Ben Affleck did not walk the red carpet at the 2026 Peabody Awards, but he still got one of the night’s first visible stage moments.
The actor appeared at the ceremony held Sunday, May 31, at the Beverly Wilshire, A Four Seasons Hotel, in Beverly Hills, Calif. Just Jared reported that Affleck skipped the carpet but appeared onstage to present the first award of the night.
The appearance gave the Peabodys an early celebrity moment before the ceremony moved through a room filled with television, documentary, comedy, journalism, and streaming talent.
Ben Affleck, Amy Poehler and Rhea Seehorn were among many celebs in attendance at the #PeabodyAwards https://t.co/crnijUvFoA
— JustJared.com (@JustJared) June 1, 2026
Amy Poehler Received the Night’s Career Honor
Amy Poehler had one of the biggest reasons to be at the ceremony. She was honored with the Peabody Career Achievement Award and was photographed on the carpet with boyfriend Joel Lovell.
The Peabody Awards recognized Poehler for a career that stretches from Saturday Night Live and Parks and Recreation to producing and podcasting.
Peabody’s official profile praised Poehler’s comic voice across sketch comedy, sitcoms, hosting, producing, and new media. The organization also noted that she launched the podcast Good Hang in 2025, adding another format to a career already built across television, film, and comedy.
Rhea Seehorn’s Apple TV Series Was Among the Winners
Rhea Seehorn also helped give the ceremony a strong TV presence.
Just Jared reported that Seehorn attended with her Pluribus castmates Karolina Wydra, Carlos Manuel Vesga, and Samba Schutte. Their Apple TV series was one of the entertainment winners at this year’s Peabody Awards.
The official winners list describes Pluribus as a Vince Gilligan series about an alien virus that creates a hive mind, leaving a romantasy author in Albuquerque as one of the few people unaffected.
The entertainment winners also included Andor, Common Side Effects, Dying for Sex, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and Mussolini: Son of the Century.
The Peabodys Brought Out a Wide Guest List
The ceremony was not built around one franchise or one network, which gave the room a broader mix than a typical red-carpet premiere.
Jimmy Kimmel attended with wife Molly McNearney, while Guillermo Rodriguez was also there. Other guests included Michael Urie, Yara Shahidi, Halle Bailey, Ethan Hawke, Mandy Moore, David Muir, Ike Barinholtz, Michael Cooper Jr., Marcia Gay Harden, Poppy Liu, Karen Pittman, Anthony Anderson, Xosha Roquemore, host Mo Amer, and performer Aloe Blacc, who opened the show.
The Peabodys announced 34 winners for the 86th annual awards, chosen by a 28-member jury from more than 1,000 entries. The organization said this year’s winners covered entertainment, documentary, news, podcast and radio, arts, children’s and youth, immersive and interactive media, and public service programming.
HBO Max led all outlets with six awards, while Apple TV+, Disney+, Hulu, Netflix, and PBS each received two.
Affleck’s Role Was Brief but Noticeable
Affleck’s Peabody appearance was not a full red-carpet rollout. It was a shorter, quieter kind of celebrity moment: no carpet walk, no award acceptance, just a stage appearance at the start of the night.
That still made him one of the more noticeable names in the room. The ceremony belonged to the winners and honorees, but Affleck’s first-award presentation gave the Peabodys an immediate Hollywood face before the night moved into its broader celebration of television, documentary, journalism, and cultural storytelling.