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NEW YORK<\/strong> \u2013 Cardi B,<\/a> Steph Curry, Dwayne Johnson, Justin Bieber<\/a> and the use of Sydney Sweeney’s bathwater are among the nominees for this year\u2019s Webby Awards,<\/a> which mark their 30th year recognizing the best online content and creators.<\/p>\n The International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n Webby nominations went to social media teams behind such political figures as New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani<\/a> and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, while Kendall Jenner\u2019s Super Bowl tongue-in-cheek Fanatics Sportsbook ad \u201cBet on Kendall,\u201d<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n 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. <\/p>\n Winners will be announced April 21. An awards ceremony hosted by Josh Johnson, a correspondent and writer for \u201cThe Daily Show,\u201d will be held May 11 in New York.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Hot sauce vodka, a dead owl and some things even stranger<\/p>\n Some of 2025’s out-of-left-field products were recognized for their virality, including Absolut\u2019s Tabasco-flavored vodka, cough drop maker Ricola offering a limited-edition scarf infused with its \u201csignature Swiss alpine herbs\u201d and two that leaned on a classic French pastry \u2014 Panera Bread\u2019s Croissant Clutch handbag and Lidl\u2019s Eau de Croissant fragrance.<\/p>\n The language-learning app Duolingo once again managed to grab attention with the faked death of its beloved mascot owl, Duo. That campaign \u2014 which prompted Dua Lipa to wittily respond on X with \u201cTil\u2019 death duo part\u201d \u2014 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.<\/p>\n The finale of \u201cStranger Things\u201d<\/a> 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 \u201cDeb\u00ed Tirar M\u00e1s Fotos.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n A Los Angeles billboard featuring Curry got a nomination for going viral<\/a> because it looks like he’s shooting the moon, while fellow NBA star LeBron James’ commercial for Amazon<\/a>, showing him considering different post-basketball careers like barber and lounge singer, grabbed a nod for best collaboration.<\/p>\n The awards are selected by the academy, while the Webby People\u2019s Voice Award is voted on by fans around the world. Voting for that award is open<\/a> until April 16.<\/p>\n Music videos, the Timmies and feeding MrBeast<\/p>\n The music video for \u201cLuther\u201d by Kendrick Lamar and SZA is up against Sabrina Carpenter’s \u201cTears,\u201d Rosal\u00eda’s \u201cBerghain,\u201d Little Simz’s \u201cYoung\u2019\u201d and Claude’s \u201cC\u2019est La Vie,\u201d<\/a> which competed at the Eurovision Song Contest<\/a>. Lamar won last year’s music video Webby for \u201cNot Like Us.\u201d<\/p>\n Two-time Oscar nominee Benedict Cumberbatch nabbed two nominations for delivering dramatic readings of Amazon customer reviews for the second chapter of its \u201cFive Star Theater\u201d campaign<\/a>. Blackpink\u2019s Lisa is also nominated for leading a troupe of professional ballerinas and dancers<\/a> in an ad for NikeSKIMS, which triggered countless recreations on TikTok. Global girl group Katseye earned a nod for their Gap \u201cBetter in Denim\u201d commercial.<\/a><\/p>\n 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 \u201cMayhem\u201d was nominated for best events and livestream social campaign.<\/p>\n Food content creator Nick DiGiovanni<\/a> earned two nominations, for putting MrBeast through culinary boot camp \u2014 a post that got more than 71 million views \u2014 and for cooking for animals, including a lion.<\/a> MrBeast earned his own nod with the animated short series \u201cMrBeast Lab.\u201d<\/p>\n The folks behind a Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet look-alike contest<\/a> that attracted thousands of people, including Chalamet himself, were recognized, while Chalamet’s ad for Cash App<\/a> \u2014 co-starring a giant prickly-looking tropical fruit \u2014 was nominated under the branded entertainment short-form video and film.<\/p>\n Bieber broadcasting the behind-the-scenes preparations for his Coachella headlining set live on Twitch was nominated for community engagement, while Sonic\u2019s ad starring Terry Crews teaching acting for athletes<\/a> earned one for best long-form branded entertainment.<\/p>\n Podcasts, tangling with TSA and who said I love you first? <\/p>\n Nominations for best feature podcast host went to \u201cGood Hang with Amy Poehler,\u201d \u201cNext Question with Katie Couric,\u201d \u201cThe Mel Robbins Podcast,\u201d \u201cReclaiming with Monica Lewinsky\u201d and \u201cBaby, This is Keke Palmer.\u201d<\/p>\n Palmer\u2019s podcast was also nominated in the interview or talk show category for entertainment and culture, alongside \u201cThanks Dad with Ego Nwodim,\u201d \u201cAll There Is with Anderson Cooper,\u201d \u201cOffice Ladies\u201d and \u201cArmchair Expert with Dax Shepard.\u201d<\/p>\n On the sports side, the podcasts nominated are: \u201cPablo Torre Finds Out,\u201d \u201cAll the Smoke,\u201d \u201cNew Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce,\u201d \u201cBussin\u2019 With the Boys\u201d and \u201c7PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony.\u201d<\/p>\n Cardi B\u2019s rollout for her album \u201cAm I The Drama?\u201d \u2014 including a stunt in which she sold her album for $9.99<\/a> and incense on a street in Harlem \u2014 got two nominations. The short film Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco did called \u201cI Said I Love You First\u201d<\/a> earned one, too, as did Gomez’s Rare Beauty line.<\/p>\n Science communicator and new mom Emily Calandrelli earned a Webby nomination after tangling with the TSA<\/a> over her breast pump and stored milk, spawning #HandsOffOurMilk. Former \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d cast member Bowen Yang and actor Matt Rogers got a nod after discussing the Olympics with \u201cSesame Street\u201d characters for the NBC Olympics podcast \u201cTwo Guys, Five Rings.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n