Political Moments from the Las Culturistas Culture Awards
Silly, trending awards show by Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang had some politics mixed in with the pop culture.
The recent broadcast of the fourth annual Las Culturistas Culture Awards on Bravo and Peacock is rightly getting a lot of attention for its random awards and funny moments. But there were also some references to politics.
Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers, the show’s hosts, opened with a backdrop of the all-female Blue Origin launch in April as a backdrop. As everyone knows, Jeff Bezos started the space company with his Amazon profits, and has owned The Washington Post since 2013.
One acknowledgement of the 2024 presidential election between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris was the nomination, “Bowen’s birthday was the day after the 2024 election,” for Grief of the Year, losing to “When we thought for a second pervy lil bro died on White Lotus from the protein smoothie.” Also nominated was “The boat episode of Succession,” the award-winning family-business show that has plenty of political aspects to it. Sarah Snook from Succession was also nominated for the Santa Award for Being Unforgettable, losing to Toad from Super Mario fame.
Another reference to the election was the nomination “Steve Kornacki (the other election, not this one)” for the Pop Crave Award for Excellence in Journalism. Kornacki is the NBC News and MSNBC national political correspondent who enthusiastically goes through data and maps during election night coverage.
Kaitlan Collins, CNN’s Chief White House Correspondent and host of The Source, was also nominated for that award, as was George Clooney, who’s incredibly influential among Democratic leaders and has done a number of political programs, including The Peacemaker, The Thin Red Line, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Good Night, and Good Luck, Syriana, The Men Who Stare at Goats, The Ides of March, Argo, K Street, and The Art of Political Murder. Clooney also played a key role behind the scenes in getting Joe Biden to take the unprecedented step of not running for re-election.
The Casamigos Margaritas Award for Things to Enjoy Anytime, Anywhere went to Podcasts. No specific shows were mentioned, but it is worth mentioning here that it’s been a great era for political podcasts. Ruthless just secured a huge deal with Fox News. Gavin Newsom, Andy Beshear, and others have launched successful shows, examples of Democrats trying to get into the medium. Joe Rogan, Theo Von, and others played a pivotal role in the 2024 presidential election, giving listeners and the entire country insightful looks into the candidates, whether they gave interviews or not.
Two recent news stories that had political aspects got nominations. “Drones over New Jersey (we never figured this out btw)” was nominated for the Scariest Moment in History, and “Chinese spy balloon” was nominated for the Best 2023 Moment. Congress and the Biden Administration were both cagey and deflecting about these issues. There continues to be questions about them, and President Trump has sometimes weighed in.
AOC — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — got two mentions during the show. She was first nominated for the Eva Longoria Award for Tiny Woman, Huge Impact, and later was noted in the In Absentia portion, highlighting those who couldn’t attend the show. (One of Longoria’s huge impacts is that she has been sort of a political savant in the Democratic Party.)
Others mentioned In Absentia were Michelle Obama and former Saturday Night Live actors Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, remembered for their hilarious portrayals of Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton, respectively.
Barack Obama joined his wife in getting acknowledged at the show in being nominated for the Father Award. The actors Mark Duplass and Mark Ruffalo were also nominated. Duplass has a few great political credits. He executive produced American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders and was in both Zero Dark Thirty and Parkland. Ruffalo is a well-known liberal political activist whose credits include All the King’s Men and Spotlight.
Sebastian Stan and Bernie Sanders were among the nominees for the Creatine Award for Straight Male Excellence, losing to former Saturday Night Live actor Andy Samberg. Bernie is a political fixture, of course. If you’re not familiar with Sebastian Stan, he played Donald Trump in last year’s movie The Apprentice with Jeremy Strong and was also in the show Political Animals with Sigourney Weaver, Ellen Burstyn, Ciarán Hinds, and Carla Gugino.
Another SNL alum, Seth Meyers, won for Best Vibe, Hands Down. From Weekend Update to his current show, Meyers has always had witty takes on politics. He also famously spoke at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
“Zohran Mamdani press tour being somehow not cringe” was nominated for the Social Change Moment of the Year Sponsored by West Elm. After winning the Democratic nomination for Mayor of New York City, the declared socialist Mamdani is getting a lot of attention from the media and leaders of both political parties.
Allison Janney was honored with the Lifetime of Culture Award. In terms of political shows, she’s most well-known as being the press secretary and ultimately chief of staff in The West Wing. She was also in Primary Colors, LateLine, and The Diplomat.
The legendary actress Helen Mirren was nominated for Woman of a Certain Age Award, losing to Betty Boop. Mirren’s political credits include The Queen, State of Play, Trumbo, and The Passion of Ayn Rand.
Paul Giamatti’s blue-paint incident in Big Fat Liar was one of the nominees for the Most Amazing Impact in Film, losing to Jeff Goldblum’s chest in Jurassic Park. Fans of politics know Giamatti as the titular character in John Adams, for which he did win an Emmy, a Golden Globe, and other awards. Giamatti was also in the political movies The Ides of March and Parkland, the political shows The Pentagon Papers, Too Big to Fail, The Roosevelts: An Intimate History, and Benjamin Franklin, in addition to the classic, award-winning historical movies Saving Private Ryan and 12 Years a Slave.
Media and cultural icon and political insider Anna Wintour was nominated for the Oh This Body? It Stays Keeping the Score Style Icon Award.
Jenna Bush Hager, daughter of President George W. Bush, won the Today Show Award for Excellence in the Morning, naturally.
The energy drink Celsius tied with Big Airport Essentia (?) for Best Beverage. The Washington Post and other publications have reported on how Celsius is a go-to drink for politicians to help keep them going.
You know that yard sign that mentions liberal causes of the moment? It — specifically, “In this house, we believe: Black Lives Matter, Women’s Rights = Human Rights, No Human is Illegal, Science is Real, Love is Love, Diversity Makes Us Stronger, and Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” — was nominated for the “In This House, We Believe In” Award for Best Yard Sign, getting upset by “NO SOLICITING UNLESS YOU HAVE A BIG FAT ASS AND A GREAT WARM SMILE.”