From left; host Roy Wood Jr. and Andrea Mitchell (Career Achievement Winner); Yvonne Orji (presenter) and Kerry Washington (Daughters); Lorne Michaels and Amy Poehler (Saturday Night Live); and Jon Hamm (presenter)
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After 85 years of recognizing the best in media, the Peabody Awards felt more relevant than ever at this year’s ceremony, held June 1 at the Beverly Wilshire hotel in Los Angeles. Presenters and winners alike repeatedly underlined the direness of recent attacks against truth, knowledge, and marginalized people—and their belief that storytelling of all kinds can serve as an antidote. All it takes, they emphasized, is a storyteller brave enough to stand up to the powers trying to silence them, though, of course, that’s far from easy.
Host Roy Wood Jr. said in his opening monologue, addressing this year’s winners, “You do one of the boldest things you can do in these times—that’s straight-up tell the truth.”
Among the winners pleading for continued attention to investigative work that roots out corruption was Dave Biscobing, the chief investigative reporter for the ABC affiliate in Phoenix, whose 32-part series broke down, amplified, and contextualized a Department of Justice report showing excessive force, discrimination, and rights violations committed by the local police department. A few days earlier, Biscobing said, the new administration’s DOJ “retracted” the earlier report. “They can retract the report, they can erase their words but they’ll never erase what we did,” Biscobing said. “Not as long as all of us are here. Not as long as there are people like us to tell stories that matter.”
Even the glitzier entertainment winners demonstrated the potent political powers of scripted stories and, when it came to Institutional winner Saturday Night Live, humor. After all, the 50-years-and-running satire show has never shied away from poking fun at an ornery president or two. Creator Lorne Michaels noted the common sensibilities of Peabody winners in his acceptance speech, while jokingly pointing out SNL’s multiple wins: “The thing that I want to say about the Peabody, because I have won this before: When you come to the Peabodys, and you walk in, unlike other award shows, you know you’re in the right room, and it’s really an honor to be here, so thank you.” Indeed, it’s likely the only awards show where Michaels and Nashville local news legend Phil Williams could both get standing ovations, where We Are Lady Parts creator Nida Manzoor and Stax: Soulsville U.S.A. director Jamila Wignot could both nerd out about seeing songwriter Linda Perry (who attended to present the Peabody to Manzoor).
Here, five other highlights from this year’s ceremony.
Andrea Mitchell’s Decades of Journalism Applauded
Andrea Mitchell also received a standing ovation as she appeared onstage to accept her Career Achievement award after an impressive compilation of her nearly 50 years of posing tough and unrelenting questions to those in power. “That certainly was a tour of my hair colors,” she quipped (accurately) before getting serious: “This award means the world to me, not just for what it says about my work but what it represents about the importance of journalism today.”
Jon Hamm Shares His Awe at ‘SNL’
There’s something disarming about the way that the guy who played Don Draper, the model of steely mid-century masculinity, fanboys over the comedy side of the business, particularly his ongoing association with SNL. Jon Hamm shared what it was like to host the show for the first time in 2008: “Before then, I was known as a guy drinking whiskey in a suit … and I was on Mad Men … hold for laugh.” He continued, “At the first table read, this is what happened. I kept expecting Lorne to say, ‘You know what? We changed our minds.’ … Instead he said, ‘Don’t worry, if this doesn’t work, everyone will blame us.’ And that is so Lorne—comforting, and totally terrifying, all at the same time.”
‘One With the Whale’ Director Moved to Song
Nalu Apassingok, producer of the winning documentary One With the Whale, was visibly moved at the recognition of her film, which tells the story of a clash between indigenous ways on a small Alaskan island and aggressive online environmental activists who don’t understand the vital importance of hunting to the local culture. To conclude her speech, she sang a song written by her grandfather.
‘Shogun’ Co-creator Champions Inclusivity
Justin Marks, who co-created the winning adaptation with Rachel Kondo, accepted the award with star Hiroyuki Sanada by his side. “It’s a little sad to me in some ways that we have to be still, in 2025, standing here talking about inclusivity as if it is a rare thing. … Inclusivity should not be rare in storytelling, and it should not be political to say that in this day and age.”
Soul Legend Lee Fields Brings the House Down
Lee Fields became the first musical guest ever in the Peabodys’ 85-year history, taking the stage to pay tribute to the winning documentary Stax: Soulsville, U.S.A. With only a single electric guitar and his sparkly suit to augment the performance, he delivered a searing rendition of Otis Redding’s “Try a Little Tenderness” that moved the crowd to its feet.