Chelsea Handler didn’t pull any punches while hosting the 2025 Critics Choice Awards — especially when it came to the all-consuming news coverage of Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni‘s It Ends With Us legal drama.
The comedian, 49, kicked off her opening monologue by discussing the former costars’ ongoing lawsuit during the ceremony at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, on Sunday, January 12.
“I want to acknowledge that we’ve been through a lot lately, not just here in Los Angeles, but our entire country,” Handler said. “It is important in times like these to have a distraction and that’s why I want to personally extend my gratitude to Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively. Thank you for providing us with that distraction. I’m grateful; I think we’re all grateful and I think we’re good.”
Lively, 37, sued Baldoni, 41, in December 2024, accusing him of sexual harassment and trying to launch a campaign to destroy her reputation. Baldoni, who directed and costarred with Lively in the adaptation of Colleen Hoover‘s novel, repeatedly denied the claims. Last month, he filed his own lawsuit against Lively for $400 million in damages, alleging Lively was “determined to make Baldoni the real-life villain in her story” to mask her alleged “tone-deaf” promotion of the film. The Gossip Girl alum, meanwhile, denied the accusations.
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“I think everyone in the room, no matter who’s side you’re on, we can all agree to accept that there’s probably not going to be a sequel,” Handler continued. “It ends with us, guys.”
Handler’s monologue also celebrated her third time hosting the Critics Choice Awards, calling it her “second longest relationship,” before shouting out nominees Conclave, Angelina Jolie, Wicked and more.
“We’re going to spend the night celebrating all the love and success in this room,” Handler added. “It’s nice to see some of our most beloved child stars all grown up and thriving. Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande are all nominated tonight. And now, Ariana has even fallen in love with a munchkin!”
Grande, 31, is now dating Wicked costar Ethan Slater, who played a munchkin named Boq in the 2024 movie musical. The joke, however, failed to elicit any laughs from the crowd especially from Grande.
Handler is known for not holding back on stage. While hosting the event last year, the best-selling author made a subtle dig at her ex-boyfriend Jo Koy during her monologue. After one of her jokes received chuckles from the audience, she quipped, “Thank you for laughing at that. My writers wrote it.”
Earlier in January 2024, Koy, 53, received backlash for blaming his writers when his Golden Globe Awards monologue failed to earn laughs.
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“Some I wrote, some other people wrote,” he said while hosting. “Yo, I got the gig 10 days ago. You want a perfect monologue? Shut up! You’re kidding me, right? I wrote some of these, and they’re the ones you’re laughing at.”
Koy, who dated Handler from 2021 to 2022, later apologized for his remarks.
“There’s a lot of greats that make rookie moves, and that was a rookie move,” he told the Los Angeles Times of his decision to throw his writers under the bus. “Those writers are dope, and that was not my intention at all. They were amazing, they had my back, and I need to make sure I fix that, and I will, I always will.”
In October 2024, the Critics Choice Association announced that Handler would return to host the awards show — which allows critics and journalists to honor the best in film and television — for the third consecutive year. The group also revealed that the ceremony would air live on E! for the first time after previously appearing on The CW.
“We’re thrilled to be working with E! to present our landmark 30th annual Critics Choice Awards,” CCA CEO Joey Berlin said in a press release at the time. “With the incredible Chelsea Handler returning as our host, we know this special 30th anniversary show is going to be our biggest and best show yet, and we couldn’t be more excited to be airing the show live on E! and available to stream on Peacock next day.”
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Handler, for her part, noted the coincidence of the awards show moving to the E! network, where she hosted her previous late-night show, Chelsea Lately, from 2007 to 2014.
“Returning for the third year to host the Critics Choice Awards has been made even sweeter knowing it will now air on E!,” she said in the press release. “I feel like I’m returning to my birthplace.”
