When Peabody holds its 84th awards ceremony on June 9, it will finally be in Los Angeles — after four years of trying. The org had decided in 2020 to move its annual event from New York to the West Coast. And then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and the ceremony went virtual for three years. Last year, it was ready to try again — until the Hollywood strikes forced another in-person cancellation.
Now, Peabody and its executive director, Jeffrey Jones, are ready to give it another shot. “I don’t know what’s going to stop us now,” says Jones, trying not to jinx it. But speaking to PvNew just weeks before the event, he was optimistic that this year’s Peabody Awards, held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel and hosted by Oscar- and Emmy-nominated comedian-actor-writer Kumail Nanjiani, would be worth the wait.