Since 1990, the Mississippi Press Association has "roasted" Mississippi journalists, celebrities and politicians in good humor as a benefit for the Mississippi Press Foundation. The Celebrity Roast has become a much-anticipated evening of frivolity and fundraising to assist the philanthropic endeavors of MPF.
Our roastmaster is past honoree Marshall Ramsey, longtime editorial cartoonist and Director of Public Engagement at the Mississippi Media Lab at the University of Mississippi. Roastmaster-emeritus is Sid Salter, a past president of Mississippi Press and past chairman of the MPF, himself an honoree in 1999.
Honorees are presented with the S. Gale Denley Memorial Journalism Award, named for the longtime publisher of The Calhoun County Journal in Bruce, and a past president of Mississippi Press and member of its Hall of Fame.
Below is a list of individuals who've been the subject of barbs, witticisms and even a little bit of adulation as the honorees at past MPF roasts.
Past Celebrity Roast Honorees
1990
The late W.C. "Dub" Shoemaker*
Retired newspaper publisher
1991
Dr. Will Norton*
Retired journalist and educator
1992
The late U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran
R–Mississippi
1993
The late Jerry Clower
Comedian and entertainer
1996
The late Jim Buck Ross
longtime Agriculture Commissioner
1997
The late Bill Minor*
Mississippi political columnist
1998
The late Philip Martin
Former Choctaw Tribal Chief
1999
Sid Salter*
Columnist and former editor
2000
Rick Cleveland*
Journalist and author
2001
The late U.S. Rep. G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery
D–Mississippi
2002
Justice Rueben Anderson
Retired MS Supreme Court Justice
2003
Retired U.S. Sen. Trent Lott
R–Mississippi
2004
Former Attorney General Mike Moore
D–Miss.
2005
Former Gov. Haley R. Barbour
R-Mississippi
2006
Former Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck
R–Mississippi
2007
Robert Khayat
Former Chancellor, University of Mississippi
2008
The late Anthony Topazi
Former CEO, Mississippi Power
2009
Former Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant
R–Mississippi
2010
Blake Wilson
Retired President, Mississippi Economic Council
2011
Mark Keenum
President, Mississippi State University
2012
Former Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves
R–Mississippi
2013
Aubrey Patterson
Retired Chairman, BancorpSouth
2014
Former Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann
R–Mississippi
2015
Former Gov. William Winter
D–Mississippi
2016
Former U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper
R–Mississippi
2017
Marshall Ramsey
Editorial Cartoonist & Author
2018
Former Attorney General Jim Hood
D–Mississippi
2019
Ronnie Agnew
Former Executive Director, Mississippi Public Broadcasting
2020
Wyatt Emmerich
Third-generation newspaper publisher
2022
Sen. Roger Wicker
R–Mississippi
2023
Jeff Good
Jackson businessman and restaurateur
2024
Former Mississippi Speaker of the House Rep. Philip Gunn
R–Clinton
2025
Robert St. John
Restaurateur, author & philanthropist
*Mississippi Press Hall of Fame member
