John Krasinski Threw A Virtual Graduation Party For The Class Of 2020

The class of 2020 had Oprah, Steven Spielberg, and other celebrities at their graduation party, courtesy of John Krasinski

John Krasinski is basically the hero we need during the coronavirus pandemic. His “Some Good News” YouTube show has consistently put smiles on our faces, from the time he got the entire original cast of Hamilton to reunite to sing to a 9-year-old megafan, to the time he hosted and DJed a virtual prom for kids who were missing theirs because of school closures. And now, he’s done it again with the latest episode of the show, which served as a graduation party for the class of 2020.

The class of 2020 has been through it. Ending your high school career with schools closed nationwide for a global pandemic of a deadly illness just sucks, and that’s why Krasinski dedicated the sixth episode of “Some Good News” to these kids. “To everyone who has been inspired by @somegoodnews . . . get ready to meet the class of 2020 and see what real inspiration is,” he wrote on Instagram, where he shared his graduation video.

Anyone graduating this year — whether it was from high school, college, grad school, or even kindergarten — was invited to join the virtual ceremony and celebration. Krasinski, in his usual style, rounded up some celebrity guests to serve as commencement speakers, including Jon Stewart, Malala Yousafzai, Steven Spielberg, and Oprah Winfrey. Instead of traditional commencement addresses, Krasinski asked each guest to share some encouragement and words of wisdom for 2020 grads, and boy did they deliver.

“There have been several times in my life, Amanda, when things didn’t go the way I wanted,” Oprah told one graduate on Krasinski’s call, before telling the now well-known story of how she was fired from her first job long before she landed her famous talk show.

“I believe that failure is an opportunity to move yourself in a different direction. It gets better because you learn the lessons from the first time,” she said.

During these times, week after week, Krasinski seems to know exactly what we need to see and hear to keep going — and keep smiling. His send-off for grads during this crazy time was perfect, and we can’t wait to tune into the show again next week.