SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers for Bravo’s Las Culturistas Culture Awards, now streaming on Peacock.
It’s culture’s biggest night! Comedians and “Las Culturistas” podcast co-hosts Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang brought their annual Las Culturistas Culture Awards back for the fifth time on Wednesday, marking the second year the comedy variety special has been televised on Bravo.
Honoring all things pop culture, the evening featured a number of splashy performances, celebrity appearances (Will Ferrell, Hannah Berner, RuPaul, Hannah Einbinder and more were in attendance) and, of course, laughter.
“We’ve been packing into the gills in our free time, which has been really nice,” Yang told Variety on the carpet. “I love getting lost in the process, losing track of time.” The key to the humor, though, might just be the spontaneity of it all. “We rehearse enough — but you don’t want to do it too much,” Rogers told Variety. “You want to keep it fun and fresh, and in a way, but not lose what’s good about the things.”
The clear superstar of the evening was Miss Piggy, or the “the grand dame diva of culture, divehood, & porcine glamour,” per Yang and Rogers, who received both a standing ovation and, undoubtedly, the strongest applause of the night. In preparing for the evening, Yang and Rogers told Variety they’d been able to spend a good amount of time with heR. “She is so classically an old and new Hollywood diva — she’s gonna hate that I said old — but she’s a diva for all time, eternally a diva, and I think she is a professional,” said Yang. “She’ll say the line, she’ll hit her marks like a pro.” “She’s the biggest star in any room, truly, and she will be tonight,” added Rogers.
Below, Variety breaks down the night’s biggest moments.
Could it really be considered culture’s biggest night if “Heated Rivalry” weren’t included? The answer was decidedly “No” during the awards, which opened with an incredibly entertaining ode to the Crave-HBO Max series.
In a spoof on one of the show’s many text-message montages, the screen displayed humorous takes on Ilya Rosanov and Shane Hollander’s chats, including “What’s a girl to do on a lonely night in Los Angeles” and “It feels better without a mouth guard.” Rogers and Yang — clad in hockey jerseys — performed t.A.T.u.’s “All the Things She Said,” featuring backup dancers in full hockey attire. Plus, “The Hunting Wives” stars Brittany Snow and Malin Akerman took to the stage and enjoyed an impassioned smooch before joining in on the performance.
The evening featured more than a few well-executed musical numbers, with Rachel Zegler’s rendition of “Fame is a Gun” by Addison Rae and Mandy Moore’s performance of “Only Hope” from the beloved film “A Walk to Remember” being the highlights of the night (and receiving the loudest applause). In fact, cheers for Zegler were so loud it caused the actress to miss her cue to start singing the first time around (something you won’t see on Bravo). An honorable mention goes to “Hacks” star Meg Stalter, who performed her song “Prettiest Girl in America,” and gave attendees an encore at the afterparty.
All the aforementioned songs were up for Record of the Year, which also included nominations for the “Pokémon” theme “Gotta Catch ‘Em All!” and t.A.T.u.’s “All the Things She Said.” (Spoiler alert: the last one took home the gold.)
It’s only right that Ciara Miller, the Bravo It girl of the moment thanks to the still-unfolding “Summer House” scandal, took home the Allison Williams Cool Girl award. Presented by Ziwe, Miller was up against some big hitters: Rosalina (yes, the character from “Mario”), Chase Infiniti, Chase Sui Wonders and “A Court of Thorns and Roses” character Feyre Archeron. Fittingly, Paige DeSorbo, fellow Bravolebrity and last year’s Cool Girl winner, was in the audience cheering Miller on when she took the stage and delivered a pointed acceptance speech.
Miller opened her remarks with this fabulous quip: “Despite being utterly disappointed in everyone around me, yes, I am so fucking cool.” She continued: “Obviously this year has been a little rough,” referencing the “Summer House” madness. “But, you know what they say, the best revenge is winning the Allison Williams Cool Girl award,” she continued, “And booking ‘Love Island USA,’ and being in Shaboozey’s music video that comes out on June 5, and also being a registered nurse, and a model… I’m ad libbing at this point.” (I’ll add another accolade she forgot — an upcoming “Dancing With the Stars” contestant.) “If you hear bad news, be sure to be outside the Hermès store. That’s kind of the coolest thing you can do,” Miller concluded.
On the subject of “Summer House,” the adored Season 10 new addition Mia Calabrese naturally won the Best Vibe, Hands Down award, beating out the likes of Stanley Tucci when he’s in Italy, Seth Meyers, Kenny Chesney at the Sphere and Just having dinner on pride weekend while a Sade album plays at a respectful volume. Conversation following, no drugs or alcohol in sight. Well, maybe ONE glass of wine!
Lisa Rinna owned it, baby! The reality TV icon took to the Las Culturistas stage throughout the evening, each time modeling one of the five ensembles nominated for Outfit of the Year. First up — Aunt Gladys from “Weapons,” followed by Jacob Elordi leaving an airport. (The “Euphoria” actor’s travel style has long been papped; the exact look chosen for the nomination showed Elordi donning a green baseball cap, headphones, a white tee, black slacks and a spacious brown Bottega tote.)
Next, Rinna traded her signature hairstyle for a blonde wig to embody Carolyn Bassette’s argument chic outfit, and then gave a convincing performance as Billie Elish as Justin Bieber’s “One Less Lonely Girl” at Coachella. And, if you weren’t yet convinced Rinna was a shapeshifter, her final look of the night was as Jeff Probst, “for the last 50 seasons of ‘Survivor.’”
To accept the, ahem, “Shrek” Award for Top Thing We Want to Do to That Green Guy presented by D’Arcy Carden and Joel Kim Booster, “Hacks” star and co-creator Paul W. Downs ascended from the audience in a costume inspired by the ogre, complete with a little brown vest and green bodypaint. “I’m honored,” he said. “But I want to say something to all the human women out there. You wanna get with this, it can happen… Get in my DMs, and make a case.”
Who better to receive the lifetime of culture award than the Lisa Kudrow? The “Friends” star delivered a characteristically humorous speech thanking Rogers and Yang for the honor.
“Winning this Lifetime Culture Award is everything,” she began. “Now, those aren’t just words. I know what got me here tonight: It’s a career of meticulous planning to impress Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang.”
“There’s no time for all the details, but ‘Romy and Michele[‘s High School Reunion]’ — who knew that what Mira [Sorvino] and I were doing was going to be a slam dunk for these guys when they were in grade school,” she continued, to ear-splitting applause. “When I auditioned for ‘Friends’ in 1994, I thought yeah, cute script. Wait! This is the show I should do, because you know who’s going to love it — 4-year-old Matt and not-yet-born Bowen.”
Kudrow went on to explain how it was no coincidence that Season 3 of “The Comeback” concluded recently. “I knew Matt and Bowen would have to give me this award,” she said with a laugh. “Thank you, gentlemen, for playing right into my hand, and a bigger thanks to me, Lisa, for having my priorities straight!”
Following his viral rendition of Rae’s “Diet Pepsi” at last year’s culture awards, Ben Platt returned to the Las Culturistas stage to perform a version of Phoebe Buffay’s iconic jingle, “Smelly Cat,” before Kudrow accepted her honor, another highly cheered for moment of the night.