“Emmys So White” Trends After All Major Acting Awards Go To White Actors

Although having aligned one of the most diverse set of nominations in history, the 2021 Emmys sparked controversy on Sunday by awarding all Emmy Awards to white artists.

Favorite nominees like the late Michael K. Williams and Billy Porter lost to The Crown cast members Tobias Menzies and Josh O’Connor, respectively. Kenan Thompson and Bowen Yang lost to Jason Sudeikis and Ted Lasso’s Brett Goldstein.

As a result, the #EmmysSoWhite hashtag has become a trend on Twitter.

the Emmys are like that TV show you always watch * just in case * it finally does something different

but every year he proves you wrong and does the same thing again. and even. and even. #EmmysSoWhite

– Ashley Lee (@cashlelee) September 20, 2021

Many have pointed out that despite the fact that black artists constituted a significant number of announcers, hosts and musical performers, none of the nominated actors won in their category.

“The black host, the black announcer the hell even black music,” tweeted Emmy Award-winning sound engineer Alexandria Perryman. “We do everything but win.”

Others noted that while they made up a significant percentage of nominees, no actor of color had won major awards. Although she lost a number of other awards, including an acting award – which went to Kate Winslet of Mare of Easttown – Michaela Coel took home the award for best limited series / TV movie writing for her work on I May Destroy You.

A similar trend on Twitter #OscarsSoWhite led to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences introduce a mandatory diversity standard that future films will have to come together to be eligible for the best film award. Effective in 2024 for the 96th Academy Awards, the standards require films to achieve diversity in a number of categories, including on-screen representation, creative leadership and audience development.

“We believe these inclusive standards will be a catalyst for essential and lasting change in our industry,” said David Rubin, Academy president, and Dawn Hudson, Academy CEO.

It remains to be seen whether this online trend could lead to a similar response for future Emmy awards ceremonies. The Emmys did not immediately respond to a request for comment.