The 83rd annual Peabody Awards in-person ceremony has been canceled due to the “ongoing uncertainty and meaningful challenges that exist across the industry,” amid the writers’ strike that began May 2.
“As an organization dedicated to honoring the most compelling and powerful stories in broadcast and streaming media, we recognize and respect the position many of this year’s Peabody Award winners find themselves in,” the official statement read. “Due to the ongoing uncertainty and meaningful challenges that exist across the industry, we have decided to cancel the 83rd Annual Peabody Awards ceremony scheduled to take place June 11 in Los Angeles. The cancellation of the ceremony is extremely disappointing as this year’s 39 winners are immensely talented and have spawned powerful stories that deserve to be celebrated.”
The June 11 ceremony would be Peabody’s first in-person ceremony since 2019 — as well as the first time in its history that the Awards would be held in Los Angeles — and would be hosted by Shrink star Jessica Williams. At the event, Issa Rae and Lily Tomlin would receive honorary awards.
The Peabody Awards are not the first ceremony to be disrupted by the strike. Last week, The Hollywood Reporter reported exclusively that the Tony Awards will not be televised as scheduled on June 11 because the Writers Guild rejected a request for an exemption from the organizers of Broadway’s biggest night. The MTV Movie Awards were moved to a pre-recorded show from a live ceremony on May 7, after the WGA said it would pick up the awards show. Host Drew Barrymore also quit before the show flipped to pre-recorded, in solidarity with the WGA. The Guild canceled his picket after formatting.
On May 9, the Peabody Awards announced the winners in the 35 categories honoring the most compelling and powerful stories released in broadcast, streaming and interactive media in 2022. Notable winners include FXs Atlanta and AMCs You better call Saulearning their second Peabody Awards after both series won their first seasons.
