john mayer

The Critics Choice Awards 2026 recognised the biggest films and TV series of the past year, with Netflix’s Adolescence dominating the TV categories

The Critics Choice Awards served as a grand stage for the year’s most celebrated films and TV series to receive their well-deserved accolades. With big-screen blockbusters and Netflix sensations vying for esteemed awards, the competition was fierce.

Among the nominated films were Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s ‘Wicked: For Good’, and Netflix’s fresh take on ‘Frankenstein’ by renowned director Guillermo del Toro. A-listers such as Timothée Chalamet and Emma Stone were also in the running for individual honours.

The star-studded ceremony acknowledged excellence in music, stunts, animation, and production design. Two titles reigned supreme, with Netflix’s ‘Adolescence’ emerging as the top TV victor of the night.

In the film categories, ‘Frankenstein’ scooped up four awards, alongside Ryan Coogler’s redemption tale ‘Sinners’. The event drew a host of celebrities, including Kylie Jenner who attended in support of her beau, Chalamet.

Here’s a rundown of the winners and nominees from the Critics Choice Awards 2026.

Best Picture

Winner: One Battle After Another

Nominees:

Bugonia

Frankenstein

Hamnet

Jay Kelly

Marty Supreme

Sentimental Value

Sinners

Train Dreams

Wicked: For Good

Best Actor

Winner: Timothée Chalamet for Marty Supreme

Nominees:

Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another

Joel Edgerton, Train Dreams

Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon

Michael B. Jordan, Sinners

Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent

Best Actress

Winner: Jessie Buckley for Hamnet

Nominees:

Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Chase Infiniti, One Battle After Another

Renate Reinsve, Sentimental Value

Amanda Seyfried, The Testament of Ann Lee

Emma Stone, Bugonia

Best Director

Winner: Paul Thomas Anderson for One Battle After Another

Nominees:

Ryan Coogler, Sinners

Guillermo del Toro, Frankenstein

Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme

Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value

Chloé Zhao, Hamnet

Best Original Screenplay

Winner: Ryan Coogler for Sinners

Nominees:

Noah Baumbach, Emily Mortimer, Jay Kelly

Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme

Zach Cregger, Weapons

Eva Victor, Sorry, Baby

Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value

Best Adapted Screenplay

Winner: Paul Thomas Anderson for One Battle After Another

Nominees:

Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Train Dreams

Park Chan-wook, Lee Kyoung-mi, Don Mckellar, Jahye Lee, No Other Choice

Guillermo del Toro, Frankenstein

Will Tracy, Bugonia

Chloé Zhao, Maggie O’Farrell, Hamnet

Best Stunt Design

Winner: Wade Eastwood for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning

Nominees:

Stephen Dunlevy, Kyle Gardiner, Jackson Spidell, Jeremy Marinas, Jan Petina, Domonkos Párdányi, Kinga Kósa-Gavalda, Ballerina

Gary Powell, Luciano Bacheta, Craig Dolby, F1

Brian Machleit, One Battle After Another

Andy Gill, Sinners

Giedrius Nagys, Warfare

Best Score

Winner: Ludwig Göransson for Sinners

Nominees:

Hans Zimmer, F1

Alexandre Desplat, Frankenstein

Max Richter, Hamnet

Daniel Lopatin, Marty Supreme

Jonny Greenwood, One Battle After Another

Best Film Made for Television

Winner: Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy

Nominees:

Deep Cover

The Gorge

Mountainhead

Nonnas

Summer of ’69

Best Variety Series

Winner: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Nominees:

Conan O’Brien Must Go

Saturday Night Live

Best Animated Feature

Winner: KPop Demon Hunters

Nominees:

Arco

Elio

In Your Dreams

Little Amélie or the Character of Rain

Zootopia 2

Best Song

Winner: “Golden” – Ejae, Mark Sonnenblick, Ido, 24, Teddy from KPop Demon Hunters

Nominees:

“Drive” – Ed Sheeran, John Mayer, Blake Slatkin – F1

“I Lied to You” – Raphael Saadiq, Ludwig Göransson – Sinners

“Clothed by the Sun” – Daniel Blumberg – The Testament of Ann Lee

“Train Dreams” – Nick Cave, Bryce Dessner – Train Dreams

“The Girl in the Bubble” – Stephen Schwartz – Wicked: For Good

Best Drama Series

Winner: The Pitt

Nominees:

Alien: Earth

Andor

The Diplomat

Paradise

Pluribus

Severance

Task

Best Actress in a Drama Series

Winner: Rhea Seehorn for Pluribus

Nominees:

Kathy Bates, Matlock

Carrie Coon, The Gilded Age

Britt Lower, Severance

Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us

Keri Russell, The Diplomat

Best Actor in a Drama Series

Winner: Noah Wyle for The Pitt

Nominees:

Sterling K. Brown, Paradise

Diego Luna, Andor

Mark Ruffalo, Task

Adam Scott, Severance

Billy Bob Thornton, Landman

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Winner: Tramell Tillman for Severance

Nominees:

Patrick Ball, The Pitt

Billy Crudup, The Morning Show

Ato Essandoh, The Diplomat

Wood Harris, Forever

Tom Pelphrey, Task

Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Winner: Katherine LaNasa for The Pitt

Nominees:

Nicole Beharie, The Morning Show

Denée Benton, The Gilded Age

Allison Janney, The Diplomat

Greta Lee, The Morning Show

Skye P. Marshall, Matlock

Best Supporting Actress

Winner: Amy Madigan for Weapons

Nominees:

Elle Fanning, Sentimental Value

Ariana Grande, Wicked: For Good

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Sentimental Value

Wunmi Mosaku, Sinners

Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another

Best Supporting Actor

Winner: Jacob Elordi for Frankenstein

Nominees:

Benicio del Toro, One Battle After Another

Paul Mescal, Hamnet

Sean Penn, One Battle After Another

Adam Sandler, Jay Kelly

Stellan Skarsgård, Sentimental Value

Best Comedy Series

Winner: The Studio

Nominees:

Abbott Elementary

Elsbeth

Ghosts

Hacks

Nobody Wants This

Only Murders in the Building

The Righteous Gemstones

Best Actress in a Comedy Series

Winner: Jean Smart for Hacks

Nominees:

Kristen Bell, Nobody Wants This

Natasha Lyonne, Poker Face

Rose McIver, Ghosts

Edi Patterson, The Righteous Gemstones

Carrie Preston, Elsbeth

Best Actor in a Comedy Series

Winner: Seth Rogen for The Studio

Nominees:

Adam Brody, Nobody Wants This

Ted Danson, A Man on the Inside

David Alan Grier, St. Denis Medical

Danny McBride, The Righteous Gemstones

Alexander Skarsgård, Murderbot

Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Winner: Ike Barinholtz for The Studio

Nominees:

Paul W. Downs, Hacks

Asher Grodman, Ghosts

Oscar Nuñez, The Paper

Chris Perfetti, Abbott Elementary

Timothy Simons, Nobody Wants This

Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Winner: Janelle James for Abbott Elementary

Nominees:

Danielle Brooks, Peacemaker

Hannah Einbinder, Hacks

Justine Lupe, Nobody Wants This

Ego Nwodim, Saturday Night Live

Rebecca Wisocky, Ghosts

Best Talk Show

Winner: Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Nominees:

The Daily Show

Hot Ones

Late Night with Seth Meyers

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen

Best Casting and Ensemble

Winner: Francine Maisler for Sinners

Nominees:

Nina Gold, Hamnet

Douglas Aibel, Nina Gold, Jay Kelly

Jennifer Venditti, Marty Supreme

Cassandra Kulukundis, One Battle After Another

Tiffany Little Canfield, Bernard Telsey, Wicked: For Good

Best Limited Series

Winner: Adolescence

Nominees:

All Her Fault

Chief of War

Death by Lightning

Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy

Dope Thief

Dying for Sex

The Girlfriend

Best Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television

Winner: Sarah Snook for All Her Fault

Nominees:

Jessica Biel, The Better Sister

Meghann Fahy, Sirens

Michelle Williams, Dying for Sex

Robin Wright, The Girlfriend

Renée Zellweger, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy

Best Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television

Winner: Stephen Graham for Adolescence

Nominees:

Michael Chernus, Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy

Brian Tyree Henry, Dope Thief

Charlie Hunnam, Monster: The Ed Gein Story

Matthew Rhys, The Beast in Me

Michael Shannon, Death by Lightning

Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television

Winner: Owen Cooper, Adolescence

Nominees:

Wagner Moura, Dope Thief

Nick Offerman, Death by Lightning

Michael Peña, All Her Fault

Ashley Walters, Adolescence

Ramy Youssef, Mountainhead

Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television

Winner: Erin Doherty, Adolescence

Nominees:

Betty Gilpin, Death by Lightning

Marin Ireland, Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy

Sophia Lillis, All Her Fault

Julianne Moore, Sirens

Christine Tremarco, Adolescence

Best Young Actor / Actress

Winner: Miles Caton in Sinners

Nominees:

Everett Blunck, The Plague

Cary Christopher, Weapons

Shannon Mahina Gorman, Rental Family

Jacobi Jupe, Hamnet

Nina Ye, Left-Handed Girl

Best Foreign Language Film

Winner: The Secret Agent

Nominees:

It Was Just an Accident

Left-Handed Girl

No Other Choice

Sirt

Belé

Best Comedy

Winner: The Naked Gun

Nominees:

The Ballad of Wallis Island

Eternity

Friendship

The Phoenician Scheme

Splitsville

Best Foreign Language Series

Winner: Squid Game

Nominees:

Acapulco

Last Samurai Standing

Mussolini: Son of the Century

Red Alert

When No One Sees Us

Best Animated Series

Winner: South Park

Nominees:

Bob’s Burgers

Harley Quinn

Long Story Short

Marvel Zombies

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man

Best Cinematography

Winner: Adolpho Veloso for Train Dreams

Nominees:

Claudio Miranda, F1

Dan Laustsen, Frankenstein

Łukasz Żal, Hamnet

Michael Bauman, One Battle After Another

Autumn Durald Arkapaw, Sinners

Best Comedy Special

Winner: SNL50: The Anniversary Special

Nominees:

Brett Goldstein: The Second Best Night of Your Life

Caleb Hearon: Model Comedian

Leanne Morgan: Unspeakable Things

Marc Maron: Panicked

Sarah Silverman: PostMortem

Best Production Design

Winner: Tamara Deverell, Shane Vieau for Frankenstein

Nominees:

Kasra Farahani, Jille Azis, The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton, Hamnet

Jack Fisk, Adam Willis, Marty Supreme

Hannah Beachler, Monique Champagne, Sinners

Nathan Crowley, Lee Sandales, Wicked: For Good

Best Editing

Winner: Stephen Mirrione for F1

Nominees:

Kirk Baxter, A House of Dynamite

Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme

Andy Jurgensen, One Battle After Another

Viridiana Lieberman, The Perfect Neighbour

Michael P. Shawver, Sinners

Best Costume Design

Winner: Kate Hawley for Frankenstein

Nominees:

Malgosia Turzanska, Hamnet

Lindsay Pugh, Hedda

Colleen Atwood, Christine Cantella, Kiss of the Spider Woman

Ruth E. Carter, Sinners

Paul Tazewell, Wicked: For Good

Best Hair and Makeup

Winner: Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel, Cliona Furey for Frankenstein

Nominees:

Flora Moody, John Nolan, 28 Years Later

Siân Richards, Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine, Shunika Terry, Sinners

Kazu Hiro, Felix Fox, Mia Neal, The Smashing Machine

Leo Satkovich, Melizah Wheat, Jason Collins, Weapons

Frances Hannon, Mark Coulier, Laura Blount, Wicked: For Good

Best Visual Effects

Winner: Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, Daniel Barrett for Avatar: Fire and Ash

Nominees:

Ryan Tudhope, Nikeah Forde, Robert Harrington, Nicolas Chevallier, Eric Leven, Edward Price, Keith Dawson, F1

Dennis Berardi, Ayo Burgess, Ivan Busquets, José Granell, Frankenstein

Alex Wuttke, Ian Lowe, Jeff Sutherland, Kirstin Hall, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning

Michael Ralla, Espen Nordahl, Guido Wolter, Donnie Dean, Sinners

Stephane Ceretti, Enrico Damm, Stéphane Nazé, Guy Williams, Superman

Best Sound

Winner: Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo, Juan Peralta, Gareth John for F1

Nominees:

Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira, Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern, Greg Chapman – Frankenstein

Jose Antonio Garcia, Christopher Scarabosio, Tony Villaflor – One Battle After Another

Chris Welcker, Benny Burtt, Brandon Proctor, Steve Boeddeker, Felipe Pacheco, David V. Butler – Sinners

Laia Casanovas – Sirt

Mitch Low, Glenn Freemantle, Ben Barker, Howard Bargroff, Richard Spooner – Warfare

*For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new Everything Gossip website*

John Mayer calls it “adult day care”: the historic recording studio behind the arched gates on La Brea Avenue where famous musicians have been keeping themselves — and one another — creatively occupied since the mid-1960s.

Known for decades as Henson Studios — and as A&M Studios before that — the three-acre complex in the heart of Hollywood has played host to the creation of some of music’s most celebrated records, among them Carole King’s “Tapestry,” Joni Mitchell’s “Blue,” Guns N’ Roses’ “Use Your Illusion” and D’Angelo’s “Black Messiah.”

In 1985, A&M’s parquet-floored Studio A was where Quincy Jones gathered the all-star congregation that recorded “We Are the World” in a marathon overnight session; in 2014, Daft Punk evoked the studios’ wood-paneled splendor in a performance of “Get Lucky” with Stevie Wonder at the 56th Grammy Awards.

A soundstage on the property has seen nearly as much history, including filming for TV’s “The Red Skelton Show” and “Soul Train” and the production of the Police’s MTV-defining music video for “Every Breath You Take.” More recently, Mayer and his bandmates in Dead & Company took over the soundstage to workshop their cutting-edge residency at the Las Vegas Sphere, not long after Mayer cut his most recent solo LP, 2021’s “Sob Rock,” at Henson.

“I used to come here even if I didn’t quite have anything to do,” says the Grammy-winning singer and songwriter known for his romantic ballads and bluesy guitar heroics. “I just wanted to be around music — to have a place to go as an artist to find some structure in my life.”

Now, with an eye on preserving the spot at a moment of widespread upheaval in the entertainment industry, Mayer and his business partner, the filmmaker McG, have finalized a purchase of the lot, which they bought for $44 million from the family of the late Muppets creator Jim Henson and which they’ve renamed Chaplin Studios in honor of the silent-film giant who broke ground on it more than a century ago.

Their vision for Chaplin, which takes up half a city block between Sunset Boulevard and De Longpre Avenue, is ambitious. “We’re doing our best to create kind of a Warhol’s Factory thing of like-minded artists bumping into each other to do their best work possible,” says McG.

And the duo already have some powerful support behind them.

“A lot of my friends and I were very happy to see that Henson was being taken over by some great people,” Paul McCartney tells The Times in an email. The rock legend, who made 2001’s “Driving Rain” and 2018’s “Egypt Station” at Henson, admits that news of the studio’s changing hands left folks in his world “worried that it might not be handled sensitively.”

“However, we realize now we have no reason to be as John Mayer and McG seem to be doing a fantastic job in keeping the famous studio alive.”

Still, the challenges they face are real: Thanks to advances in cheap audio equipment — and with the economics of streaming having cut into once-lavish recording budgets — even A-list artists often opt these days to record at home rather than shell out to book into an old-line studio like Chaplin. (Consider that at least two of the songs nominated for record of the year at February’s Grammys ceremony — Billie Eilish’s “Wildflower” and Chappell Roan’s “The Subway” — were constructed primarily at home.)

“Everyone with a computer and a microphone has a studio,” Mayer says, and that’s not even accounting for the proliferation of music conjured up by AI out of the digital ether.

On the film side, the ongoing exodus of production from L.A. raises natural doubts about the ability to keep a soundstage busy with clients — doubts, one presumes, that led the owners of Occidental Studios near Echo Park to put that lot up for sale last summer.

“The real estate guys weren’t necessarily saying what a prudent business move this was,” says McG, who directed the 2000 blockbuster “Charlie’s Angels” and executive produced TV’s “The O.C.” “But it’s not about the dividend or the monthly spit-out. I admire John for throwing down.”

Says Mayer: “I love doing things that people tell me aren’t gonna work. That’s how I know I’m onto something.”

Mayer, 48, and McG, 57, are lounging on a December afternoon in Mayer’s ranch-hand-chic office, which occupies what once was the mill where wood for Charlie Chaplin’s movie sets was cut. Last night the co-owners threw a holiday party for the studio’s staff and friends; McG breakdanced — “My neck hurts today, but I got through it,” he says — while Mitchell turned up and played the piano in Mayer’s personal Studio C, where she liked to work in the ’70s.

As we talk, Mayer is sipping no fewer than three different smoothies — an approach he says he picked up from the late Apple founder Steve Jobs, who evidently would order multiple smoothies to ensure he wasn’t missing out on a new discovery.

“There’s something I relate to about that,” Mayer says, his Double RL boots propped on a coffee table in front of him. “I’m gonna have this smoothie and a little bit of these other smoothies to figure out: Does that smoothie beat this smoothie as my all-time-favorite order? What if there’s a smoothie out there in the world that you haven’t tried yet that could be your favorite?”

He puts down one cup and picks up another. “This one has wheatgrass in it,” he reports. “Not for me.”

The singer met McG, whose real name is Joseph McGinty Nichol, in 2024 through the studio’s longtime manager, Faryal Ganjehei. Each had ample experience on the lot: In the 1990s, McG shot music videos on the soundstage for the likes of Sublime and Smash Mouth; Mayer first recorded at Henson in 2005 when he cut a version of “Route 66” for the soundtrack to “Cars.”

“You’d think John and I would have known each other just from around here or from Ari Emanuel’s or whatever,” McG says. “But this was actually a bit of an arranged marriage” between two people who’d separately heard rumblings that the Jim Henson Co. might be looking to move its operations. (The company, which makes a variety of children’s television shows, is now headquartered at Studio City’s Radford Studio Center.)

“One year in, we’re still performing vigorous lovemaking,” McG says of his and Mayer’s union.

“Can’t wait to see that in Times New Roman,” Mayer adds.

Charlie Chaplin, who was born in London, began building the lot in 1917 in a white-and-brown English Tudor style; he went on to direct some of his best-known films, including “Modern Times” and “The Great Dictator,” on the property. After Chaplin left the United States in 1952, the lot was used for episodes of “The Adventures of Superman” and “Perry Mason.”

In 1966, Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss bought the place and made it the base for their A&M Records; they converted two of the lot’s soundstages into high-end recording studios that drew the the likes of Sergio Mendes, the Carpenters, Stevie Nicks, U2 and John Lennon. Henson took over in 2000 and continued to cultivate what many of the studio’s regulars describe as a cozy family vibe.

“It was truly my home away from home,” says John Shanks, who produced hit records by Sheryl Crow, Miley Cyrus and Ashlee Simpson, among many others, at Henson. “My kids celebrated birthdays there — they knew where the candy was in Faryal’s office.”

Mayer and McG say they’re putting $9 million into improvements on the lot — “an up-to-speed-ovation,” the director calls it — but have no plans to make significant structural or stylistic changes. Ganjehei’s staff of around 22 engineers, techs and runners will stay on, as will artists who maintain offices and studios on the property, among them Daft Punk’s production company and the duo of Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman.

“We’ve all seen places we loved get renovated and then you go, ‘Yeah, I don’t like it there anymore,’” McG says.

Such as?

“The Four Seasons on Doheny,” Mayer responds. “They took out the old dining room and put in a Culina, and it’s no fun anymore.” Of Chaplin, he says, “This place has a beating heart. All we have to do is effectively not kill it, right?” He laughs. “Just stay away from the big red button that says, ‘I got an idea.’”

Adrian Scott Fine welcomes that attitude.

“It’s what we like to hear — it’s not what we often hear,” says the president and chief executive of the Los Angeles Conservancy, a nonprofit dedicated to historic preservation. “When places transfer out of long-term stewardship, that always raises our spidey senses: What does this mean for the future? Sometimes they go into safe hands with the next owner. Oftentimes it means radical change, loss of character, maybe demolition or redevelopment. So we’re very hopeful when someone says that because it doesn’t happen enough in L.A.”

As a show of historical continuity, Mayer and McG initially wanted to call the property Chaplin A&M. But Mayer says he couldn’t get Universal Music Group, which controls the A&M brand, to sign off on the name.

“I’ve never seen fruit so close to the ground before,” he says of the idea to bring back A&M. “Everyone I spoke to did the thing that people at record companies do, where it starts to get very gauzy as it moves up the flagpole: ‘Listen, I get it, but I can’t get the person above me to see it.’” (Moss died in 2023, and a spokesperson for Alpert said he wasn’t available for an interview. A UMG spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment.)

More disappointing, Mayer and McG say, was the Henson family’s decision to take down the 12-foot statue of Kermit the Frog — dressed as Chaplin’s Little Tramp character — that presided for 25 years over the lot’s front entrance.

“It was important to the Hensons to have Kermit — that was expressed very early on,” Mayer says of the statue, which the family is donating to the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta. “We might have had the delusion of a reprieve. But they didn’t change their mind.”

“I talk to people I know and they say, ‘My kids go to school on La Brea, and every day we drive by and say, “What’s up, Kerms?”’” McG says. “It saddens me that the people of Los Angeles won’t be able to share in Kermit looking over them. If I sold Randy’s Donuts to a barbecue place, I’d hope the barbecue guy would keep the giant doughnut. It’s in the ‘I Love L.A.’ video with Randy Newman, OK?

“This isn’t a McG thing,” the director adds. “It’s not a John Mayer thing. With the greatest respect, it’s not even a Henson thing. Kermit, to me, had transcended all of that and become a part of the fabric of this community.”

Did they make that emotional case to the Hensons?

“We tried,” Mayer says.

And it fell on deaf ears?

“Indeed,” says McG. (A spokesperson at the Jim Henson Co. declined to comment.)

Mayer has seen the comments on social media blaming him for Kermit’s disappearance, which is no doubt why he’s eager to get the word out that it wasn’t his doing. Yet the singer — a tabloid fixture since the days when he dated Taylor Swift and Jessica Simpson — says he’s not tortured by his haters.

“They should be worried about what I think of them,” he says with a laugh. “Honest to God, sometimes I read stuff and I go, ‘If only you knew …’ And I don’t have to apply that to myself as a balm so I stop feeling bad. I’m at the age now where I’ve seen everything you could possibly write, and I’ve survived.”

Not so long ago, Mayer would happily jump into the rough and tumble of online discourse. “But don’t you find yourself scrolling away from things so obviously designed to outrage you?” he asks. The sun is starting to go down outside — this is the time of day, he says, when Chaplin’s bucolic grounds remind him of Montecito’s San Ysidro Ranch — and he’s getting slightly philosophical.

“Millennials had their brains ripped out by the things they read. Gen Z is beginning to go, ‘I think a lot of these are bots.’ And I think Gen Alpha will be the generation that looks and says, ‘There’s a whole bunch of clankers writing bulls—. We don’t care.’

“My years of trash talking or being critical of any artist in any way — I think they’re over,” he says. “It never felt as good as it feels to run into people in the hallway and be glad they’re here.”

The sense of community Mayer feels — and is trying to nurture — at Chaplin is one reason he’s optimistic the studio will succeed.

“I think we’re leaving an era of ‘I did it myself — aren’t you amazed?’ Look at Dijon onstage at ‘SNL,’” he says of the R&B singer and producer who led an expansive group of musicians through a vivid TV performance in early December. “We’ve heard our hands applauding the fact that people have done it alone, and now we’re turning the corner and loving collaboration again. And you can’t come into a place like this and do it alone.”

Even so, bills wait for no vibe shift. Beyond the business of recording, Mayer and McG are eager to make Chaplin’s soundstage a destination for acts in need of rehearsal space — AC/DC was recently in there practicing — as well as for certain high-end live events.

“If Anna Wintour’s gonna do ‘Women of Hollywood,’” McG says, “I need Anna Wintour going, ‘John, it’s got to be at your place.’”

Mayer says he’s fantasized about a sitcom or a talk show taking up residence on the soundstage.

“I hear John’s pretty good friends with Andy Cohen,” McG says of the Bravo host. “We’ll see where his show goes.”

“He looked at it,” Mayer says. “I think he needed more space to be able to do ‘Real Housewives’ reunions. Think about the number of Star Waggons you need for that.”

Yet music remains at the heart of Mayer’s ambitions for Chaplin, which he says he intends to own long enough to “sit down in a chair for a documentary several times, talking about other people’s records that were made here.” (Mayer himself says he’s been “defending the calendar of 2026” to record an album of his own.)

“Every time an artist drives through that gate, they’re taking an emotional risk,” he says. “Hoping they have a song in them but not being sure — it’s a very vulnerable state to be in. Everyone’s walking around, bumping into walls, thinking about what the rhyme is to that word. I want to make this the greatest place you could ever struggle.”