The Peabody Awards announced Thursday, May 2, that it will be bestowing two special honors on two funny people.
Trailblazing Blazing Saddles director Mel Brooks will be receiving the Peabody Career Achievement Award, and Abbott Elementary creator and star Quinta Brunson will take home the Peabody Trailblazer Award on Sunday, June 9, at a ceremony at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles.
Peabody’s executive director Jeffrey Jones hailed EGOT winner Brooks “as not only one of the most beloved comedians of all time,” but a man who “literally set the standard for television comedy from its earliest days.”
Jones added, “Across TV, film, theater, and recordings, Mr. Brooks is in a league of his own.”
Jones called Emmy winner Brunson “a refreshingly creative force in network television comedy” and added both names were singled out “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.”
Both awards were selected by a unanimous vote of the Peabody Board of Jurors, the announcement explains, noting the pair will be celebrated live at the 84th Annual Peabody Awards ceremony — its first in-person event since 2019 and the first one ever to be held in Los Angeles.