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Oscar nominations and other Hollywood events delayed or cancelled due to LA fires

15 January 2025 12:32 (UTC +04:00)

Hollywood started the New Year with a bang as the Golden Globes kicked off awards season, APA reports citing Sky News.

Just a few days later, the scenes in Los Angeles looked very different as wildfires tore through the county.

The homes of stars including Paris Hilton and Billy Crystal have been destroyed, while other celebrities were evacuated along with thousands of others.

Several premieres for films including the Robbie Williams biopic Better Man, and Unstoppable, starring Jennifer Lopez, were called off as the fires first hit, followed by announcements of delays and cancellations for other key dates in the awards season calendar.

Production also came to a halt on several television programmes.

Critics Choice Awards

The annual ceremony was due to take place on 12 January, but has been postponed by two weeks, to 26 January, "due to the catastrophic fires", organisers said in a statement.

Joey Berlin, chief executive of the Critics Choice Association, said: "This unfolding tragedy has already had a profound impact on our community.

"All our thoughts and prayers are with those battling the devastating fires and with all who have been affected."

The rescheduled show will still take place at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, and will air live on E!.

BAFTA Tea Party

While the BAFTAs is a UK awards ceremony, organisers hold a networking event in the US ahead of the show each year.

The 2025 party was due to take place at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills on 11 January, but was called off in the days beforehand.

"The safety of our colleagues, friends and peers in Los Angeles remains our utmost priority and our thoughts are with everyone impacted," a spokesperson said.

Oscar nominations

Nominations for the biggest ceremony of awards season were due to be announced on 17 January, with films including The Brutalist, Emilia Perez, Wicked and The Substance set to be in the running.

The academy initially gave a two-day extension to the nominations voting window "to give members more time to cast their ballots". A week on from the fires breaking out, they confirmed a second postponement, with the nominations announcement now due to take place on 23 January.

It will also be a more low-key affair this year, taking place virtually without "in-person media coverage". The annual nominees luncheon, a networking event which provides the Oscars "class photo" opportunity, has been cancelled.

Chief executive Bill Kramer said they had made the "imperative" changes to scheduled events to be "sensitive to the infrastructure and lodging needs of the region in these next few weeks".

The ceremony will still go ahead on 2 March.