Entertainment

Critics Choice Awards dinner goes viral after A-listers served ‘Fyre Fest’ food

David Benjamin
Kylie Jenner, Timothée Chalamet, Josh Safdie, Odessa A'zion and Jennifer Venditti sat a round a table at the Critics Choice Awards with plates of food in front of them.
The 31st Critics Choice Awards took place on Sunday and saw stars including Leonardo DiCaprio, Ariana Grande, Kylie Jenner and Adam Scott make an appearance. Among the winners were Timothée Chalamet, who was crowned Best Actor for Marty Supreme, Jessie Buckley, who won Best Actress for Hamnet, and Jacob Elordi, who scooped the Best Supporting Actor award for his role in Frankenstein. But despite the star-studded lineup of nominees and winners, it’s something else entirely that stole the show: the dinner. (Picture: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Critics Choice Association)
In what might come as a surprise to many, guests were not served a full dinner at the ceremony, despite the luxury setting. Instead, they received a snack plate with grapes, cheese, bruschetta, a small dollop of hummus and a handful of pitta chips – hardly the Michelin-star meal one might expect to be prepared for a room full of A-listers. (Picture: Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for FIJI Water)
Kyle Buchanan, pop culture reporter and awards season columnist for The New York Times, shared a photo of his dinner from this year’s Critics Choice Awards on X, and it has since been viewed 3.8 million times. On his plate was a handful of crackers, a pot of tomato salsa, some grapes, cheese, one spanakopita and two cocktail sticks with a tomato, basil leaf and a piece of mozzarella. He captioned the image: ‘Hello from the Critics Choice Awards and our dinner, this snack plate. Follow along for updates…’ (Picture: John Shearer/Getty Images for Critics Choice Association)
The post sparked a huge reaction from other X users, most of whom were appalled by the meagre offering. Randy Shulman replied, ‘This is what they’re feeding you?!’ while Shawn Gregory commented, ‘That’s an in-flight snack’. Another reacted: ‘Plate giving Fyre Festival’, alongside a photo of the infamous cheese sandwiches provided at the disastrous 2017 music festival. Another echoed ‘It’s giving Fyre Fest’. Not everyone was put off, however, with one user commenting, ‘I would still eat it…’ and another adding, ‘Looks pretty good. Could use some bread and oil’. (Picture: Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for FIJI Water)
Even the winners at the event weighed in. Abbott Elementary star Janelle James said 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 realised 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!’ (Picture: JC Olivera/Variety via Getty Images)
And it’s not the first year the food at the Critics Choice Awards has come under fire. In 2024, The Color Purple’s Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks and Oprah Winfrey were recorded responding to being served what was described as ‘pizza in a bag’. In the clip, Barrino asked, ‘Where are the lamb chops?’ while Winfrey pointed to her mouth and said, ‘I’m not messing up my lips!’ (Picture: Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for FIJI Water)
Over the years, many celebrities have been pictured visiting fast food outlets after awards shows, including Paul Giamatti, Julia Roberts, Reese Witherspoon and Brie Larson – and perhaps now we know why. In 2024, Jimmy Kimmel told People that it’s ‘tradition’ to head to burger chain In-N-Out after the Oscars, adding: ‘I think part of why is because when people are in LA, one of the things on their list is to go to In-N-Out – and there are a lot of people that are in LA just for the Oscars’. (Picture: Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for FIJI Water)
Meanwhile, one X user replied to Buchanan’s viral photo of his Critics Choice Awards dinner plate: ‘I see why y’all be heading straight to In N Out afterward they feed y’all rabbit food’. Over on Reddit, users also weighed in, with one writing in the subreddit r/fauxmoi: ‘In defence of the caterers/chefs, it’s gotta be hell trying to put together a menu and anticipate how much food to make when you know everyone in there has some kind of dietary restriction. I’d throw some grapes and tomatoes on a plate too. I wouldn’t want to waste my creativity as a chef on someone who doesn’t eat gluten, dairy, nightshades, red meat, sugar, fish, citrus, or non-organic.’ (Picture: Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for FIJI Water)

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