Webbys From Home
May 2020. Virtual Event
Empire secured comedian Patton Oswalt to host the Webbys From Home on May 19, 2020. With Covid-19 still keeping people at home, the Webbys decided not to call the event the 24th Annual Webby Awards, but instead “Webbys From Home”. Patton opened the show with hilarious opening monologue videotaped in his home garden, telling the at-home audience to get comfortable in the “black sweatpants you’ve been wearing for the past month” and to enjoy a nice glass of “pinot bleachio” during the show.
The Webbys From Home then continued in the tradition of the usual live show, with an incredible array of celebrities, luminaries, and web personalities taking turns honoring the best of the internet over the past year. Michelle Obama presented a Webby Special Achievement Award to D-Nice, and Demi Lovato presented one to Miley Cyrus. Comedian Judah Friedlander presented Tom Hanks with an Award for his work on #nicetweets, and everyone’s favorite doctor, Dr. Anthony Fauci, presented to Avi Schiffmann as the 2020 Webby Person of the Year for the Covid-19 tracking device and website the young man brought to the internet (over 600 million visitors so far!). Schiffmann honored the Webbys tradition of sticking to a 5-word acceptance speech, stating, “You can learn anything online”. When Ellen Degeneres was honored for her "Heads Up” online video game she quipped “Wow, what a wonderful Webby Award!”. Others who appeared on the show as presenters and winners included Trevor Noah, James Corden, FKA Twigs, John Krasinski, Jill Scott, and even Sesame Street’s lovable green icon, Oscar the Grouch.
As always, the Webbys also had several poignant moments along with the lighter ones, and honored several groups that they deemed “Covid-19 Heroes” including, Shopping Angels, Nextstrain.org, Invisible Hands, Black Fairy Godmother, and The Swab Squad. To see all of the above moments and more, visit https://webbysfromhome.com
Empire has been honored to produce the previous 15 live Webby Awards programs with appearances by Prince, Anna Wintour, David Bowie, Jerry Seinfeld, Ben Stiller, Lisa Kudrow, David Letterman, Sarah Silverman, Gillian Anderson, and dozens more, and to have contracted Patton Oswalt for this year’s special Webbys From Home presentation.