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The 24th Annual Webby Awards Celebrates & Honors the Individuals and Organizations Using the Internet in Response to COVID-19

THE 24th ANNUAL WEBBY AWARDS CELEBRATES & HONORS THE INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS USING THE INTERNET IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19

Michelle Obama, Miley Cyrus, Tom Hanks, D-Nice, Demi Lovato, Kristen Bell, Desus & Mero, Jimmy Fallon, Ellen DeGeneres & More Among Webby Winners, Special Achievement Honorees, and Presenters at Star-Studded Internet Celebration

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“Stay lit in dark times.” – Miley Cyrus
“I actually f*cking hate sloths.” – Kristen Bell
“You are the good news.” – John Krasinski
“So, this isn’t a prank?” – DJ D-Nice
“Thank you, front line workers.” – James Corden
“You can learn anything online.” – Avi Schiffmann
“Have I pushed the right–.” – Tom Hanks
“We accidentally started a nonprofit.” – Invisible Hands
“Find in self, love for others,” –  Swizz Beatz
“Wow What a Wonderful WebbyAward” – Ellen
“Verzuz, buy for the artists.” – Timbaland
“Love and serve. That’s It.” – Tatiana Prowell, M.D.
“Yes, I have a slide.” – Jimmy Fallon

NEW YORK, May 19, 2020 – The 24th Annual Webby Awards honored the year’s biggest Internet visionaries and activists with an innovative Internet Celebration where each winner received their own personalized version of the ceremony. This year’s show, dubbed WFH: Webbys From Home, was dedicated to honoring the outstanding individuals and organizations who are using the Internet in response to the incredible difficulties imposed by the coronavirus pandemic. 

This year’s Webby Winners, Special Achievement Honorees, and Presenters included former First Lady Michelle Obama, NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, late-night hosts Desus & Mero, American singer-songwriter Miley Cyrus, American DJ D-Nice, Actor John Krasinski, Co-Inventor of the Internet Vint Cerf, American Actor Tom Hanks, Sesame Street favorite Oscar the Grouch, Creator Avi Schiffmann, American Comedian Jimmy Fallon, Writer & Comedian Sarah Cooper, Actress Kristen Bell, Italian Restaurateur Massimo Bottura, among many more. 

Returning for the fourth time, host Patton Oswalt kicked off his opening monologue from the comfort of his backyard: “Hey everyone! Welcome to the Webbys From Home, celebrating the Internet and all the ways it helped us get through this terrible crisis… I’m Patton Oswalt your host or after 60 days, your living sourdough bread loaf… pour a nice glass of pino bleach-rigio, get comfortable in those sweatpants that you’ve been wearing for the past month and let’s recognize your amazing work on the Internet.” 

Michelle Obama on Derrick Jones, better known as D-Nice, recipient of 2020 Webby Artist of the Year Award for Club Quarantine: “With his Club Quarantine parties, Derrick has created a space where folks can come together from living rooms and basements all over the world to let off some steam, dance it out, and just enjoy each other’s company. Partying with a purpose… his turntables have provided a soundtrack for so many of our volunteers helping us reach more than 400,000 eligible voters throughout our recent couch parties. I know we’re all looking forward to D-Nice bringing down the house when we can all be together again.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci on Avi Schiffmann, recipient of 2020 Webby Person of the Year Award for his creation of ncov2019.live to track the spread of COVID-19 across the world: “As we collectively navigate the severe impact of COVID-19, including the difficult, but critical calls for nationwide social distancing, the Internet has become the lifeblood of people looking for accurate information about the novel coronavirus and the necessary steps to combat it. Since launching the site on December 29th, Schiffmann’s tracking tool has been an invaluable resource that sounded the alarm on the virus and its spread, notably calling attention to its severity long before many global officials. At a time when the spread of misinformation can be so detrimental to our efforts, the site has provided over 100 million visitors with accurate real-time data.”

Jill Scott on Swizz Beatz + Timbaland, recipients of the 2020 Crush the Internet Award for @verzuztv, a platform that celebrates artists, legendary songwriters and producers. With events drawing 750K+ viewers, the battles are not only celebrating those who participate, but also giving fans insight into some of the most influential songs in music: “Timbaland and Swizz Beatz haven’t just created some of the most bangin’ music of our times, they’ve also spent their careers uplifting other artists, which is why they created Verzuz.”

Demi Lovato, presenting the Webby Special Achievement Award to Miley Cyrus for her creation of  her Instagram Live show, Bright Minded: Live with Miley, entertaining the world with hopeful conversations with celebrities about how they are maintaining healthy minds, bodies, and spirits: “What is Miley Cyrus up to? Seriously, though. As we’ve made our way through this unprecedented time, any way to connect and communicate with people to laugh, share stories, sing with friends, any chance for us to come get together joyfully has become vitally important. And my friend Miley has provided an outlet for millions of people to do just that.”  

Claire Graves, Executive Director of the Webby Awards provided a message to kick off the 24th Annual Webby Awards: “The global pandemic has reminded us of the true power of the Internet. It’s that one consistent thing that has kept us together and helped us support and uplift each other during this difficult time… the future will be defined by you. The people who are using technology to advance the world during its darkest hours. We can’t wait to celebrate you today and see what you make next.”

Additional highlights from this year’s Webby Awards Show include:

  • Oswalt presented the Webby Special Achievement to John Krasinski for creating and hosting Some Good News, a show that uplifts people and makes them laugh while shining a light on the positive news stories from around the world and calling on celebrities to create memorable moments for fans. Oswalt said, “Since the first episode of Some Good News that launched on Youtube at the end of March, the web series created by John Krasinski has amplified stories of love and compassion bringing smiles to over 17 million viewers.” John said in his five word speech, “You are the good news.”  
  • Judah Friedlander presented to Tom Hanks who won the Webby People’s Voice Award for Arts & Entertainment for his #NiceTweets.  
  • Dr. Tatiana Prowell of Johns Hopkins University received the Webby Special Achievement for her use of the Internet to organize a blood drive and to inspire COVID-19 survivors to donate their plasma to those still in the fight to recover. 
  • Vint Cerf presented to Jimmy Fallon, who won the Webby Award for Celebrity/Fan (Social). 
  • Patton Oswalt presented the Webby Special Achievement to Kristen Bell for her incredible positivity, and use of her digital platform to help children understand the pandemic including hosting the “#KidsTogether: The Nickelodeon Town Hall.”
  • Rhett & Link presented the Webby for Multi-Player Competitive Game to Ellen DeGeneres who accepted on behalf of Heads Up by Ellen Digital Network.
  • Oswalt presented to James Corden who won the Webby Award for Entertainment (Video). 
  • Questlove presented to Houseparty who won Webby Breakout of the Year for becoming a global cultural phenomenon and keeping people laughing with their friends and family in our current climate. 
  • Swab Squad won the Webby Special Achievement for serving their community as healthcare professionals during the coronavirus pandemic, while bringing joy to the Internet through their TJUH Instagram. In their five word speech, the group stated, “Jefferson’s all in this together.”
  • Oswalt presented to The Daily who won Webby Voice of the Year for the podcast team’s valiant coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Daily by The New York Times is using the Internet to be a crucial voice providing accurate, in-depth reporting about the pandemic.    
  • Isaiah Thomas presented to The Daily Show with Trevor Noah who won the Webby Award and Webby People’s Voice Award for Humor (Social), the Webby Award for Best Web Personality/Host (Video) and the Webby Award and Webby People’s Voice Award for Comedy: Shortform (Video). 
  • Simone Gordon, better known as the Black Fairy Godmother, won the Webby Special Achievement for using social media to aid women of color who have been severely impacted by COVID-19.
  • Artist Moses Sumney performed ‘Gagarin’ from his newly-released double album græ, exclusively for Webbys From Home.
  • Questlove presented to FKA twigs who won Webby Best Individual Performance and Music Video for the hit song, ‘Cellophane.’ 
  • Invisible Hands won the Webby Special Achievement for creating a network of volunteers to use digital platforms to quickly organize and deliver groceries to those who have been severely impacted by COVID-19. 
  • Sarah Cooper presented the Webby Award for Best Business Podcast to Kara Swisher & Professor Scott Galloway.
  • David Chang presented the Webby Special Achievement Award for Chef of the Year to Massimo Bottura for his Instagram live show that showcase his family meals to fans worldwide through “Kitchen Quarantine.” He stated in his five word speech, “Hi! Welcome to Kitchen Quarantine.”
  • Monica Lewinsky presented to John Hodgman, who won the Webby Award for Best Comedy Podcast.
  • Jayde Powell of Shopping Angels won the Webby Special Achievement for her online website that gathers volunteers to pick up groceries and other shopping essentials for those who can’t leave their homes. 
  • Desus & Mero presented the Webby Special Achievement to Google Classroom for serving as a critical educational tool to keep young students learning, engaged and connected during the COVID-19 pandemic. 
  • Dan Pashman presented to Oscar the Grouch, who won the Webby People’s Voice Award for Products & Services (Advertising, Media & PR) and the Webby People’s Voice Award for Scripted (Video). 
  • Paola Antonelli presented to Deepak Chopra, who won the Webby Award for Health Wellness podcast Daily Breath. He stated in his five-word speech: “Peaceful, just, happy, healthy world.”
  • Nextstrain.org won the Webby Special Achievement for its website to track the spread of COVID-19, helping people across the country and world better understand how the disease’s genetic codes are mutating and what that may mean for vaccine development. Their five-word speech: “We can still fix this.”
  • BBDO New York accepted the Webby Award for Agency of the Year, McCann Worldgroup accepted the Webby Award for Network of the Year, and m ss ng p eces accepted the first-ever Webby Award for Production Company of the Year. 
  • Oswalt closed the show encouraging viewers to register to vote at vote.org and head to D-Nice’s Instagram at 8pm EST for the Webby Awards official after-party. 

Throughout the celebration The Webby Awards continued its ongoing Voter Registration Rally with Vote.org, empowering everybody tuning into the celebration to confirm their voter registration. 

The Webby Awards were made possible in partnership with WP Engine, Monday.com, Slack and YouGov.

KPMG provides vote tabulation consulting for The Webby Awards. To view the full list of Winners, please visit: https://winners.webbyawards.com

 Winners of multiple Webby Awards this year include:

  • National Geographic (14): Best Overall Social Presence – Media/Entertainment (Social), Best Use of Animation or Motion Graphics (Websites), Science and Education (Podcasts), News and Magazines (Apps, Mobile Sites and Voice), Best Use of Photography (Social), Travel & Lifestyle (Video), Branded Entertainment Corporate Social Responsibility (Video) 
  • Google (14):  Best Voice User Experience (Apps, Mobile Sites and Voice), Corporate Communications (Social), Best Branded Editorial Experience (Advertising, Media, & PR), Branded Entertainment Diversity & Inclusion  (Video), Best Navigation/Structure (Websites) 
  • The Washington Post (9): News & Politics (Social), Documentary: Longform (Video), Best Individual Editorial Feature – Media Company (Websites), Email Newsletters (Websites) 
  • Vox Media (8): News & Politics (Video), Arts & Culture (Podcasts), Business (Podcasts, Interview/Talk Show (Podcasts) 
  • Conde Nast (7): Architecture & Design (Websites), Food & Drink (Social), Best Writing Editorial (Websites), Variety (Video) 
  • Spotify (7): Best Use of Online Media (Advertising, Media & PR), Entertainment (Social), Best Data Visualization (Websites), Music (Websites) 
  • NASA (7): Best Overall Social Presence – Brand (Social), Education & Discovery (Social), Best Social Community Building and Engagement, Advertising, Media & PR), Green (Websites) 
  • ESPN (7): Best Visual Design – Function (Websites), Sports (Websites), Sports (Podcasts), Sports – Individual Episodes, Mini-Series & Specials (Podcasts)
  • HBO (6):  Best Branded Editorial Experience (Advertising, Media & PR), Best Individual Episode (Podcasts), Volumetric / 6-Degrees of Freedom (Video) 

Find The Webby Awards Online:
Website: webbyawards.com
Instagram: @TheWebbyAwards
Twitter: @TheWebbyAwards
Facebook: Facebook.com/TheWebbyAwards
YouTube: youtube.com/webby
Snapchat: TheWebbyAwards 

About The Webby Awards:
Hailed as the “Internet’s highest honor” by The New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international awards organization honoring excellence on the Internet, including Websites, Video, Advertising, Media & PR, Apps, Mobile, and Voice, Social, Podcasts, and Games. Established in 1996, this year’s Webby Awards received nearly 13,000 entries from all 50 states and 70 countries worldwide. The Webby Awards are presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS). Sponsors and Partners of The Webby Awards include: WP Engine, Monday.com, Slack, YouGov, BASIC, KPMG, Adweek, Fast Company, The New Museum, and Social Media Week.

MEDIA CONTACTS
Sunshine Sachs – (212) 691-2800
For event press or questions: webby@sunshinesachs.com

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