“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was among the 34 winners selected by Peabody Awards judges to receive this year’s award, with Kimmel joking that he had “never felt so stupid” for winning alongside documentaries and news programs that “exposed the horrors of ice, prison abuse and teachers who confronted President Putin.”
But at Sunday night’s awards ceremony, cheers erupted as the talk show host reminded the audience in his acceptance speech that “in America, you don’t win awards for making jokes about the president. We have a constitutional right to criticize and satirize our leaders. That’s something I took for granted for the first 57 years of my life, until last September, when the FCC gave us an unpleasant surprise.”
Kimmel was honored for “accepting the comedian’s responsibility to uncover the truth amidst political instability,” especially after he was suspended by ABC last fall following threats from the FCC.
When that happened, Kimmel said in his acceptance speech, “I experienced something even more amazing. I saw with my own eyes millions of people protesting, even from across the aisle. They spoke out, they marched, they canceled their Star Wars subscriptions, because they wouldn’t let our freedoms be bulldozed like the East Wing of the White House.”
“They sent a message that we care,” he added. “And that means we will stand up. And that we will not remain silent when comedy, journalism, and dissent are censored, regulated, and criminalized.”
Of course, Kimmel had some quips about President Trump. “I called the president ‘Fatty Shack.'” and “Blob the Builder.” And “Rieger Woods.” and “Hungry Hungry Hypocrite.” “Our sweet father.” “Mar a lardo.” “Nelson Tandera” and “Nostra Dumbass.” And somehow we got Peabody out of there,” he joked. “This country has gone really bad… Thank you to everyone who supported us last September. Thank you to the Peabody jury for this adorable little trophy, and to our thieving commander Donald Trump, ‘Abrascum Lincoln,’ ‘Orange Julius Caesar,’ ‘Greedy McGrophy,’ ‘Dopey McGropy,’ and ‘Pumpkin.'” McPorn Hamper. ”
Kimmel, who took to the stage with sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez, was presented with the award by Ben Affleck, who praised the host for “showing us what it really means to speak truth to power.” For years, he’s used his show to challenge authority every night — and by authority, I think we all know that means especially one honor-hogging narcissist named Matt Damon!
Kimmel was not the only recipient of the award for standing up against the regime and other oppressive institutions. This is, after all, the 86th Peabody Awards, and this year’s winners focused on heavy, important themes including the war in Gaza, the shocking state of prisons, the lack of attempts to bring sensible gun control to the United States, and our broken health care system.
This year’s entertainment productions won 11 Peabody Awards, including wins for “The Pit,” “Adolescence,” “Rivals” and “Pluribus.” This was followed by 10 documentaries (including two in the arts), five news, four interactive/immersive programs, and three podcasts/radio. This year, the children and youth division had one win. Comedian Mo Amer hosted this year’s event, which took place on Sunday at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.
Amell touched on some of the heavier themes. “Tonight has everything from investigating war crimes in Gaza to ‘It’s Elmo!'” Those don’t usually go together. “Today’s episode comes with the letters I, D, and F!” Seriously, tonight we celebrate “No Other Land,” “Cleared by Fire,” “Fault Lines: Kids Under Fire” and “The Disappearance of Dr. Abu Safiya,” “Gaza War Crimes Investigation,” and “Walk with a Soul in Your Hand.” These are all stories about the systematic destruction of Palestine. The producers told me to whisper the words because they didn’t want anyone to get in trouble for speaking the truth. ”
Sly Lives! (AKA the Burden of Black Genius) producer Joseph Patel accepted the doctor’s award as director Aamir “Questlove” Thompson was still in New York having just performed on stage with Jay-Z the night before. Patel said he would be reading from his cell phone rather than a teleprompter, but that allowed him to go off-script and warn, “I’m grateful that this story needs to be told. What this journey of this film has made clear is that, frankly, five years from now, we may not be able to tell this story or any other story about Black artists.
“It may sound silly, but as I speak, the stories, the histories, and even the bodies of black and brown people in this country are under attack,” he said. “As we speak, black people are literally being written to represent the government. Immigrants are disappearing, and speaking out against the death of a Palestinian child will result in jail or deportation. This is not a hypothetical future. This is happening right now, and what is happening now? It doesn’t matter if we don’t. As artists, we still have a duty to tell these stories, and as humans, we still have the authority to do something about it. Only then can we create the future we want.” Fuck Trump, fuck ICE, and liberate Palestine. ”
Tony Guillory, the creator of Andor, has praised the show for its prescient depiction of what happens when oppressive forces infiltrate society. We were thinking about that for six years, thinking about what happens to ordinary people when an authoritarian, insane, unchecked regime enters into a deal. This show is exactly what we learned.”
“If you’re not willing to fight for what you love, your family, your community, your culture, your planet, your truth, your freedom, there are going to be some assholes out there trying to take it away from you,” he said. “We learned that courage, sacrifice, and resistance come in all shapes and sizes, and that courage is contagious.”
Gilroy, paraphrasing a character from “Andor,” said that the oppressors aim to commit so many atrocities at once, flooding the region, that the population is too stunned to pay attention to them all. That obviously seems similar to what’s happening in this country right now. “There’s too much going on. It’s like a shitty firehose and you can’t get through it,” Gilroy said. “And here we are. There is currently no new cycle in American history that does not include various outrages that would not constitute grounds for treason.”
He concluded with a message to the journalists, documentarians and storytellers in the audience: “Please don’t stop. Don’t turn off the lights until we cancel this nightmare and fuck the empire!”
“His record caused a stir because so few reporters are denied access to American prisons, even though we lock up more of our citizens than any other democracy at a cost of $160 billion a year,” said Andrew Jarecki, the filmmaker behind “Alabama Solutions.” Fellow filmmaker Charlotte Kaufman said, “What we’re seeing now in Minneapolis and New York and beyond is government violence and retaliation against those who recorded it. After making this film, we understood that it was cultivated within our prison system. It’s no surprise that Kristi Noem said she was brandishing a weapon after an ICE agent killed Alex Pretti while filming her with a cell phone, because cameras are weapons for authoritarian regimes.
Presenters included Affleck, Anthony Anderson, Halle Bailey, Damon Lindelof, Elex Michaelson, Yara Shahidi, and Michael Urie. They all gave their own, personal speeches. Bailey, who was tasked with introducing the winners on the theme of “fighting injustice,” alluded to the criticism she received online for playing the live-action version of “The Little Mermaid.”
“There were voices questioning whether I was meant to be in a certain iconic world, because I didn’t look like what some people had always imagined me to be,” she said. “Being told in some way that you don’t belong in a space that people have already decided was a burden that I didn’t have to carry. I thought about my heroes, women like Billie Holiday, Eartha Kitt, Nina Simone. Artists who faced criticism, prejudice, and tremendous pressure, but still chose to create, perform, and be themselves. They reminded me that progress never comes by waiting for permission.”
PBS Kids won the Peabody Organization Award, which was presented to Sarah DeWitt, PBS Kids Senior Vice President and General Manager. “We’ve been defunded, but we haven’t lost,” she said aloud.
“The Simpsons” creator Matt Groening also honored James L. Brooks with the title of Peabody Industry Icon. Ethan Hawke introduced Peabody Pioneer Award winner Starlin Harjo.
“I am a witness to what the current government is against,” Harjo said. “If Sundance Institute didn’t think there was value in discovering a diversity of fresh voices, I wouldn’t be here today. Diversity isn’t a given, it’s an empowerment. Telling someone where you come from and who you are can have an impact on people from other backgrounds.”
“I want to thank my ancestors who survived before me,” he added. “The United States government tried to commit genocide against my people. We are from Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, and Mr. Andrew Jackson, the creator of the $20 bill, himself led the Removal Act and expelled my people from their homeland. There was a war. , marched at gunpoint, and that’s how we ended up in Oklahoma. And let me tell you, they denied it, they deny it was genocide, and they still do that today, but I feel like I was born into rebellion and survival.”
Turning to production concerns, he added, “We should treat people with respect and try to get them home to their families at a reasonable time. No TV show or movie is worth anything unless people are completely happy. You have a chance to change the industry. People pretend they have the answers to what’s going to happen. I want to hang my hat and encourage everyone in this room to hire real people to do the work and treat them with respect.”
The night ended with Amy Poehler (introduced by Ike Barinholtz) receiving Peabody’s Career Achievement Award.
“It’s a little strange to sum up your career in the middle of it,” she says. “I’m imagining it like when you’re stopped during a marathon and someone hands you a banana. I don’t know, I’ll never run a marathon, but it’s like goo. This is a special goo that Peabody’s gave me to keep me running. Thank you for the goo.”
See the complete list of this year’s Peabody winners here. Peabody said the 34 winners were chosen from a pool of nominees originally selected from a list of more than 1,000 entries in all categories. The final winner was chosen by a unanimous vote of 28 jurors.
