The 29th annual Critics Choice Awards ceremony will move to the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, with the show’s home for the past two years — the Fairmont Century Plaza — still targeted in a strike by hotel workers, organizers announced Thursday.
“We regret that a labor dispute has made it impossible for the 29th annual Critics Choice Awards show to be held at the Fairmont Century Plaza, where it has enjoyed great success for the past two years,” Critics Choice Association CEO Joey Berlin said in a statement. “But we are happy to be able to return to The Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, where our show has also enjoyed great success through the years.
“For viewers at home, it will be the same exact show — and we’ll now be able to seat even more of our members who fly in from all over to enjoy the evening with the hundreds of stars in the room that night.”
Hotel workers represented by Unite Here Local 11 have been involved in an extensive labor dispute with dozens of hotels across the Southland, conducting rolling pickets since July outside hotels in Los Angeles and Orange counties. Union officials have reached new contract deals with some hotels, but the strike is continuing to target others.
The Critics Choice Awards ceremony, hosted by Chelsea Handler, will be held Jan. 14.