TheWrap won Best Website on Sunday at the Los Angeles Press Club’s 18th annual National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards, capping off a night that saw the news team recognized with a total eight awards.
Founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief Sharon Waxman also won Best Entertainment Blog by an Individual or Group Tied to an Organization for WaxWord, her sixth win in the category. And TheWrap’s wins continued:
- Senior Writer Drew Taylor won for Best Film Feature, Filmmakers for “‘Midnight Rider’ Director Randall Miller Breaks His Silence on the Deadly Set Accident That Sent Him to Prison | Exclusive”
- Raquel Calhoun’s “With DEI Rollbacks, the Business of Hollywood May Take a Hit” won in the Diversity in the TV/Streaming Industry category;
- Best Personality Profile, Music Industry went to Richard Stellar for “Music Beyond the ‘Silo’: Composer Atli Örvarsson’s Emotional Connection to the Apple Series”
- Kayla Cobb and Tess Patton jointly won for “Why a Half-a-Trillion-Dollar Creator Economy Is Just the Beginning” in the Business, TV/Streaming category
- “Hollywood Workers Grapple for a Foothold in an Industry at a Crossroads” by Alexei Barrionuevo won in the Soft News, Film category.
- And William Bibbiani won for Film Critic (Under 1,000).
The awards ceremony was held in Downtown Los Angeles at the historic Crystal Ballroom of the Millennium Biltmore Hotel, where keynote honorees were Seth Rogen and Lauren Miller Rogen for the NAEJ’s Visionary Award, Kasi Lemmons for the Distinguished Storyteller Award, Larry Mantle for the Luminary Award, Marlee Matlin for the Impact Award and Paul Anka for the event-capping Legend Award. Henry Winkler, Evan Goldberg, Jurnee Smollett and more were on hand to present.
In addition to its eight wins, TheWrap also placed in a number of categories. Taylor and Cobb in particular had a strong showing, with the former placing second for Hard News, Film – Online for “Animated Films Dominate the Box Office, So Why Aren’t Their Directors Allowed Into the DGA?” and third for Online Journalist of the Year.
Senior TV Reporter Cobb placed third for Hard News, TV/Streaming – Online for “Why Adult Animation Might Be Saving TV” and second in Business, TV/Streaming – Online for “Kids TV Is Dead, Long Live Kids TV,” an honor shared with Executive Editor Adam Chitwood.
Waxman placed second for Business, Film – Online for “Moguls Take Aim at Zaslav’s Vision of WBD as Company Splits: ‘It Was a Failure’” and TV Business Reporter Lucas Manfredi placed second for Soft News, TV/Streaming – Online for “‘The White Lotus’ Halo Effect Blooms for Tourism and Local Economies.”
The National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards were founded in 2008 to recognize the work of U.S.-based entertainment reporters and editors. The awards also includes theater, film and television critics across print, radio, TV and online. TheWrap is often a presence at this awards show, and its seven first-place wins last year marked a high following the two won in 2023.
