The 83rd annual Peabody Awards in-person ceremony has been canceled due to the “ongoing uncertainty and meaningful challenges that exist industrywide,” amid the writers strike that began on May 2.
“As an organization dedicated to honoring the most compelling and empowering stories in broadcasting and streaming media, we recognize and respect the position that many of this year’s Peabody Award winners find themselves in,” reads the official statement. “Due to the ongoing uncertainty and meaningful challenges that exist industrywide, we have decided to cancel the 83rd annual Peabody Awards ceremony that was set to take place on June 11 in Los Angeles. Canceling the ceremony is extremely disappointing as this year’s 39 winners are immensely talented and have brought forth powerful stories that deserve to be celebrated.”
The June 11 ceremony was set to be Peabody’s first in-person ceremony since 2019 — as well as the first time ever in its history that the Awards were to take place in Los Angeles — and was to be hosted by Shrinking star Jessica Williams. At the event, Issa Rae and Lily Tomlin were to receive honorary awards.
The Peabody Awards are not the first ceremony to be disrupted by the strike. Last week, The Hollywood Reporter exclusively reported that the Tony Awards will not be televised as scheduled on June 11 because the Writers Guild denied a waiver request from the organizers of Broadway’s biggest night. The MTV Movie Awards was moved to a pre-taped show from a live ceremony on May 7, after the WGA had said it would picket the awards show. Host Drew Barrymore also dropped out before the show pivoted to pre-taped, in solidarity with the WGA. The guild canceled its picket after the formatting changed.
On May 9, the Peabody Awards announced the winners in the 35 categories honoring the most compelling and empowering stories released in broadcasting, streaming and interactive media during 2022. Notable winners include FX’s Atlanta and AMC’s Better Call Saul, which earned their second Peabody Awards after both series won for their first seasons.
