The annual Cannes Lions festival of creativity opens this year with the sectors it covers in the throes of fundamental change — so it’s no surprise that the 2026 event is packed with signs of the future and sessions with leaders who represent the transition that is upending media and entertainment.
The June 22-26 international festival of creativity has a packed schedule examining AI’s influence in business, the rise of creators and the creator economy, the expansion of vertical dramas as a format and the boom in talent-centered consumer brands. In the 12 months since last year’s Cannes Lions gathering, all of these trends have accelerated faster that most would have predicted.
Variety will fan out across the Croisette with activities and coverage of what should by a dynamic week by the sea in Cannes. Cannes Lions is one of the few places where big corporate brands still go big — Spotify’s concert menu for its famously large Spotify Beach installation includes Raye, Mike D and Mumford & Sons. Ludacris is on tap for UTA’s annual invite-only party at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc down the road in Antibes.
Colin Jost and Seth Meyers will hold court in late-night IRL for NBCUniversal at its space on Wednesday night, with Alan Cumming joining them to DJ and special appearances promised from Bravo stars Lindsay Hubbard (“Summer House”) and designer Rachel Zoe.
Other notable names who will be on the scene this week include Oprah Winfrey, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Questlove and Malcolm Gladwell, Stella McCartney, Mel Robbins and host of CMOs and related disciplines from Fortune 500 firms.
Here are 10 events and trends to watch out for coverage on Variety.com this week.
Apple’s Eddy Cue Talks to Jerry Bruckheimer
Image Credit: Getty Images Apple’s Eddy Cue takes the stage as Cannes Lions’ honoree as Entertainment Person of the Year. Cue, the longtime Apple leader who steered the company into content and the App Store, will be in the spotlight as Apple is preparing for its first CEO transition in 15 years as Tim Cook bows out and another Apple lifer, John Ternus, steps up. Cue will sit down on the opening day of the festival at the Palais for a conversation with producer Jerry Bruckheimer, which will likely keep the focus on moviemaking and creativity rather than what the CEO handoff set for Sept. 1 will mean for the tech giant.
Oprah Winfrey Receives the Cannes LionHeart Award
Image Credit: Getty Images As daytime TV struggles to evolve in the age of YouTube, Oprah Winfrey’s 25-year run at the top in syndication with “The Oprah Winfrey Show” looks all the more impressive in hindight. Winfrey is a trailblazer for today’s media entrepreneurs with her segue into OWN and a wide range of other Winfrey-branded media. Winfrey will sit with Cannes Lions chair Phil Thomas on June 23 as she receives the LionHeart Award.
Variety Google Industry Innovators Happy Hour With Carmelo Anthony
Image Credit: Getty Images The timing is right for Variety co-Editor in Chief Ramin Setoodeh to sit down with NBA star Carmelo Anthony on Tuesday for the invitation-only Variety Google Industry Innovators Happy Hour. Anthony logged seven seasons with the New York Knicks from 2010 to 2017. He’s no doubt still celebrating the team’s underdog success that took them all the way to the finals this year for the first time in more than 50 years.
Anthony also exemplifies the trend of sports stars who become ubiquitous in the post-playing days thanks to the megaphones of reality TV, social media, licensing and merchandising.
Questlove and Malcolm Gladwell on Storytelling
Image Credit: Getty Images for iHeartMedia DJ, documentarian and “Tonight Show” bandleader Questlove and author and podcaster Malcolm Gladwell are self-described old friends who greatly enjoy discussing art and culture together. The pair took part in a live podcast taping for iHeartMedia at last year’s Cannes Lions This year they’re taking the Rotonde stage at the Palais on Tuesday to discourse on how stories earn attention these days across culture and media.
The Conversation About AI
Top-of-mind for many Cannes Lions attendees will be how AI is shaping the future of marketing. Expect to hear a lot about how AI can help super-charge creative campaigns and make them more effective, along with the usual talk about how robots can’t replace human intuition and creativity. Sessions include “Winning the AI Discovery Era: Marketing To Minds and Machines” (June 24, 11:30 a.m., Carlton Hotel) featuring OpenAI chief revenue officer Denise Dresser, Google CMO Lorraine Twohill and JPMorganChase CMO Carla Hassan. Companies camped along the Croisette will have plenty to say about AI, too, including at the Canva Creative Cabana, where Variety will be holding a series of panel discussions and interviews.
The Mel Robbins Way
Image Credit: Christopher Polk/2026GG/Penske Media The beloved author, podcast and self-improvement advocate is a prime example of how savvy artists and authors are building enormously lucrative lifestyle brands largely outside of mainstream Hollywood and media channels. Mel Robbins knows her strengths and knows how to tap into cultural trends, and her intuition is telling her to focus on the value of turning simple ideas into content that endures in her Tuesday conversation at Cannes Lions.
Raye to Light Up the Croisette
Image Credit: Caroline Brodt/Live Nation Spotify Beach throws the first of its two night time concerts on Tuesday with the eclectic bill of Mike D (of Beastie Boys fame), Central Cee and Raye. The British singer-songwriter and producer has followed her own path in music, advocating hard for artists rights at a time of dramatic change for music and the value of IP. This year, Raye’s journey takes her to the sandy beaches of the Cote d’Azur.
Wednesday’s Spotify Beach bash features Lykke Li, Mumford & Sons and John Summit. It’s an invitation-only event, but open-air stage means that the sidewalks will be packed with festival-goers and locals taking in the spectacle.
The Creator Economy’s A-List
Image Credit: John Nacion/Variety Cannes Lions has carved out more room during the festival to support the work of creator economy leaders. The festival has a host of sessions devoted to the explosive growth in the nexus of creators, AI, vertical dramas and brand partnership pacts that are a world apart from series deals and celebrity endorsement deals of earlier eras.
Dhar Mann (pictured) is among the boldface name creators who will attend the gathering and participate in creator focused activities. Other heavy hitters expeted to be on hand for Cannes Lions this year include Max Klymenko, Grace Wells, Alexis Omman, Hannah Stocking, Jake Schroeder, Dani Vale, Chingu Amiga and Jennifer Ariwigwe, aka Financial Jennifer.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas on Stories That Cross Borders
Image Credit: Gilbert Flores/Variety Priyanka Chopra Jonas will open up about what it means to be a global superstar in her Cannes Lions conversation on Wednesday.
Chopra Jonas is never a dull interview — as Variety readers learned in our Feburary 2026 cover story with the star. At Cannes Lions, Chopra Jonas will give insights on how she’s built a career with roots in in the West and East and how of late she’s seen the ability to bridge the two through movies and TV shows that harness her intense following and are distributed via global streaming.
Stella McCartney Tackles Circular Logic
Image Credit: WWD via Getty Images After decades as a top apparel brand, the fashion entrepreneur holds her own in any discussion of design and creativity. Stella McCartney will join eBay CEO Jamie Iannone and WWD London bureau chief Samantha Conti for a discussion about the spike in global demand for reusing and recycling, aka the trend in “circular commerce” that is redefining creative industries, including fashion.
(Pictured: Stella McCartney, right, at the Met Ball in May with filmmaker Greta Gerwig)
