Critics Choice Awards draw Fyre Festival comparisons over ‘sad’ dinner served to A-listers

The 2026 Critics Choice Awards are facing mockery online over their lackluster catering.

This year’s awards season officially began in Santa Monica, California, Sunday, with comedian Chelsea Handler hosting the ceremony. It was, of course, a star-studded affair, with guests and nominees including Leonardo DiCaprio, Ariana Grande, Teyana Taylor, and Timothée Chalamet.

Despite the luxury setting, guests were not served a full dinner. During the ceremony, The New York Times’ Kyle Buchanan shared a photo of the food on offer, writing on X: “Hello from the Critics Choice Awards and our dinner, this snack plate.

His photo showed a mediocre-looking plate of grapes, cheeses, bruschetta chips, bread, and cherry tomatoes and cheese on skewers.

“Plate giving Fyre Festival,” one person replied, while sharing a picture of the infamous cheese sandwiches provided at the disastrous 2017 music festival.

“This looks like a meal on a United flight, not at an award show,” another responded, while a third wrote: “This plate is so sad. It's not even presented particularly nicely.”

“The critics should choose something more substantial for dinner,” a fourth joked.

Abbott Elementary star Janelle James even reacted to the dinner plate while accepting her Critics Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.

“The best thing about being nominated four times is I finally realized they're never gonna feed us at this thing. It’s gonna be grapes and ice cream every year, but this makes up for it!” she joked on stage.

The Independent has contacted the Critics Choice Awards for comment.

The food wasn’t the only talking point at last night’s award show. During the red carpet, Paul Downs and Meg Stalter paid homage to Chalamet and his girlfriend, Kylie Jenner.

The Hacks co-stars arrived at the ceremony wearing head-to-toe orange outfits that directly replicated those worn by Chalamet and Jenner at the Los Angeles premiere of Marty Supreme last month.

Mirroring Chalamet’s red carpet outfit, Downs stepped out in a vivid orange leather suit, styled with a matching silk shirt and orange boots, while carrying a black leather ping-pong paddle case slung over his shoulder. Stalter, meanwhile, wore a floor-length orange gown featuring triangular cutouts beneath the bust and along the waist.

“We’ve been shooting season five of Hacks and haven’t had a lot of time to shop or pull, so we just borrowed from friends,” Downs told The Hollywood Reporter on the Critics Choice carpet.

“My really close friend — I’m not going to name any names — but she let me borrow this dress. Fits like a glove,” Stalter joked of Jenner. Downs added, “It did fit really well. That was the nice thing, when you have friends who are the same size, it makes life easier.”