Kathy Bates Dedicates Critics Choice Trophy to ‘Matlock’ Producer Who Lost His Home in L.A. Fires
Kathy Bates dedicated her win for best actress in a drama series for Matlock at the 2025 Critics Choice Awards to the show’s producer, Eric Olsen, who lost his home in the L.A. wildfires.
Bates, appearing stunned to win the award, thanked the firefighters who helped Olsen and the community of Los Angeles in the devastating tragedy.
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“I really have to thank the firefighters. Our producer, Eric Christian Olsen, had a house in the Palisades and it burned down. And so it’s very personal to us,” she said. “To watch all the film of you guys standing in a line with just a wall of flames in front of you is just terrifying. And I don’t know how you did it, but I thank you so much for so many of us in Los Angeles.”
She continued: “I just want to tell Eric Olsen, who hasn’t quite found a home yet, this is coming to you first thing for decor.”
The fires have left at least 29 people dead and destroyed more than 16,000 structures as the blazes burned more than 60 square miles.
Elsewhere in her speech, the actress thanked her TV family for making her experience on Matlock so enjoyable. “When we come to work every day, there’s so much love on that set and so many hundreds of years of experience rolling the dolly, working the camera, the costumers, the prop people, they’re just the top of the line,” she said. “And walking onto that set is just, it feels like a miracle, and I’m so grateful to all of them.”
Inside Santa Monica’s Barker Hangar, the support was strong for Bates when she accepted the award.
Other Hollywood figures who lost their homes to the fires include Milo Ventimiglia, Paris Hilton, Billy Crystal, Mel Gibson and Mandy Moore.
See all the stars who hit the red carpet at the 2025 Critics Choice Awards here.
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