Timothée Chalamet turned a major awards-season moment into a public declaration of support for Kylie Jenner after winning best actor at the Critics Choice Awards on Sunday night (Jan. 4) in Santa Monica. Accepting the prize for “Marty Supreme,” Chalamet thanked Jenner from the stage as his “partner of three years,” telling her, “Thank you for our foundation. I love you. I couldn’t do this without you.”
Cameras cut to Jenner in the audience as she appeared to mouth back, “I love you,” and the pair shared a brief kiss around the announcement, according to multiple accounts of the broadcast. The couple, who have largely kept their relationship out of interviews and red-carpet commentary, had attended the Palm Springs International Film Festival’s awards gala the previous night, adding to the visibility of their weekend on the circuit.
Chalamet used the same speech to single out filmmaker Josh Safdie, praising the director’s approach to the material and arguing for stories that avoid moral lectures. In the film, Chalamet plays a table tennis player chasing a championship dream set against a mid-century backdrop, a role that has anchored his campaign across the early-season stops.
The shout-out landed as the televised calendar accelerates. Critics Choice, staged at Barker Hangar and broadcast on E! and USA Network, traditionally sits near the front of January’s awards run, ahead of the Golden Globes on Jan. 11 and a dense stretch of guild ceremonies. That timing tends to magnify any unscripted moment, especially one that crosses from film conversation into celebrity news.
Online reaction split along familiar lines: fans circulated clips of the exchange as a rare glimpse of intimacy from a famously guarded actor, while others argued the attention pulled focus from the category and the film. Either way, the speech ensured Chalamet’s win carried a second headline beyond the trophy.
