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Dylan Mulvaney, the social media influencer who faced transphobic backlash earlier this year after partnering with Bud Light, was honored at Sunday night’s Streamy Awards honoring social media creators.
Mulvaney won the Breakout Creator award at the ceremony at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. An emotional Mulvaney urged the audience to work hard to be allies of the LGBT community. Mulvaney explained to the crowd that trans people and social media stars have a lot in common. “People often underestimate us,” they said.
Mulvaney nodded to the anger they suffered after Bud Light resigned from an advertising partnership with them after Anheuser-Busch was inundated with an organized campaign of homophobic complaints. The TikTok sensation called on the Streamy crowd to use their reach and influence to spread anti-hate messages.
“If we can get people to buy a $25 smoothie at Erewhon, so can we,” Mulvaney said. “I’m going for a beer.”
The 13th Streamy Awards, hosted by YouTube star MatPat, was a lively affair overall. Top nominees like AMP, Ryan Trahan, Jay Shetty, Mikayla Nogueira, HasanAbi and Kai Cenat had clear cheering sections in the ballroom. Some participants brought older children in their teens to their twenties to help them identify the social media stars in the room.
Most acceptance speeches were short and sweet, skirting showbiz conventions of reeling off a list of agents, managers, and publicists. Most winners used a variation of the phrase “appreciate you.”
But there were warm moments. Chris Olsen, a TikTok star known for his work with Meghan Trainor, spoke from his heart after accepting the short content trophy. “Nothing good would happen in my life if I hadn’t gone to rehab at 19 and gotten sober,” he said. “Take care.”
The non-profit organization Invisible People was awarded the Elevate Prize for Social Good for their coverage of the growth of the chronically homeless population on their YouTube channel. Mark Horvath, founder of the Los Angeles-based organization, told the crowd that he recently marked the 28th anniversary of his last day as a homeless person. He warned that a “perfect storm” of homelessness is still brewing in Los Angeles because housing costs are so far out of control. “We need to get in touch with communities to deal with the affordable housing crisis,” Horvath said.
The Streamer of the Year award went to Kai Cenat, the Twitch personality accused of inciting a riot in New York’s Union Square Washington Square Park on August 4 when he announced a surprise PlayStation 5 console raffle . “This year has been crazy,” Cenat said, adding that his first thanks go to God. “God is real. Without God there is no we,” he said. “I’m just blessed.”
The Creator of the Year award went to YouTuber MrBeast for the fourth year in a row. The personality, whose first name is Jimmy Donaldson, did not attend the event. Link, half of popular social media duo Rhett and Link, added a scathing remark after announcing the category winner. “If you’re going to keep giving him awards, he absolutely has to show up,” Link said of MrBeast.
Michelle Khane’s daring YouTube series, Challenge Accepted, was named Show of the Year. Khane dismissed the notion that social media content could be cheaply and quickly assembled. Her show documents her daring to take on unusual challenges, from training as an astronaut to rehearsing for a Broadway show to becoming an emergency responder. Each 15- to 35-minute episode takes about 12 months to produce, Khane said.
“This is a show that would not have been greenlit in any other studio,” Khane told the audience. As a social media creator, “the only barrier to entry was the upload button.”
Meghan Trainor scooped Rolling Stone Sound of the Year for her catchy hit “Made You Look.” “I wrote this for my postpartum body,” said the Nantucket-born singer-songwriter, who won the 2016 Grammy Award for Best New Artist.
The Streamy Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions and Tubefilter. Dick Clark Productions is owned by Variety’s parent company, Penske Media Corp.
Here is a full list of Streamy Awards winners:
AWARD OF THE STREAMYS CREATOR
Brittany Broski presented by Amelia Dimoldenberg
The Korean Vegan awarded by The Korean Vegan
Vivienne Medrano honored by Brandon Rogers
OVERALL AWARDS
Creator of the Year: MrBeast
Show of the Year: Challenge Accepted • Michelle Khare
Streamer of the Year: Kai Cenat
International: ibai
Short form: Chris Olsen
INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
Breakout Creator: Dylan Mulvaney
Breakout Streamer: Fanum
Collaborations: MrBeast, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson • Surprised he didn’t pick rocks every time
Creators for Social Good: Invisible Humans
Creator Product: PRIME • Logan Paul x KSI
Crossover: Jonas Brothers
First person: Ryan Trahan
Just chatting: quacks
Variety Streamer: IShowSpeed
VTuber: Gawr Gura
ROLLING STONE SOUND OF THE YEAR: Makes You Look • Meghan Trainor
SHOW AWARDS
Podcast: On Purpose with Jay Shetty
Screenplay Series: BRYCE • Brandon Rogers
Unscripted Series: Sam and Colby
THEME AWARDS
Animated: HELLUVA BOSS • Vivziepop
Beauty: Mikayla Nogueira
Comedy: RDCWorld
Comment: penguinz0
Competitive player: TenZ
Dance: Enola Bedard
Fashion and Style: Wisdom Kaye
Food: Nick DiGiovanni
Player: Dream
Health and Wellbeing: Dr. Julie
Children and Family: Mrs. Rachel
Learning and Education: Animal Zoo
Lifestyle: AMP
^ “HasanAbi”
Science and Technology: I did something
Sports: Jesser
Technology: Marques Brownlee
CRAFTSMANSHIP AWARDS
Camera: Recider – Nicholas Adams
Editing: Yes Theory – Thomas Dajer, Cam Peddle, Tristan Kevitch
Visual and special effects: Zach King
Writing: Leo González
BRAND AWARDS
Brand of the Year: Barbie
Agency of the Year: Reach Agency
Brand Engagement: Insta360
Brand Series: LIVE@4:25 • Totino’s Pizza Rolls x the cheeky boys, Flighthouse, Content+ at Mindshare
Brand Video: ASMcaR • Nissan x Donut
Influencer Campaign: To the Top • Gel Blaster x BENlabs
Social Impact Campaign: Play By The Rules • International Committee of the Red Cross x PopShorts