Yahoo News Mel Brooks and Quinta Brunson to Receive Top Honors at the Peabody Awards
Fresh off the rollout of the nominees for the 84th annual Peabody Awards, the organization’s Board of Jurors has announced that comedy stars Mel Brooks and Quinta Brunson will receive the Peabody Career Achievement Award and the Peabody Trailblazer Award, respectively. Both awards will be handed out live at the 2024 Peabody Awards ceremony on June 9 in Los Angeles. They were selected by unanimous vote of the Peabody Board of Jurors.
“Mel Brooks is not only one of the most beloved comedians of all time, but he literally set the standard for television comedy from its earliest days. Across TV, film, theater, and recordings, Mr. Brooks is in a league of his own. And Quinta Brunson has emerged as a refreshingly creative force in network television comedy,” said Jeffrey Jones, executive director of Peabody, via statement. “Peabody is proud to honor Mel and Quinta not only for their extraordinary contributions as storytellers, but particularly for their use of comedy to tell stories that matter, enriching the lives of so many.”
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The Peabody Career Achievement Award is meant to honor individuals whose work and commitment to media have left an indelible mark on both the industry and American culture itself. The 97-year-old Brooks is an arbiter of spoof comedy, creating projects that are as subversive as they are funny. He is one of the few to reach EGOT status, having received two Academy Awards, four Emmys, three Tonys, and three Grammys, amongst other honors. Now Brooks joins past winners of the Peabody Career Achievement Award, including Rita Moreno, Sam Pollard, Dan Rather, Lily Tomlin, and Cicely Tyson.
The Trailblazer Award is meant to recognize visionaries that are currently impacting our culture and effecting social change through innovative storytelling. With her groundbreaking creation “Abbott Elementary,” itself a 2023 Peabody Award winner, Brunson highlights the challenges and rewards that come with teaching at a criminally underfunded public school. As both the star of the series, and a showrunner, Brunson’s work reflects Peabody’s mission to not only honor stories that matter, but also opens doors for the next generation of Black leaders in television. She is the second recipient of the Peabody Trailblazer Award, after inaugural winner Issa Rae.
The 84th annual Peabody Awards will announce more winners on May 9, 2024 and later celebrate on June 9 at a ceremony at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles. This will be Peabody’s first in-person ceremony since 2019, as well as the first time ever that the awards will be given out in Los Angeles.
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