On January 15th, five days after the winners of the 80th Golden Globes were announced, the 28th Critics’ Choice Award unfolding, providing yet another ceremony to keep track of during awards season. But we’re not here to talk about who walked away with trophies on that night. Instead, it’s time to discuss the ridiculous Cold Stone wall that was set up at the event, and how celebrities like Seth Rogen and Chelsea Handler responded about getting asked to pose in front of it.
The officialseanpenn Instagram account (this isn’t the actual Sean Penn, he has his own verified account) posted a series of photos from Getty Images of actors Andrew Garfield, Kate Hudson, Aubrey Plaza, Jeremy Allen White, Natasha Lyonne and Henry Winkler standing in front of a wall at the Critics’ Choice Awards that was sponsored by Cold Stone Creamery, an ice cream shop staple in the United States. Like some of you may be wondering, the caption of this Instagram post inquires about what the deal with this setup was, like “Were these poor celebs forced to do this? Did any of them know what was going on? Were they given any cold stone in exchange for their participation?” Numerous celebrities shared their experiences in the comments section, so let’s start off with Seth Rogen:
They asked me to do this and I was like fuck no.
Ok, so Seth Rogen, who presented the Best Comedy Series award at the Critics’ Choice Awards and starred in the Best Picture-nominated movie The Fabelmans, wanted nothing to do with the Cold Stone wall when asked. Fair enough. Next up, we have comedian and talk show host Chelsea Handler, who did pose in front of the wall, but her memories of the experience were hazy.
Yeah, I was there. And it happened so fast, it was hard to tell what was going until I saw a picture of myself in front of a cold stone creamery
As for whether or not anything was provided to the celebrities who agreed to pose in front of the Cold Stone wall, Billy Eichner, the lead actor from last year’s Bros (which can be streamed with a Peacock subscription), revealed he did get something in exchange.
They gave me a $100 gift card to Cold Stone.
Additionally, free Cold Stone Creamery ice cream was being given out in that general area, whether someone posed in front of the wall or not, although apparently almost no one took advantage of the free dessert. We have Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Reboot’s Rachel Bloom to thank for this piece of information.
No one asked me to pose but I can confirm I was the only one actually eating the free Coldstone!!!!
Finally, pro skateboarder Tony Hawk wrote that Henry Winkler, who’s starring in HBO’s Barry these days, posing in front of the Cold Stone wall was enough incentive for him to do the same.
Fonz approved, good enough for me
It’s hard to tell if the Cold Stone wall was a success or not, so I guess we’ll just have to regroup next year at the 29th Critics’ Choice Awards to see if it made a comeback. Seeing something like this at the next Academy Awards ceremony, at the other hand, feels like a pretty safe bet of something that’s not on the table. That free ice cream was a nice bonus though, and I wonder if Amanda Seyfried might have also grabbed some, as it could have easily helped her feel a little better after a wardrobe malfunction forced her to improvise.
Keep visiting CinemaBlend for more updates on the awards show circuit. Those of you looking forward to the Oscars will learn who the nominees are on Tuesday, January 24, and the ceremony will air on ABC on Sunday, March 12. Scan through our 2023 release schedule to find out what movies are coming out later this year.