Billie Eilish and Mom Maggie Baird Honored at EMA Awards, With ‘Don’t Look Up’ and ‘Abbott Elementary’ Among Winners

The Environmental Media Association held its annual awards gala on Saturday night, recognizing the efforts of those working toward a healthier planet. Don’t Look Up, Abbott Elementary, Yellowstone and The Problem with Jon Stewart were among the productions feted for their work in following green practices and telling stories of environmental justice, climate action and sustainability.

The event, held at Los Angeles’ Sunset Las Palmas Studios, also honored superstar Billie Eilish and her mother Maggie Baird with the EMA Missions in Music Award for their environmental work. Together, the mother-daughter duo created “Overheated,” an extra component to Eilish’s Happier Than Ever, The World Tour, with climate-focused activities including clothing swaps, documentary screenings and plant-based conversations to communicate issues related to sustainable fashion. It was organized in collaboration with Baird’s charity, Support + Feed, which takes on food insecurity and the climate crisis with plant-based food.  

Eilish and Baird were on hand to accept the award, as Eilish admitted, “I feel like I know nothing all the time, and I never feel like I’m doing enough in a lot of ways, especially in the environment and the world, and I’m always looking to do something else. I feel that people aren’t thinking about it as much as I want them to, especially when I work with brands and we make things — and just the fashion industry, which I’m such a big fan of and really involved with. It’s just horribly upsetting the way people aren’t really thinking about it first.”

“My mom has been the person that is always thinking about it, in this way that I’m just so in awe of,” Eilish continued. “I’m always just trying to do what I think my mom would want me to do, and she’s always thinking ahead and cares so much about the world and people and animals and beings. I love my mom, and she’s really the reason that I give a fuck.”

With Finneas O’Connell also in the audience, Baird joked that it “wasn’t super easy to be my children,” as she forbid them from using paper towels in the home or using paper wrapping at Christmas. “I know that I was annoying, and I’m still annoying, and the crazy thing was you all went on to have these amazing talents and develop this enormous platform that let me finally do the thing that I wanted to do most, which was feed people and talk about climate change. Now I’m never going to shut up and leave you alone.”

Holding up a copy of 1971 book Diet for a Small Planet, Baird also noted how “we’ve been incredibly slow to address the disaster, which is animal agriculture. And it’s time, we don’t have any time left … plant-based food is not the only solution to climate change, but there’s no solution without it.”

Nikki Reed, an EMA board member, also took home the EMA Innovator Award for her eco-friendly lifestyle and jewelry brand, BaYou With Love, with a focus on sustainable, ethical fashion and production. She was presented the award by Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke, as Reed spoke about her longtime love of animals and applying that to her business.

“Change takes commitment, but it’s time to knock it down — every door, every business, every home. If there isn’t a triple ‘P’ built in — planet, people, profit — it can go, every business model can go,” she said.

The night, of which The Hollywood Reporter was a sponsor, was hosted by David Spade and Wendie Malick, with musical performances by Bishop Briggs and Samantha Ronson. Malin Akerman, Leslie Odom Jr., Lance Bass, Eli Roth, Peter Facinelli, Emile Hirsch, Paris Jackson and EMA CEO Debbie Levin were also on hand, as were many young environmental activists who presented alongside the stars.

After winning, both Jon Stewart and Don’t Look Up director Adam McKay sent in video acceptance speeches, as McKay noted how since the Netflix film was released in December 2021, “it’s gotten nothing but more relevant as we’ve all seen the size, scope and rate of the warming of the planet increase in terrifying, terrifying ways.” McKay also shouted out the activists on the frontlines, cheering them on to “keep screaming, keep making your voices loud and heard.”

See a full list of winners below:

FEATURE FILM

Don’t Look Up — Netflix (WINNER)

Jurassic World Dominion — Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment

VARIETY TELEVISION

Ziwe: Hot! — Showtime

The Problem with Jon Stewart: Climate Change — Apple TV+ (WINNER)

Saturday Night Live: Episode #1812 — NBCUniversal, Broadway Video

CHILDREN’S TELEVISION

Teen Titans Go!: Polly Ethylene and Tara Phthalate — Cartoon Network/Warner Bros. Animation (Warner Bros. Discovery)

Kid Correspondent: Which Snack Is Best For the Planet? — Participant/YouTube Originals (WINNER)

Mickey Mouse Funhouse: “Crystal Clear Waters” — Disney Branded Television

DOCUMENTARY FILM

Eating Our Way To Extinction — Broxstar Productions LTD and Seine Pictures (WINNER)

FIN — Discovery+ (Warner Bros. Discovery)

Burning — Amazon Studios, Propagate Content, Dirty Films Youth

Unstoppable: The Rise of the Global Youth Climate Movement — WaterBear, Scythia Films, Connect4Climate and Creative Visions

DOCUMENTARY SERIES

The Next Thing You Eat: Sushi — Hulu

The Green Planet: Human Worlds — BBC Studios The Natural History Unit

America the Beautiful: Brave New World — National Geographic (WINNER)

Meltdown: Three Mile Island: The Accident — Netflix

PAUL JUNGER WITT COMEDY AWARD

Abbott Elementary: Art Teacher — ABC and Delicious Non-Sequitur Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television (Warner Bros. Discovery) and 20th Television (WINNER)

American Dad: Dr. Sunderson’s SunSuckers — TBS (Warner Bros. Discovery) in association with 20th Television Animation

Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Watermelon — HBO/HBO Max (Warner Bros. Discovery)

TELEVISION EPISODIC DRAMA

The Man Who Fell to Earth: New Angels of Promise — Showtime

Yellowstone: Keep the Wolves Close — Paramount Network (WINNER)

Joe Pickett: A Monster at the Gate — Paramount Television Studios

REALITY TELEVISION

The End Is Nye – The Volcano Paradox — Universal Television Alternative Studio and UCP, divisions of Universal Studio Group, and Fuzzy Door (WINNER)

Home Sweet Home: There’s No TV? — Warner Bros. Unscripted Television in association with Warner Horizon and ARRAY Filmworks /NBCUniversal

Biggest Little Farm: The Return — National Geographic