Apple‘s Eddy Cue will be honored next month at Cannes Lions with the festival’s Leisure Particular person of the 12 months Award. The nod comes as recognition for Cue’s function in steering the tech large’s leisure and companies unit, and for the quick rise of the Apple TV platform since 2019.
Cue, who’s Apple’s senior VP of companies and well being, will ship a keynote seminar on the primary day of the occasion that runs June 22-26 within the seaside restort city on the French Riviera. Cue will communicate with Jerry Bruckheimer, the Hollywood veteran who produced final yr’s worldwide field workplace hit “F1: The Movie” for Apple.
Simon Cook dinner, CEO of Lions, the pageant’s mum or dad firm, additionally pointed to Apple’s singular function in influencing client conduct with its trailblazing gadgets in detailing the choice to fete the Apple veteran this yr.
“Eddy Cue has consistently pushed the boundaries of entertainment and storytelling, building platforms and experiences that have redefined how audiences engage with culture,” Cook dinner mentioned. “Under his leadership, Apple has not only produced world-class content but has also shaped the future of entertainment through innovation, creativity and an unwavering commitment to quality. We’re delighted to honor Eddy as our 2026 Entertainment Person of the Year.”
Cue’s recognition on the pageant of creativity that’s rooted in promoting and advertising and marketing conversations, together with all of the associated ad-tech, fin-tech and AI-powered tech that accompany the enterprise of persuasion and reaching shoppers with content material.
Cue has orchestrated Apple’s growth into TV and movie with the Apple TV streamer and focused bets with theatrical movie releases. Apple earned the Oscar for finest image for its uplifting 2021 drama “CODA,” and ultimately yr’s Emmy Awards, the streamer’s trade satire “The Studio” triumphed with 13 wins, setting a document for a comedy collection in a single yr in addition to for a first-year collection. Apple TV launched in November 2019 (as Apple TV+).
“We’ve always thought that art was a big piece of the DNA of who we are,” Cue told Variety in June 2025 of the corporate’s evolution as a producer and distributor of content material. “But we never expected to be creating movies or TV shows.” However as streaming platforms proliferated, “We saw that the world was changing, and it seemed like everybody was going after quantity. We thought there was an opening for us, if we really focused on high quality,” he mentioned.
Because the pageant approaches, Cannes Lions has confirmed that it’ll host its first-ever world CMO summit to be held as a closed-door gathering on June 24. It has additionally named world brewer AB InBev because the Artistic Marketer of the 12 months.
