Why Jonathan Bailey, Martin Short, Jean Smart and More Missed SAG Awards 2025

The show must go on—even if some stars couldn’t be a part of it. 

At the 2025 SAG Awards, stars like Selena Gomez and Timothée Chalamet—who won the award for Best Ensemble alongside the Only Murders cast and Best Actor in a Leading Role for A Complete Unknown respectively—stepped out at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles Feb. 23. But while the evening was certainly star-studded, some members of the Screen Actors Guild were unable to celebrate their achievements in person. 

Martin Short, who nabbed the award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Comedy Series, couldn't accept his award in person due to a COVID-19 diagnosis, which his longtime pal Steve Martin shared he contracted during Saturday Night Live’s 50th anniversary special Feb. 16. 

Still, the 74-year-old expressed gratitude for his achievement from afar. 

“The honor of being in Only Murders in the Building is the most spectacular compliment anyone could be given,” Martin said in a statement to People following his win. “The honor of being awarded by your peers is even greater. Thank you so so much.”

Similarly, Wicked star Jonathan Bailey—who was up for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role—was unable to show up for the ceremony alongside costars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo as he is currently starring in Richard II on the West End. (Nevertheless, Kieran Culkin nabbed the award for his performance in A Real Pain.)

And after the presentation of the aforementioned award, Jeremy Strong, who rounded out the nominees for his The Apprentice performance alongside Anora’s Yura Borisov and A Complete Unknown’s Edward Norton, promptly left the ceremony. 

Meanwhile, Jean Smart, who won for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series, wasn’t in attendance as she was on location filming for Hacks, presenter Joey King announced while accepting the trophy on the actress’ behalf.

However, Jean shared previously that she would likely skip the remainder of awards season altogether following the January wildfires in Los Angeles. 

“With ALL due respect during Hollywood’s season of celebration,” Jean wrote in a Jan. 9 Instagram post, “I hope any networks televising the upcoming awards will seriously consider NOT televising them and donating the revenue they would have garnered to victims of the fires and firefighters.”

Indeed, many stars in Hollywood took pause in continuing with business as usual amid the catastrophic aftermath of the fires. Even Kristen Bell, who hosted the SAG Awards ceremony, initially spoke out against moving forward with the event, before ultimately reconsidering. 

“At first, it felt superfluous to have an awards show,” Kristen explained to USA Today earlier this month. “I realized these awards shows are a huge part of Los Angeles' economy, employing hundreds, if not thousands, of gig workers: drivers, hair and makeup artists, musicians. It's actually paramount we have them so these people can work.”

And as for why Kristen’s husband Dax Shepard wasn’t attending to support the Gossip Girl actress? She previously joked he’d likely be sitting out the big night. 

As she put it to People Feb. 21, “I don’t know if he’ll even come because to be honest, we don’t have very many babysitters who are ever available and he has to watch the children.”

Keep reading for every star who did step out to see actors supporting actors…

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