- - Variety Wins 20 National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards, Including Print Journalist of the Year

Chris WillmanDecember 8, 2025 at 2:26 AM

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Variety

Variety won 20 first-place trophies Sunday night at the 18th annual National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards, up from the 14 wins the publication scored in last year’s competition.

Variety scored across a wide spectrum of categories for work published across 2024-25, with the wins coming in divisions ranging from hard news and business reporting to commentary and criticism to photography and cover art. The tally of 20 was the most for any print-based publication in the 2025 competition, sponsored by the Los Angeles Press Club.

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Among the accolades was a win for Print Journalist of the Year for chief music critic and senior writer Chris Willman, one of five awards he picked up this year.

Also scoring first-place prizes for writing and reporting were Kate Aurthur, Leo Barraclough, Daniel D’Addario, Clayton Davis, Matt Donnelly, Owen Gleiberman, Brent Lang, Kristen Lopez, Naman Ramachandran, Michael Schneider and Michaela Zee.

Jennifer Dorn, Haley Kluge, deputy photo editor Jennifer Halper, Emilio Madrid, Richard Maltz and Joe Toreno were top finishers, as well, rewarded for their work on the magazine’s art and photography.

A cover package on Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour proved popular with judges. Willman won for Best Music Feature for his cover story on Swift (“How Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour Took Over the Entire World”), which involved covering the blockbuster tour’s impact overseas. An award for Best Cover Art went to the team of Dorn, Kluge, Maltz and Toreno, for a specially crafted image that had the “biggest tour of all time” theme spelled out in the form of friendship bracelets.

Photo editor Dorn and creative director Kluge were repeat winners, scoring along with Halper and Madrid in the category of Portrait Photo, Music/Theater/Arts for a photograph of Darren Criss and Cole Escola.

Executive editor Brent Lang was a two-time winner this year, too, picking up an award for Business/Film/Print for “Netflix’s Origin Story: How the Streamer Killed Blockbuster Video, Snagged ‘House of Cards’ From HBO and Changed Hollywood Forever” and another for Commentary Analysis/Trend, Film, Print for “How Steven Spielberg’s ‘Jaws’ Endured a Hellish Production to Become Hollywood’s First Summer Blockbuster.”

Chief correspondent Daniel D’Addario picked up the award for Best Theater/Performing Arts Critic for his stage reviews from throughout the year.

Chief film critic Owen Gleiberman was the recipient of the prize for Obituary/In Appreciation, Film Personalities for his remembrance “Remembering Val Kilmer, a Powerful Actor Who Remained a Reluctant Movie Star.”

A second prize for an appreciation of a sadly missed entertainer went to editor-at-large Kate Aurthur in the category of Obituary/In Appreciation, TV Personalities for her piece “Remembering Shannen Doherty: A Gen X Icon Who Fought Like Hell to Live.”

Executive editor for TV Michael Schneider was the recipient of the Hard News, TV/Streaming award for “L.A. Reporters Cover Devastation in Their Own Neighborhoods During Wildfires: ‘Feels Like a Nightmare’ and ‘Fatigue Is Setting In’.”

Chief awards editor Clayton Davis won Commentary Analysis/Trend, Online for his column “Tony Hinchcliffe Called Puerto Rico a ‘Floating Island of Garbage’: His Hate Disguised as Comedy Wasn’t Funny or a Joke.”

Senior entertainment & media writer Matt Donnelly picked up the trophy for Hard News, Film, Online for his article “Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy Under Fire at Warner Bros. Amid Box Office Flops: ‘We Didn’t Want to Fail’ David Zaslav.”

The award for Personality Profile, Film Industry, Online went to international reporter Naman Ramachandran for his piece “Deepa Mehta on 30 Years of Boundary-Breaking Cinema: Facing Down Protests, Hanging Up on George Lucas and Her $1 Deal With Salman Rushdie.”

Associate web editor Michaela Zee won Film Feature, Production/History—Below-the-line Creatives for her story on a composer’s latest work, “How Alexandre Desplat Crafted the Score for Wes Anderson’s ‘The Phoenician Scheme.'”

London-based international features editor Leo Barraclough was the recipient of the award for Film Feature, Production/History—Above-the-line Creatives, for his piece “‘Mr. Nobody Against Putin’ Director on Lifting the Lid on Kremlin Pro-War Propaganda in Sundance Documentary.”

Freelance contributor Kristen Lopez picked up the prize for Diversity in the Film Industry, Online for her story “Disabled Performers Advocate for Allies in Hollywood: ‘Inclusion Needs to Be a Movement and Not a Moment’.”

Besides Print Journalist and Music Feature, Willman’s other wins were for Best Columnist, Online; Commentary Analysis/Trend, Music, for “Stop Blaming ‘Celebrity Endorsements’ for Kamala Harris’ Loss: We Need to Hear From Artists Now More Than Ever”; and Music Feature, Group/Industry Artists, for “Shania Twain and Brandi Carlile on Teaming Up for an All-Female-Headliner Festival, and Why Women Supporting Women Is Always ‘Right on Time’.”

Variety was additionally honored with dozens of second- and third-place honors in the 2025 NAEJ competition.

The ceremony was held at the Millennium Biltmore, where the L.A. Press Club also hosts the SoCal Journalism Awards each July.

Honorary awards were given out during the ceremony to Paul Anka (the Legend Award), Larry Mantle (the Luminary Award), Marlee Matlin (the Impact Award), Kasi Lemmons (the Distinguished Storyteller Award) and Seth Rogen and Lauren Miller Rogen (the Visionary Award). Anka wrapped up the program with a customized rendition of his most famous composition, “My Way,” with lyrics altered to reflect both his own NAEJ honor and those of the attending journalists.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”