Leonardo DiCaprio wins Palm Springs Film Award after plane trouble
The Palm Springs International Film Awards were held on Saturday, January 3, 2026 at the Palm Springs Convention Center in Palm Springs, California.
Leonardo DiCaprio was scheduled to perform at the Palm Springs International Film Awards grand finale on Saturday, January 3rd, but was unable to attend the ceremony due to the chaos at airports across California.
The actor, who won the Desert Palm Lifetime Achievement Award for his role in “One Battle After Another,” was unable to attend due to “unforeseen travel disruptions and airspace restrictions,” a spokesperson for the Palm Springs International Film Festival told USA TODAY Network’s Desert Sun. “While we will miss celebrating with him in person, we are honored to recognize his outstanding work and lasting contribution to the film industry. His talent and dedication to the craft continue to be an inspiration.”
Variety first reported that DiCaprio was unable to leave St. Barts due to Caribbean aviation restrictions due to the Venezuelan conflict.
However, the actor recorded a video message that was played after being introduced by his “One Battle After Another” co-stars Teyana Taylor and Chase Infinity.
“I’m stuck on the East Coast. I wish I could have been there to celebrate with you all. I’m so grateful to be able to join from afar,” he said.
He talked about preserving the concept of going to the cinema to watch a movie.
“My father used to take me to the movies at the Vista Theater in Los Angeles, where I lived four blocks away and is now home to one of the last VistaVision projectors on the planet. It was my neighborhood movie theater and where I first felt the power of film. Sitting in that dark room with my father, seeing something bigger than myself, I realized how deeply movies can affect all of us.”
“Original films are hard to make and hard to protect, but it’s still the movie, not the content, that matters. The stories people create are meant to be shared in dark rooms, in communal experiences. Thank you for believing in this work, and thank you for believing in film.”
Other stars at the ceremony included Timothée Chalamet, who won Spotlight Actor of the Year for his role in the movie Marty Supreme, and Ethan Hawke, who received the Career Achievement Award and gave a speech with a wide range of powerful messages about mental health, AI and more.
“There’s a lot of life to live,” he said. “And I think about my career in art. I had a lot of fun and there was a lot of wildness. That’s my goal, to protect the wild. Protect the wild.”
Contributor: Brendan Morrow, USA TODAY
