Awards Watch: Las Culturistas Rules

There is no awards show quite like the Las Culturistas Culture Awards. There are no competitive acting categories, no speeches about privilege and platform, no orchestra playing anyone off. What there is: over 100 categories including Best Temperature, the Jaws Award for Water Diva, and an award for Most Uncommon Accident. And somehow, improbably, it has become one of the most genuinely joyful two hours on television.

The fifth annual ceremony — and its second year as a full Bravo telecast — aired Wednesday, June 17, at 9 p.m. ET, simultaneously streaming on Peacock. The show was recorded on May 30 at The United Theater on Broadway in Los Angeles, promoted by Live Nation. Hosts Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers, best friends since their NYU comedy days and co-hosts of the Las Culturistas podcast since 2016, presided over a room packed with their beloved community of comedians, Bravo personalities, and devoted stans.

“We’ve been packing into the gills in our free time,” Yang told Variety on the carpet. “I love getting lost in the process, losing track of time.”

THE OPENING NUMBER

Yang and Rogers wasted no time signaling the night’s priorities. The two hosts took the stage in full hockey gear — jerseys, sticks, the works — as a tribute to Heated Rivalry, the Canadian queer hockey drama that has become one of the year’s most talked-about streaming series and the Culturistas’ unofficial obsession of the moment. The opening bit played off one of the show’s many text-message montage scenes, flashing humorous imitation exchanges on screen (including the immortal: “It feels better without a mouth guard”) before the hosts broke into t.A.T.u.’s “All the Things She Said” — a needle drop used in the series — with backup dancers in matching hockey attire.

Then Hunting Wives stars Brittany Snow and Malin Akerman joined the duo onstage and, to the crowd’s delight, shared a full kiss before harmonizing on the chorus.

From Las Culturistas Culture Awards, Now streaming on Peacock

MUSICAL PERFORMANCES

Performances were the backbone of the evening, and this year’s lineup matched the ambition of last year’s now-legendary Ben Platt “Diet Pepsi” moment — maybe even exceeded it.

Megan Stalter opened things up with a performance of her debut single “Prettiest Girl in America,” accepting the Allison Williams Cool Girl Award mid-performance with the line: “If by ‘cool’ you mean, ‘Utterly disappointed by everybody around me,’ yes, I am so f**king cool.” She added, with characteristic specificity, that the best revenge is “winning the Allison Williams Cool Girl Award. And booking Love Island USA. And being in Shaboozey’s music video. And also being a registered nurse.”

Megan Stalter performs “Prettiest Girl in America”

From Las Culturistas Culture Awards, Now streaming on Peacock

Rachel Zegler delivered what many are calling the performance of the night: a full-throated, committed cover of Addison Rae’s “Fame Is a Gun,” earning the loudest applause of the evening. The choice was a perfect Las Culturistas bit — Zegler treating a contemporary pop song with genuine operatic intensity.

Rachel Zegler covers “Fame Is a Gun” (Addison Rae)

From Las Culturistas Culture Awards, Now streaming on Peacock

Pikachu — yes, the Pokémon — performed “Gotta Catch ‘Em All!” in what sources describe as genuinely moving.

Pikachu performs “Gotta Catch ‘Em All!”

From Las Culturistas Culture Awards, Now streaming on Peacock

Mandy Moore performed “Only Hope” from A Walk to Remember, receiving the second-loudest applause of the night. The choice was quintessential Culturistas programming: earnest, specific, and guaranteed to make the crowd both laugh and genuinely feel things.

Mandy Moore performs “Only Hope” (A Walk to Remember)

From Las Culturistas Culture Awards, Now streaming on Peacock

Ben Platt returned — following his viral 2025 “Diet Pepsi” appearance — to perform Phoebe Buffay’s “Smelly Cat” just before Lisa Kudrow took the stage to accept her honorary award.

Ben Platt performs “Smelly Cat”

From Las Culturistas Culture Awards, Now streaming on Peacock

HONORARY AWARDS & SPECIAL GUESTS

Will Ferrell, who serves as an executive producer of the show, was honored with the Titan of Culture award. His speech was vintage Ferrell — deadpan and unexpectedly sincere. “Be proud of yourself,” he told the crowd. “I think we should all celebrate our pride. I have pride about being an actor and a filmmaker, but I also have pride about being a husband to a wife.” The audience went appropriately unhinged.

Lisa Kudrow received the evening’s other major honorary honor, with an acceptance speech that confirmed why the Las Culturistas fan base worships her. Referencing Friends‘ 1994 premiere: “When I auditioned for Friends in 1994, I thought, ‘This is the show I should do ’cause you know who’s going to love it? Four-year-old Matt and not-yet-born Bowen!’” She closed by thanking “a bigger thanks to me, Lisa, for having my priorities straight.”

Miss Piggy was crowned Grand Dame Diva of Culture, stealing every moment she was onstage.

Lisa Rinna served as the evening’s fashion correspondent, cycling through the stage multiple times to model each of the five Outfit of the Year nominees — including Aunt Gladys from Weapons and Jacob Elordi leaving an airport.

Hannah Einbinder, nominated for the All Good Either Way Award for Bisexuality in Media, called it “the most meaningful” of her Hacks accolades. When asked what traditional awards shows should learn from the Culturistas format, she replied: “That gay people should be in charge.” Joel Kim Booster, a longtime friend of the hosts, added: “Be funny again, I think that’s a big one.”

SELECTED WINNERS

Note: The full list includes over 100 categories. Below are the major and televised winners.

Honorary Awards

Titan of Culture: Will Ferrell

Grand Dame Diva of Culture: Miss Piggy

Honorary Award: Lisa Kudrow

Competitive Awards (Televised)

Allison Williams Cool Girl Award: Ciara Miller (Summer House)

Best Vibe, Hands Down: Mia Calabrese (Summer House)

Best New Artist: Stacey Rusch (The Real Housewives of Potomac)

Hilary Duff Award for Millennial Excellence: Indoor Fern

Shhh Don’t Repeat This Award for Rumor We Are Making Up: Kamala Oh, Mary!

Most Beautiful Name for a Daughter You Haven’t Even Thought of Yet: Ricochet

Jaws Award for Water Diva: Me, When I Was Young, They Used To Call Me a Fish At the Beach!

Record of the Year Nominees

(Winner not confirmed in televised broadcast — all five songs were performed live during the ceremony)

Nominee: “All the Things She Said” — t.A.T.u.

Nominee: “Fame Is a Gun” — Addison Rae

Nominee: “Gotta Catch ‘Em All!” — Pokémon Theme

Nominee: “Only Hope” — Mandy Moore

Nominee: “Prettiest Girl in America” — Meg Stalter

THE ROOM

The celebrity attendance was, by Las Culturistas standards, absolutely correct. The blue carpet at The United Theater on Broadway brought out RuPaul Charles, Aidy Bryant, Sarah Sherman and Kyle Mooney (both former SNL cast members), Hannah Einbinder and Paul W. Downs (Hacks), Justine Lupe, Timothy Simons, and Jackie Tohn (Nobody Wants This), Joel Kim Booster, Monet X Change, Julio Torres, D’Arcy Carden, Ziwe, Patti Harrison, Atsuko Okatsuka, Chanel Ayan, and Chrishell Stause.

The show, now airing its second year on Bravo, remains a Peacock simulcast and has found an audience that stretches well beyond the podcast’s original fanbase. It is, by most measures, exactly what an awards show should be: a room full of people who are genuinely excited to be there, celebrating things they actually love, presided over by two people who have made a decade-long career out of caring too much about pop culture and being right about it.