By Alicia Powell and Danielle Broadway
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Months after his departure from “The Daily Show” in late 2022, comedian Trevor Noah won a Webby Award for comedy in the “America’s Door Problem” segment of the late-night talk show, in which he pushes for gun control and criticizes policymakers’ response to mass shootings.
The 27th Annual Webby Awards – which will be handed out on May 15 in what is known as the internet’s biggest night – also honor work featuring singers Rihanna, Lizzo and Doja Cat, former President Barack Obama and the cast of Marvel’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”
The awards have a legacy of rewarding work that challenges cultural, social, and entertainment norms to make information more accessible.
In Noah’s segment, he skewers the beliefs of some conservatives that books, critical race theory, video games and rap music lead to gun violence.
“Yeah, that’s right, that’s how evil critical race theory is — it’s only been around for like a year and it’s already caused three decades of school shootings,” Noah said.
“I know you guys want to blame anything but guns, but it still has to make sense. Can we agree on that? You can’t just blame stuff you’re already mad at,” he added.
The Webbys also honored emoji creator Shigetaka Kurita with a lifetime achievement award, AI writing tool ChatGPT with the breakout of the year award and SZA for artist of the year.
The in-person award show will take place at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City with the correspondent for the “The Daily Show,” Roy Wood Jr., hosting for the second time.
Some notable past winners include talk show host Stephen Colbert, comedian Sarah Silverman, television producer Lorne Michaels and French filmmaker Michel Gondry.
(Reporting by Alicia Powell and Danielle Broadway; Editing by Mary Milliken and Jonathan Oatis)
