Cardi B and Steph Curry earn Webby Award nominations, along with Sydney
Sweeney's bathwater
[April 01, 2026]
By MARK KENNEDY
NEW YORK (AP) — Cardi B, Steph Curry, Dwayne Johnson, Justin Bieber and
the use of Sydney Sweeney's bathwater are among the nominees for this
year’s Webby Awards, which mark their 30th year recognizing the best
online content and creators.
The International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences on Tuesday is
announcing the nominees, the result of more than 13,000 entries from
over 70 countries. The Associated Press got an early look.
Webby nominations went to social media teams behind such political
figures as New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and California Gov. Gavin
Newsom, while Kendall Jenner’s Super Bowl tongue-in-cheek Fanatics
Sportsbook ad “Bet on Kendall,” about her bad luck dating athletes,
earned three nods. Jenner will go head-to-head in the category of best
viral PR campaigns with Sweeney, who offered her bathwater for fans to
lather up with in a limited-edition soap made by Dr. Squatch.
The dozens of Webby awards are broken up into eight big categories,
including games, podcasts, website and mobile sites, video and film,
apps and software, AI, and advertising, media and PR.
Winners will be announced April 21. An awards ceremony hosted by Josh
Johnson, a correspondent and writer for “The Daily Show,” will be held
May 11 in New York.
The organizations with the most nods include Google with 46, PBS with
29, Apple with 23, The Walt Disney Company with 23, NBCUniversal with 22
and Netflix with 22.
Hot sauce vodka, a dead owl and some things even stranger
Some of 2025's out-of-left-field products were recognized for their
virality, including Absolut’s Tabasco-flavored vodka, cough drop maker
Ricola offering a limited-edition scarf infused with its “signature
Swiss alpine herbs” and two that leaned on a classic French pastry —
Panera Bread’s Croissant Clutch handbag and Lidl’s Eau de Croissant
fragrance.
The language-learning app Duolingo once again managed to grab attention
with the faked death of its beloved mascot owl, Duo. That campaign —
which prompted Dua Lipa to wittily respond on X with “Til’ death duo
part” — was nominated for best PR campaign and best use of earned media.
Lipa, herself, is in the running for her own Webby after Apple
chronicled a full day on her Radical Optimism tour.
The finale of “Stranger Things” was a cultural phenomenon last year and
its promotion, including a mobile scavenger hunt where users tapped a
20-sided die to enter the Upside Down, earned three nods. Speaking of
scavenger hunts, Google Maps and Spotify were used in a nominated
campaign for Bad Bunny fans to find track titles from his album “Debí
Tirar Más Fotos.”
A Los Angeles billboard featuring Curry got a nomination for going viral
because it looks like he's shooting the moon, while fellow NBA star
LeBron James' commercial for Amazon, showing him considering different
post-basketball careers like barber and lounge singer, grabbed a nod for
best collaboration.
The awards are selected by the academy, while the Webby People’s Voice
Award is voted on by fans around the world. Voting for that award is
open until April 16.
Music videos, the Timmies and feeding MrBeast
The music video for “Luther” by Kendrick Lamar and SZA is up against
Sabrina Carpenter's “Tears,” Rosalía's “Berghain,” Little Simz's
“Young’” and Claude's “C’est La Vie,” which competed at the Eurovision
Song Contest. Lamar won last year's music video Webby for “Not Like Us.”
[to top of second column]
|
This combination of images shows Justin Bieber, from left, Cardi B,
and Stephen Curry. (AP Photo)
 Two-time Oscar nominee Benedict
Cumberbatch nabbed two nominations for delivering dramatic readings
of Amazon customer reviews for the second chapter of its “Five Star
Theater” campaign. Blackpink’s Lisa is also nominated for leading a
troupe of professional ballerinas and dancers in an ad for NikeSKIMS,
which triggered countless recreations on TikTok. Global girl group
Katseye earned a nod for their Gap “Better in Denim” commercial.
Dwayne Johnson's surprise visit to the Apalachee High School
football team after a school shooting got a nomination in the best
long-form video category. Lady Gaga answering fan questions on
Spotify about the making of her album “Mayhem” was nominated for
best events and livestream social campaign.
Food content creator Nick DiGiovanni earned two nominations, for
putting MrBeast through culinary boot camp — a post that got more
than 71 million views — and for cooking for animals, including a
lion. MrBeast earned his own nod with the animated short series
“MrBeast Lab.”
The folks behind a Timothée Chalamet look-alike contest that
attracted thousands of people, including Chalamet himself, were
recognized, while Chalamet's ad for Cash App — co-starring a giant
prickly-looking tropical fruit — was nominated under the branded
entertainment short-form video and film.
Bieber broadcasting the behind-the-scenes preparations for his
Coachella headlining set live on Twitch was nominated for community
engagement, while Sonic’s ad starring Terry Crews teaching acting
for athletes earned one for best long-form branded entertainment.
Podcasts, tangling with TSA and who said I love you first?
Nominations for best feature podcast host went to “Good Hang with
Amy Poehler,” “Next Question with Katie Couric,” “The Mel Robbins
Podcast,” “Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky” and “Baby, This is Keke
Palmer.”
Palmer’s podcast was also nominated in the interview or talk show
category for entertainment and culture, alongside “Thanks Dad with
Ego Nwodim,” “All There Is with Anderson Cooper,” “Office Ladies”
and “Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard.”
On the sports side, the podcasts nominated are: “Pablo Torre Finds
Out,” “All the Smoke,” “New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce,”
“Bussin’ With the Boys” and “7PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony.”
Cardi B’s rollout for her album “Am I The Drama?” — including a
stunt in which she sold her album for $9.99 and incense on a street
in Harlem — got two nominations. The short film Selena Gomez and
Benny Blanco did called “I Said I Love You First” earned one, too,
as did Gomez's Rare Beauty line.
Science communicator and new mom Emily Calandrelli earned a Webby
nomination after tangling with the TSA over her breast pump and
stored milk, spawning #HandsOffOurMilk. Former “Saturday Night Live”
cast member Bowen Yang and actor Matt Rogers got a nod after
discussing the Olympics with “Sesame Street” characters for the NBC
Olympics podcast “Two Guys, Five Rings.”
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
