’ I’m like, ‘A publicity stunt? This is real. We have real feelings,’” Anderson said. “I adore Liam, but we are better friends, in full honesty.”
Anderson added that she last saw Neeson in August 2025, when he surprised her by attending her performance in Tennessee Williams’ Camino Real at the Williamstown Theater Festival.
“He is such a supporter of this new trajectory in my career and kindly tells me he is very proud of me,” she gushed. “I’m sure we will always be in each other’s lives.”
